Nashitheki
Hollawitta
Unrealistic Portrayals and Misconceptions
From early childhood Ive seen American Indians portrayed as either the enemy or overly helpful, simple childlike savages eager to aid the white man against those other Indians who happen to be putting up a struggle in defense of their homelands and lives.
I can recall those cold rainy Saturdays watching television westerns and motion pictures depicting people like me as being bloodthirsty murderous heathens bent upon circling wagon trains like open targets, or massacring settlers in their isolated frontier communities. Being young, I became almost convinced that those friendly Indians like Tonto or Mingo were the good guys and helping those early settlers along with the military was the right thing to do. Having a father in the military and being in close contact with other military families furthered such misconceptions in my mind. It wasnt until I was around 15 or so did the fog of misconception clear. The summer ended and school started again. One of the new kids was a Meskwaki, and like myself his folks were military. We struck up a friendship rather quickly and during that long friendship I learned much about the real history of what he called the European invasion. This prompted me into doing research at the public library. I read how English friendly Mohegan warriors helped destroy the Pequot and were later rewarded by being driven away from their own homelands. I was taken aback in finding out how the Cherokee who aided General Andrew Jackson against the Creeks at Horseshoe Bend were later evicted from their ancient homelands by the same man they loyally assisted. Then there were the Apache scouts who helped tracked Geronimo rewarded for their endeavors by being sent to prisoner of war camps in Florida along with the hostiles they helped subdue. A childhood of being Americanized started to slip away. Much to my folks dismay, I grew my hair long and had a rather hip Meskwaki kid and his knowledgeable mother and older brother helping me learn eastern woodland Algonquian culture and history as my previous encounters with visiting kin from the reservation and other places were quite guarded by my Christian anglicized parents. Oh how they thought my Meskwaki friends were a bad influence, but by the time I turned 17, they gave up any further attempts of anglicizing me. When my younger sister became interested our tribal heritage, my mother became more allowing thus quelling a lot of my fathers opposition although he complained about my long hair until he died.
Reflecting upon those years before meeting my Meswaki friends, I often get on YouTube and watch clips of old western or frontier movies and see exactly how the entertainment industry attempted to justify brutal conquest, colonialism and murderous manifest destiny.
Summed up a bit -
[youtube]_hJFi7SRH7Q[/youtube]
How Hollywood stereotyped the Native Americans - YouTube
From early childhood Ive seen American Indians portrayed as either the enemy or overly helpful, simple childlike savages eager to aid the white man against those other Indians who happen to be putting up a struggle in defense of their homelands and lives.
I can recall those cold rainy Saturdays watching television westerns and motion pictures depicting people like me as being bloodthirsty murderous heathens bent upon circling wagon trains like open targets, or massacring settlers in their isolated frontier communities. Being young, I became almost convinced that those friendly Indians like Tonto or Mingo were the good guys and helping those early settlers along with the military was the right thing to do. Having a father in the military and being in close contact with other military families furthered such misconceptions in my mind. It wasnt until I was around 15 or so did the fog of misconception clear. The summer ended and school started again. One of the new kids was a Meskwaki, and like myself his folks were military. We struck up a friendship rather quickly and during that long friendship I learned much about the real history of what he called the European invasion. This prompted me into doing research at the public library. I read how English friendly Mohegan warriors helped destroy the Pequot and were later rewarded by being driven away from their own homelands. I was taken aback in finding out how the Cherokee who aided General Andrew Jackson against the Creeks at Horseshoe Bend were later evicted from their ancient homelands by the same man they loyally assisted. Then there were the Apache scouts who helped tracked Geronimo rewarded for their endeavors by being sent to prisoner of war camps in Florida along with the hostiles they helped subdue. A childhood of being Americanized started to slip away. Much to my folks dismay, I grew my hair long and had a rather hip Meskwaki kid and his knowledgeable mother and older brother helping me learn eastern woodland Algonquian culture and history as my previous encounters with visiting kin from the reservation and other places were quite guarded by my Christian anglicized parents. Oh how they thought my Meskwaki friends were a bad influence, but by the time I turned 17, they gave up any further attempts of anglicizing me. When my younger sister became interested our tribal heritage, my mother became more allowing thus quelling a lot of my fathers opposition although he complained about my long hair until he died.
Reflecting upon those years before meeting my Meswaki friends, I often get on YouTube and watch clips of old western or frontier movies and see exactly how the entertainment industry attempted to justify brutal conquest, colonialism and murderous manifest destiny.
Summed up a bit -
[youtube]_hJFi7SRH7Q[/youtube]
How Hollywood stereotyped the Native Americans - YouTube
