Playing “Indian”: Manifest Destiny, Whiteness, and the Depiction of Native

Americans

Julie Schimmel’s Inventing “the Indian”

George Catlin, Self-Portrait Among the Mandans, c. 1861–9

Currier and Ives, Across the Continent: Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way, 1868.

John Gast, American Progress, c. 1873.

George Catlin, Bird’s-Eye View Over Mandan Village, 1837-9.

Charles Bird King, Young Omahaw, War Eagle, Little Missouri, and Pawnees, 1821.

c

An example of alternative history on a museum website, featuring Young Omahaw, War Eagle, Little Missouri, and Pawnees.

John Mix Stanley, Barter for a Bride, c. 1850.

An example of alternative history on a museum website, featuring Barter for a Bride.

Thomas Hill, Attack on an EmigrantTrain, c. 1850. (above, left)

Arthur F. Tait, The PrairieHunter, c. 1850. (above, right)

Carl Wimar, selections (below, left)

John Mix Stanley, Osage Scalp Dance, 1845.

Thomas Cole, Indians at Sunset, 1845.

Thomas Cole, The Oxbow, 1836.

Currier and Ives, Across the Continent. Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way, 1868.

Thomas Cole, The Oxbow, 1836.

Valentine Walter Bromley, Crow Indian Burial, 1876.

James Earle Fraser, End of the Trail, 1890s, displayed in Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915.

A Google Image search shows a number of the ways in which Fraser’s work has been

used.

Ernest L. Blumenschein, Wards of the Nation—Their First Vacation from School, in Harper’s Weekly, 1899.

Edward Curtis, Untitled orotone, c. 1905.

Edward Curtis, Untitled orotones of North American Indians, c. 1910.

Karl Bodmer, Hidatsa WarriorPehriska-Ruhpa (Two Ravens), 1833.

Alexander Pope, Weapons of War, 1900.

Contemporary Native American Artists

Edward Curtis, Grinding Meal, 1907.

Marcus Amerman, A Day at the Beach, 2002.

Marcus Amerman, A Moment in Time, 2002.

Edward Curtis, In Piegan Lodge, 1910.

Tom Jones, Choka Watching Oprah, 1998.

James Luna, Artifact Piece, 1985–7.

“The installation took objects that were representational of a modern Indian, which happened to be me, collecting my memorabilia such as my degree, my divorce papers, photos, record albums, cassettes, college mementos. It told a story about a man who was in college in the 60s, but this man happened to be native, and that was the twist on it.”

—James Luna

James Luna, AA Meeting/Art History, 1991.

James Luna, End ofthe Frail, 1991.

Erica Lord, Artifact Piece, Revisited,

2008.

Erica Lord, Artifact Piece, Revisited, 2008.

Erica Lord, Artifact Piece, Revisited,

2008.

James Luna, Artifact Piece, 1985-7.

Erica Lord, The Tanning Project, 2005–7.

Erica Lord, The Tanning Project, 2005–7.

Homework Exercise/In-Class Discussion:Depp, Dunham, Deloria,

and the Disney’s Lone Ranger

Kirby Sattler, I am Crow, 1991-

2013.

"Tonto was everything that the white man had always wanted the Indian to be. He was slower, a little dumber, had much less vocabulary, and rode a darker horse…Tonto was a cultureless Indian for Indians and an uncultured Indian for whites. Tonto cemented in the minds of the American public the cherished falsehood that all Indians were basically the same—friendly and stupid. Indeed, the legend grew, not only were the tribes the same, but all Indians could be brought to a state of grace—a reasonable facsimile of the white—by a little understanding.”

—Vine Deloria, Jr., "Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto.”

SAMPLE TWEETS:

Andrew Jackson - @therealandrewjackson TO @lenadunham- Offended? Poppycock! I see nothing wrong with his delightful and accurate portrayal. #keepinitreal #fightpc #powerofthepeople *George Armstrong Custer likes this

@lenadunham We need to be offended by Tonto, period. Depp's portrayal, regardless of its intentions, plays into damaging Native American stereotypes. #Tonto #Kemosabe #StereotypesArentCool

@lenadunham Tonto’s “white-face” is comparable to African-American “black-face”–offensive and ignorant #sidekickgetssidekicked

@lenadunham I suppose it depends on what kind of dinner party you are attending.

@lenadunham Offended: Maybe. Worried about sounding as dumb as Depp at dinner parties: Definitely. Ignorance isn’t attractive #DoYourResearch

@lenadunham  Yes. This is almost as offensive as Johnny Depp playing a white man.

@lenadunham Tonto is like a work of art on a wall. 100 people can say 100 different things about it and still be right.

Optional — “At the End of Class”Current Events/Practices to Discuss

Mascots

Change the Mascot.org (Hyperlink to YouTube)

Playing “Indian” at the YMCA

Clockwise, right to left:• Victoria’s Secret, 2012. • Elle UK, 2014.• Chanel, 2013.

The legacy of Edward Curtis and the 1491s.

Smiling Indians on YouTube