Images & Stereotypes

Looks at how Vizenor attempts to demystify Indianness and identify the contemporary Indian.

Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies Thesis (Ph.D.)-- University of Victoria, 2007.

English Thesis (M.A.)--The University of Manitoba, 2008.

Examines stereotypes and personality traits, such as humble vs assertive or placid vs apprehensive.

Examples include products such as tires, spring water, soap, rifles, and railway excursions.

Argues that there is a direct relationship between classroom study of First Nation literature and the transformation of mainstream culture and images of Aboriginal cultures.

Media and Visual Studies Thesis (M.A.)--Bilkent University, 2008.

Looks at how role reversals and racial imitations in Joe the Painter and the Deer Island Massacre transforms the stereotypical trappings of Indian roles by redescribing and incorporating a sense of the past into the present.

Discusses Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King and Because my Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock from The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie. Excerpt from Images of Canada: Interiors and Exteriors. Entire volume on one pdf. To access essay scroll to p. 131.

Book review of: Culturally Responsive Teaching for American Indian Students by Cornel Pewewardy and Patricia Cahape Hammer.

Historical background on the creation of the Southwest-Indian image and on Navajo Country tourism.

Presents a conversation with Kathryn Shanley regarding the film Powwow Highway Entire issue on one PDF. To access article, scroll down to appropriate page.

Looks at the self image of urban Aboriginals from their ancestral perspective and how this is reflected in their lives. Presents three cases.

Results of interviews with 16 study participants grouped into five themes: identity, family and community, violence, systemic racism/colonialism, social networks/supports, and resiliency and integrity.

Authors contend that finalism serves as a mechanism that aids the development and maintenance of social amnesia about Native identities and accomplishments, creating a situtation in which Native voices are not just viewed as irrelevant, but also anti-American.

Communication and Culture Thesis (M.A.)--University of Calgary, 2006.

Teacher explains her objections to the stereotypes in the novel and classroom activities suggested to accompany it. Instead she chose to focus on the theme of friendship found in the story. Excerpt from American Indian Stereotypes in the World of Children: A Reader and Bibliography, 2nd ed. edited by Arlene B. Hirschfelder, Paulette Fairbanks Molin, and Yvonne Wakim.

Collection contains 1,068 digitized images taken by the famed photographer of Aboriginal peoples in the early 19th century. Many of the images were not included in the multi-volume The North American Indian, so are unavailable elsewhere.

Focuses on two films, They Died with Their Boots On and Little Big Man, that best represent the range of interpretations of Custer and the battle. Entire issue on one pdf. Article located by scrolling to page 44.

Author believes televison shows dehumanize Native Americans and takes a critical look at how audiences' percieve representations, what frame of reference the audience uses to evaluate what they view, and argues that there is a need to view representations without accepting the status quo provided in encoded form.

Draws on historical documents retrieved from Libraries and Archives Canada to reconstruct the narrative of the mass murder that occurred in 1873 near Battle Creek. Challenges the sources which name the date as May 1, asserting that it was June 1 based on trial testimony; examines press coverage following the event. Entire issue on one pdf file, scroll to page 81.

[Global Indigenous Nations Studies] Thesis--University of Kansas, 2019.

Author explores the tropes of exoticism contained in Fergusson’s novel Dancing Gods, situates Fergusson’s writing within the genre, and relates it to similar works by other writers within the genre.

Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie discusses the way that story shapes our understanding of people and places, and how only having one narrative about a place or a people leads to a stereotypical and incomplete understanding. Duration: 18:33.

English and Cultural Studies Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2007.

English Thesis, (M.A.)--University of Lethbridge, 2007.

Authors highlight ongoing narratives in how Indigenous peoples have been portrayed in Canadian welfare policy discourse from 1867 to the present; discusses the ethical implications of representing Indigenous peoples as “non-productive” and therefor undeserving. Recommends a reformation of policy that is conscious of historic and contemporary colonial dispossession and disenfranchisement.

English Philology Thesis (M.A.)-- University of Tampere, 2014.

Art History Thesis (M.A.)--Concordia University, 2000.

Apologia: There is no intention to offend, insult or embarrass by inclusion of this article. The author examines the possible origins, diverse uses, and meaning of the term "squaw" and asserts that the struggles of its usage are centered in indigeneity, femininity, and sovereignty in a post-colonial America.

Comments on the lived experience of being a 'half-breed' in Canada with reference to the story In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice Culleton.

Looks at films that reshaped the western genre.

Illustrates the new character tropes being developed by Aboriginal Australian writers to challenge the stereotypical representation of Indigenous peoples in detective fiction.

Presents a poem which comments on the destructiveness of the western expansion.

Author reflects on hearing Wilma Mankiller speak about leadership.

Author addresses the issue of sports teams portraying Native Americans and culture as objects or mascots, and discusses the impact it has on people.

Comments not only on the lack of literature but the need to ensure the content of the literature is culturally appropriate.

Comparative Cultural and Literary Studies Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Arizona, 2003.

Lists ten misconceptions and explains why they are false.

Review essay on: Remember This! Dakota Decolonization and the Eli Taylor Narratives by Waziyatawin Angela Wilson and In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors edited by Waziyatawin Angela Wilson.

Discusses stereotypical perceptions of Aboriginal peoples.

Looks at images and filmic representations found in global media and the issues surrounding culture, identity and ethnicity.

Aboriginals involved in the media discuss their experiences, present day issues, and possible future directions. Duration: 1:00:01.

Book review of: Decolonizing Museums by Amy Lonetree.

American Culture Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Michigan, 2012.

Commentary in regards to the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) on September 22, 2004, particularly the clichés, exclusion and stereotyping.

Discusses the negative stereotypes of the Iroquoian characters in The Indian in the Cupboard trilogy by Lynn Reid Banks.

This book was written to give what the author viewed as an accurate description of the two colonies (which would later join to become British Columbia) in opposition to what was being written about the place in the British press of the day. The author gives his opinion that British Columbia is primarily of value due to its gold deposits and holds little promise for agriculture. Chapter V deals with the Aboriginal population of British Columbia and expresses sentiments such as "The Indians must disappear before the March of Civilization." Note: an oversize endnote map has not been scanned.