Review Essay Proposal

From its very beginning in the early twentieth century as the center of American filmmaking, Hollywood has included American Indians in hundreds of movies. During a large portion of the century, "westerns" constituted a major genre in American filmmaking and Indians were frequently depicted in these films. Often their portrayal seemed to have focused on one of two extremes: Indians were shown as either "bloodthirsty savages" or as "noble savages" and sometimes both portrayals were included in the same film. Even today, it seems that many people's perceptions of Native Americans are drawn mostly from their exposure to "celluloid Indians". For my essay, I would like to examine websites dedicated to this topic and, if possible, contrast commercial sites, academic sites, and sites produced by Native Americans themselves. Sites I have located include: www.nativepeoples.com; www.americanwest.com; lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/IndigenousBib.html; and uwyo.edu/aist/celluoid/Images -of_American_Indians_on_Film.htm.