Progression or Stagnancy? Portraying Native Americans in Michael Apted’s Thunderheart (1992)

Progression or Stagnancy? Portraying Native Americans in Michael Apted’s Thunderheart (1992) As argued by Wilcomb Washburn, no other ethnic group has been misrepresented in media and popular culture to such extent as the Native Americans (2010). Movies that shaped their image did so by crystallizing stereotypes and misconceptions, through which indigenous peoples have been perceived until the present day. Thomas Edison’s vignettes, early westerns, as well as subsequent motion pictures of the 1960s and 1970s strengthened the stereotypes of the vanishing Indians, bloodthirsty savages, and their noble alter ego. The 1990s brought about a revival of the western in its new, revisionist form, mainly due to the achievements of the American Indian Movement. This paper argues that the movie Thunderheart (1992) by Michael Apted — albeit belonging to that ostensibly revolutionary current — continues to reproduce various well established stereotypes in the portrayal of the Native Americans . It examines significantachievements of this partly liberal motion picture, as well as its failures and faults. Thisarticle argues that Thunderheart departs from traditional, dualistic portrayals of Native Americans as bloodthirsty and noble savages and manages to present a revisionist version of historical events; at the same time, it fails to omit numerous Hollywood clichés, such as stereotypical representation of native spirituality, formation of an “Indian identity”, and “othering” of the Native Americans, which contributes to their further alienation and cultural appropriation. This paper provides an insightful analysis of the movie, drawing on scholarship in the field of cultural and indigenous studies in order to lay bare the ambivalence towards indigenous people in the United States, that is reflected in the movie industry. Moreover, it indicates towards the commodification of native culture, as well as the perception of Native Americans as primitive and inferior, allowing to classify Thunderheartas an unfortunate product of colonialism.

Land Back: A meta narrative to help indigenous people show up as movement leaders

Present political climate and an increase in visibility and voice for Indigenous people are being leveraged to attract attention to dire social, environmental, and political issues. However, we need a more unified, organized, and coordinated policy platform, strategy, and public response. NDN Collective, an all Indigenous-led and staffed organization devoted to building Indigenous self-determination and power across Turtle Island, provides cohesion through a strong meta narrative of its Land Back campaign and an ecosystem of resources for Native Nations and peoples built around its three pillars: Defend, Develop, and Decolonize. This article shares a brief history of colonization and the lasting impacts of the American Indian Movement of the 1960s and what is needed from Indigenous leadership today. In recognizing that the collective liberation of Indigenous people is bound together with those of other Black and brown relatives, this article also explores our shared history with Black Americans and the success of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Political Medicine

Berkman’s high standing in medical school got in a prestigious internship at Columbia. But the extra care given to his white upper-class patients versus the poor he saw in the clinics tugged at his sense of justice as he saw the consequences of unequal treatment. After the state’s vicious retaking of the Attica Prison after a prisoner uprising, Berkman evaluated the medical conditions of the prisoners. He quit after the first year of internship and became instead a community doctor. With Barbara Zeller, he snuck medical supplies into the American Indian Movement stalwarts during the siege at Wounded Knee, escaping FBI surveillance. His intellectual commitment to politics now had a deeper emotional tone.

Racial Realities

In the 1960s, global decolonization and the civil rights movement inspired hope for structural change in the United States, but more than fifty years later, racial disparities in income and wealth, education, employment, health, housing, and incarceration remain entrenched. In addition, we have seen a resurgence of overt White supremacy following the election of President Trump. This chapter considers the potential of movements like Black Lives Matter and the Standing Rock water protectors in light of the experiences of the Black Panther Party, the American Indian Movement, and other efforts at community empowerment in the “long sixties.”