As with most Americans, I have been exposed to Native American Indians in the literature and film I have watched since I was very young. Also like most Americans, these books and films have given me some pretty strange ideas. Our portrayal of American Indian culture is hardly a universally positive thing. Don’t get me wrong – there are some places where Native Americans come out looking very good. In some films – particularly more modern ones – they are seen as very noble people who are victims of greed and imperialism. Just as often, however, they are presented as primitive savages, there to be tamed along with the rest of the west by the “civilizing” influence of the invading culture. Read the rest of this entry »