“An essential book for courses on Native film, indigenous media, not to mention more general courses . . . A very impressive and useful collection.” —Randolph Lewis, author of Navajo Talking Picture The film industry and mainstream popular culture are notorious for promoting stereotypical images of Native Americans: the noble and ignoble savage, the pronoun-challenged sidekick, the ruthless warrior, the female drudge, the princess, the sexualized maiden, the drunk, and others. Over the years, Indigenous filmmakers have both challenged these representations and moved past them, offering their own distinct forms of cinematic expression. Native Americans on Film draws inspiration from the Indigenous film movement, bringing filmmakers into an intertextual conversation with academics from a variety of disciplines. The resulting dialogue opens a myriad of possibilities for engaging students with ongoing debates: What is Indigenous film? Who is an Indigenous filmmaker? What are Native filmmakers saying about Indigenous film and their own work? This thought-provoking text offers theoretical approaches to understanding Native cinema, includes pedagogical strategies for teaching particular films, and validates the different voices, approaches, and worldviews that emerge across the movement. “Accomplished scholars in the emerging field of Native film studies, Marubbio and Buffalohead . . . focus clearly on the needs of this field. They do scholars and students of Native film a great service by reprinting four seminal and provocative essays.” —James Ruppert, author of Meditation in Contemporary Native American Literature “Succeed[s] in depicting the complexities in study, teaching, and creating Native film . . . Regardless of an individual’s level of knowledge and expertise in Native film, Native Americans on Film is a valuable read for anyone interested in this topic.” —Studies in American Indian Literatures

Looks at the movies of Native American filmmakers and explores how they have used their works to leave behind the stereotypical Native American characters of old.

Liza Black critically examines the inner workings of post–World War II American films and production studios that cast American Indian extras and actors as Native people, forcing them to come face to face with mainstream representations of “Indianness.”

This book looks at portrayals of Native Americans, from the silent and early sound films through the present, covering more than 800 films, including The Vanishing American, They Died with Their Boots On, Cheyenne Autumn, Dances with Wolves, and The Lone Ranger (2013). A completely revised, expanded, and reorganized edition from his 1995 book From Savage to Nobleman (Scarecrow), this new version features an alphabetical arrangement and includes appendixes that list the films by Native American nation, image portrayals, and chronologically. Entries are more detailed and include availability on DVD, Blu-Ray, and Amazon streaming.

An overview of Indian representation in Hollywood films. The author notes the change in tone for the better when--as a result of McCarthyism--filmmakers found themselves among the oppressed. By an Irish-Cherokee writer.

Offering both in-depth analyses of specific films and overviews of the industry's output, Hollywood's Indian provides insightful characterizations of the depiction of the Native Americans in film. This updated edition includes a new chapter on Smoke Signals , the groundbreaking independent film written by Sherman Alexie and directed by Chris Eyre. Taken as a whole the essays explore the many ways in which these portrayals have made an impact on our collective cultural life.

In this collection of essays, seventeen scholars explore the changing depictions of Hollywood's Indian and how those representations have reflected larger changes in American society.