Indians our often depicted and defined through the stereotypes and misconceptions that individuals within society grant them. The point here is that most of the stereotypes that are given to Indians are not accurate. In the film “Smoke Signals” some of both the positive and negative stereotypes that people have pertinent to Indians are shown. These preconceived attitudes that individuals have towards Indians are revealed in this film mainly through ways such as humor and struggles that Indians face within today’s society; such as many problems they prevalently encounter while inhabiting the various reservations that the U.S government operates for them. The method of using humor to carry out Indian stereotypes, such as used in the film is both practiced and culturally accepted amongst modern day Indians. These stereotypes have been responsible for the overall view that people have of the Indian people and it first begins by people’s view on how Indians live.
One of the biggest stereotypes given to Indians is found through their unorthodox way of living. People usually claim an Indian to have a very improper savage way of living. An example of this stereotype is shown in the film by how the main character Victor Joseph’s father acted savagely by always drinking and partaking in domestic violence within Victor’s home (Film). Towards the end of the film it was revealed that Arnold Joseph (Victor’s father) was responsible for starting a fire that killed other members of the reservation because of his savage way of living (Film). The stereotype of Indians being savages in their way of living is a common belief due to depictions such as this one that has been given through this film. Although, the common negative belief of a savagery lifestyle isn’t the only stereotype that people have of Indians. The importance of embracing their cultural lifestyle is a positive label that people have over the Indian people.
Within the film, the importance of culture stood clear with how the Indians lived their lives both on and off the reservation. The main character Victor and most of the other male individuals kept their hair long which must have been an ancient Indian tradition of old. Victor used the tradition of mourning his father’s death by cutting his long hair, just as father mourned the death of the people he killed within the fire that he started by cutting all of his hair off (Film). This shows that Indians cut their hair for the purpose of mourning another’s death. Also, the reservation depicted a simple lifestyle that members in the community took part in. The positive stereotype of cultural importance was exercised through how the Indian people were able to sustain a simple life without having to modernize their traditional ways of living. “Smoke Signals” does an astounding job in how they portray stereotypes such as these throughout the film.
There are countless Indian stereotypes that are shown in the film during scenes that were shot on the reservation. In the preconceived mind of an outsider, the ideological viewpoint of an Indian would consist of a lifestyle that had them living in huts and/or tepees, having them hunt for most if not all of their meals, and more of a demand to use only the agricultural resources their land had to offer. Although within this movie, Indians lived in houses and not tepees or huts, they shopped at a local store for their meals and what not, and people were somewhat modernized in the technology the reservation used for their endeavors. The stereotype of an Indian living the traditional Indian lifestyle was greatly contradicted when scenes on the reservation were shot. This film could change the overall idea of how life is living on an Indian reservation and the ideological viewpoints of ancient traditional ways that are not practiced anymore by their people. This action of not being active in practicing their ancient ways could have been the result of white people settling and telling them how to live. It is only fair to have the stereotype that all Indians loathe every white man for the countless problems they had brought to their lands.
Another popular Indian stereotype found within the boundaries of this film is the how they completely despise white people for taking their land. The scene where Victor and his friend Thomas are on a bus going to phoenix, they are sitting next to a Caucasian girl who starts to converse with Thomas for some time. This girl had claimed to be a member of the USA Olympic team and was talking very highly of herself. As time went on during Thomas and this girl’s conversation, Victor steps in and insists that she is a liar, which offends her and causes her to leave Thomas during their conversation. Thomas was furious with Victor and asked him why he had been so rude, after which Victor claims, “She was a liar Thomas, just remember that you can’t trust anybody (Film)” This scene is a mere example of how the Indians feel towards the white man. The stereotype of the hatred they have for them is shown excessively through scenes of this film. With that being said, there are also stereotypes throughout this film that expresses the white man (non-Indians) and the way the treat the Indians of the Americas.
White man is depicted to see the Indian people in a very specific way. The Non-Indian stereotype consists of Americans treating and seeing Indians in particular way. The stereotypes of a non-Indian or overall white man within the film were mainly traits such as being: selfish, ungrateful, and Christian. These non-Indian stereotypes within the movie mainly played the role of the average American in the eyes of an Indian.
Indians in this film such as Victor and his father Arnold were key figures in showing the Indian perspective of stereotypes that they had towards non-Indians. This was shown in the flash-back that Arnold gives to Suzy, who was a very close friend to him. In the flashback both Victor and his father had taken part in a basketball game with a couple of Caucasians-Americans, but these weren’t your everyday ordinary American. These white men that took part in the game with Victor and Arnold were Christians dressed in their black robes and throughout explaining the story, Arnold referred to the two white men as Jesuits, which is a term used to describe missionaries. Aside from the humor that this scene provides, it also gives insight on a non-Indian stereotype that the film was able to portray. These ideas of what a white man is came from the stories modern day Indians were told by those of old. This practice of Indians telling stories is a character trait that many people believe Indians to have.
Indians are known for telling a good camp fire story, regardless if the story itself is real or not. This stereotype is shown in the film “Smoke Signals” through reservation Thomas Builds-the-fire, who was an Indian boy that lived on the reservation. Thomas was known by the whole Indian community for the stories he told. An example of his popularity in telling stories is found when Thomas and Victor are walking to a bus stop that is miles away from the reservation. As Victor and Thomas are walking down a long road that leads to this bus stop, two girls driving down that same road stop right in front of both boys; the two girls than tell Thomas that if was able to tell them a good story than they would take the boys the rest of the way to the bus stop. Thomas than tells the two girls a story and they are satisfied and give the two boys a ride (Film). Expecting an Indian to be a good story teller is another stereotype that this film portrays. There are countless misguided beliefs that people have over the Indian people, in so much that it masks the traits that they do acquire and practice within their own lives; characteristics that some people would never even expect an Indian to have. Humor is one of these unknown characteristic traits that Indians have practiced in both past and present time eras. This use of humor was used all throughout the film and ultimately allowed for me to think on Indian stereotypes as a whole.
Humor is an essential component to how I thought critically on these stereotypes that have been claimed thus far. Having Indians refer to white man as a cowboy and having white man refer to every Indian as a redskin chief in a humorous way are mere examples of how this film uses the technique of laughter to explain how they felt about each other. Vine Deloria, Jr states within her article “Indian Humor” that if you can make an individual laugh, than you will be able to better understand them (Deloria 655). I feel that because I was able to laugh at the stereotypical jokes throughout the film, I was also able to better understand the nuances of Indian stereotypes. This film is the epitome of how humor can help an individual understand and think critically on the stereotypes of both the Indians and non-Indians. With that being said, Humor is not only for the use of being able to understand Indian stereotypes; Indian humor has many other roles amongst both their community and the rest of society.
Indian humor plays a critical part within Indian traditions; it has been the anchor used to control things such as social situations, incorporating things such as teasing within the various tribal units even before Columbus had landed onto their lands. This practice of teasing provided for a way to ease tensions between members within the tribe by looking to just laugh things off instead of continuing on with disputing between one another (Deloria 655). This practice of humor was not only used for the members within one tribe, but also was utilized between all tribes as a whole. When Columbus had settled onto Indian grounds is when humor tamed the stresses that came with him. Jokes of Christopher Columbus is said to have been a prime example of bringing unity between all Indian tribes (Deloria 656). There was a direct quote given by Suzan in the movie “Smoke Signals” in which she states. “I wish the Indian tribes had been more united before Columbus had landed (Film),” insisting that if they were more together that maybe Indian land wouldn’t have been taken from white man. Indian humor had the role of uniting one tribe after the other by their jokes of people such as Columbus and Custer. These jokes gave for an understanding that each tribe had with one another in terms of the struggles they all had to endure.
Vine Deloria, Jr. shares within the last pages of her article that, “Humor, all Indians will agree, is the cement by which the coming Indian movement is held together. When people can laugh at themselves and laugh at others and hold all aspects of life together without letting anybody drive them to extremes, then it seems to me that people can survive (Deloria 655).” Being able laugh off the and joke about the hardships of the past is how modern-day Indians mediate and progress forward with whatever struggle they may have to face or endure. The story of the Indians and their cultural beliefs is significant to both understanding and manipulating both the realities and fantasies that this world has to offer.
Indians are important in telling the story of how the beginnings of the Americas came to be. The history behind the aboriginal Indian culture has brought a whole new meaning to both imagination and reality. With that comes the aspect of story-telling amongst another within their culture. Sharing stories is commonly found amongst the traditional aspect of Indian culture.
The powers of stories have the ability of intellectually challenging someone in trying to shape both imagination and reality. In the article “Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective” the importance of story-telling amongst the Indian people is considered very significant. Author Leslie Silko of this article explains that story-telling is not just for the sole purpose of trying to put children to bed (Silko 160). She then goes on to claim that the importance of sharing stories within the Indian community is a way of providing unity within the family (Silko 161). This is a key factor in shaping the imaginations of modern day Indians who hear these stories of their ancestors that were the foundation to providing an identity for them. This practice of telling family stories also shapes family members reality by providing an explanation for the history behind how Indian families came to be.
Personally I feel that hearing stories of my own ancestors allows for a spark in my imagination. Hearing stories that depict my origin allow for me to create reenactments of how the story might’ve looked back then in the times of my ancestors. Hearing these stories of my family’s past also sheds light to why my modern day reality is the way that it is; without the doings of my ancestors, I doubt that I could ever have been of existence to this world. The power of storytelling about family dealings definitely helps shape both my imagination and reality. Stories act as an origin that our imaginations can feed off of to help better shape an understanding of realities that surround us.
Overall the cultural understanding of the Indian people has led to my deep appreciation of the nuances that their culture provides. Unknown positive traits that Indians have such as love and humor are shadowed by the stereotypes outsiders have over them. The film “Smoke Signals” humorously conveys these Indian stereotypes. Also the importance of story-telling within the Indian culture also reflects upon me and the way I shape both my imagination and realities pertinent to my life.
Works Cited
Smoke Signals. Dir. Chris Eyre. Perf. Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard,
And Gary Farmer. Miramax, 1998. Film.
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