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Native Americans In Film Prompt 1: The Essay

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Native Americans Native American Asian American Dance
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Native Americans in Film Prompt #1:

The difference between Smoke Signals and Dances with Wolves is striking. The former is more about what life is like for people who are of Native American descent. They are not different from the white population except for their traditions and heritage. As people, they are not at all different. Dances with Wolves on the other hand portrays Native Americans as a group of people completely different from the white population. Besides having a different language, they have altogether different customs and an essentially different way of life. It is as if the first film is intent on showing the similarities between Native Americans and Caucasians and that the second movie is about how different they are and how hard it is for the two societies to intermingle....

The media as a whole plays on the preconceived notions of people and does little to challenge stereotypes. I would like to learn the truth of the social structures of Native American life and how it differs from what is accepted as fact.
Prompt #2:

There are definite stereotypes about Native Americans that many people believe to be fact. The assumption is that Native Americans speak halting English and go about with little clothing, bedecked in feathers and beads. They are usually violent and aggressive. Of course, none of these is true for all Native American tribes. Some wear more clothing than others. Some wear very…

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Dances with Wolves. Dir. Kevin Costner. Prod. Kevin Costner. By Michael Blake. Perf. Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, and Graham Greene. Orion Pictures, 1990. DVD.

Smoke Signals. By Sherman Alexie, Brian Capener, Brian Berdan, BC Smith, Ron Otis, Ray

Brown, Tim Simonec, and Patrick O'Sullivan. Prod. Sherman Alexie, Chris Eyre, Scott Rosenfelt, Larry Estes, David Skinner, Carl Bressler, Roger Baerwolf, Randy Suhr, Brent Morris, Charles Armstrong, Ron Leamon, and Cynthia Bornia. Dir. Chris Eyre. Perf. Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard, Gary Farmer, Tantoo Cardinal, Cody Lightning, John Michelle. St., Robert Miano, Molly Cheek, Simon Baker, Monique Mojica, Elaine Miles, Michael Greyeyes, Leonard George, John Trudell, Darwin Haine, Tom Skerritt, Cynthia Geary, and Perrey Reeves. Miramax Films, 1998. DVD.
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