The Myths Surrounding the Native Americans - Essay Example

Images and Cultural Myths – Native Americans We grow up surrounded by myths; whether they are the stories used to explain our societies’ world views, or explain certain beliefs, or the indication of our admiration, myths and mythology are found everywhere. However, mythology does not always play a part for the better; sometimes a culture can be guilty of using myths as a way of subjugating a certain class of people living therein. An example of this can be found in the Nazi mythology about the Jews – the Jews were ridiculed and slandered in various publications to instill certain beliefs about them in the German society, until, because of the mythology, most of the Germans started thinking of the Jews in the abstract, and not as real persons. The horrors that erupted against the Jews as a result of this dehumanization are known to all. This aspect of myths will be used herein to denote a much serious aspect of myths – the false beliefs or misconceptions held about real people, the over exaggeration of which can, and often does, harm the people concerned. In this essay, the myths surrounding the Native Americans and, thereby, their portrayal in the popular American culture – sports, to be exact – will be examined. The Native Americans have always been a marginalized group of people in the United States; since the discovery of North America by the Europeans, the Native Americans have found themselves in a very precarious and isolated position. Even today, when racism and most of the racist terminology has been eradicated from the public sphere of the United States, the Native Americans find themselves to be the only group of people who are exempted from this basic right – to be protected from racism and racist slurs. Stereotyped as the savages the Europeans came to civilize, the Native Americans are either shown, mythically, to be wild and fierce warriors, or the noble untamed native who needs to be refined through a European way of life (or in much recent times a mainstream, white American way of life) before he can actually amount to any value. An excellent illustration of the myths surrounding the Native Americans coming to life would be the use of Native Americans, their names and their symbols in sports, as team names, mascots and logos. Some of these logos and mascots have become cultural icons, with teams and fans dancing mock Native American styled dances and chanting such mock chants. The Cleveland baseball team has used another term for Native Americans as their name; “Indians” is, of course, what the Native Americans are also called. Moreover, the team has also used a caricatured Native American as their team mascot: Chief Wahoo. Chief Wahoo is a caricature made on a white background; with his complexion a deep red (no surprise there), straight black hair parted right in the middle, and a hawkish nose, Chief Wahoo is wearing a white headband with a turkey feather stuck in it. This caricature is a classic example of how images are used to perpetuate cultural myths. The “Indians’” Chief Wahoo has all the classic stereotypical physical characteristics of a Native American. What is more, he has a foolish, toothy grin plastered on his face, which urges the onlookers not to take him seriously. An affiliated baseball team from Kinston also takes the name “Indians” for itself. There too, the mascot is a stereotypical, caricatured Native American. Tom E. Hawk (yes, a banal reference to the tomahawk, a traditional Native American axe), appears in a lot of games to bless the team and greet the fans. The mascot is again completely painted red, has long straight black hair, which he has tied in two plaits, a hawkish nose and he wears a whole head dress of turkey feathers. The only difference is that he carries a weapon (a bow and arrow, with a ball skewered into the arrow); however, he also has a huge, foolish smile that insists on his simple minded friendliness. Both these images are offensive to the extreme to anyone with sensibility; as Pewewardy states, there is no connection between Native American warriors, a sacred tradition – warriors were considered to be blessed through sacred religious ceremonies in most Native American traditions, and their status as warriors was also revered – and the “hoopla of a pep rally, half-time entertainment, or being a sidekick to cheerleaders” (Pewewardy). Additionally, this has reduced the Native Americans to people of mythology; Native Americans are not viewed as people who live, walk and talk amongst us, but rather as people from the old years who can be romanticized about, as they no longer exist. This is by no means an homage to the Native Americans in good spirit, as the proponents of these images claim. Rather it is a systemic typecasting of a whole group of people, who do not possess the same characteristics the mythology about them says they do. These myths have dehumanized them, and, as Churchill puts it, they are akin to the Nazi authorized propaganda against the Jews, for which, as he correctly points out, the Nazis were given harsh punishments by the US and its allies in the Nuremberg trials. However, ironic as it may seem, such cultural stereotyping is considered to be okay when it comes to the Native Americans living inside the US, perhaps because they are considered to be too much in the minority to be able to get their outraged voices across. The stereotyping of the Native Americans is not only considered to be okay by those who perpetuate it, but is also claimed to be a way of honoring them. Be that as it may, it is true that the stereotyping of the Native Americans in the US sports has been quite effective in perpetuating the myth – the Native Americans have redskins, they have similar physical characteristics, wear feathers, and are basically low IQ imbeciles, who go about smiling foolishly for no reason. This image has not only damaged the perception of people regarding Native Americans, but has also affected the Native Americans themselves. The images foster a sense of inferiority in the Native Americans, especially the children, who grow up believing the myths that others have set for them to be true. This, in turn, teaches them to be ashamed of their real culture, and want to follow the “superior” culture of the non-Native Americans, which mostly means the culture of white America. Through perpetuating the mythology about the Native Americans, the perpetrators have, in fact, reduced the real, living Native Americans from their status as real persons into people who only exist in folklore. Maybe there are those who find something romantic about the mythology regarding the Native Americans, but the stereotypes found in sports regarding them are anything but romantic. Again, as Churchill pointed out, it is mostly because the Native Americans have been considered to be a group with no political voice, or in other words, nobody cares about them enough to really consider these concerns as legitimate. Perhaps, the most interesting point that Churchill has raised in this regard is that if it is, indeed, in good humor that these Native American images have been used in American sports, then perhaps it is time that people of all races and creeds be made to join in on the fun. For Churchill, the fact that most people would balk at the idea of having a team named “Niggers” or “Kykes” or “Dykes” or “Shylocks”, clearly suggests that taking stereotypical terminology about a certain race and bringing it into the public forefront, by naming sports teams, mascots and logos after them, is clearly not a “good humored homage”, meant to honor the race. The fact that it would be any different for the Native Americans is really surprising. The stereotyping of Native Americans has damaged their perception, both in the eyes of others and themselves, and it is something that should be looked into, as to why the stereotypical mythology perpetuated about the Native Americans reduces them as sub-human, or extinct, in the perception of people. Works Cited Churchill, Ward. “Crimes Against Humanity.” First Nations Issues of Consequence. J.S. Dill, n.d. Web. 8 March 2010. Pewewardy, Cornel D. “The Deculturalization of Indigenous Mascots in the U. S. Sports Culture.” The Educational Forum 66.Summer (1999): 342. Web. 8 March 2010. Read More