Essay: American Indian Clichés

Stereotypes play an integral part into how we are treated as individuals. First impressions are often surface level — just like how our pigmentation is only skin-deep. Many of the characters in “The Surrounded” are prejudged due to their affiliations and these restrictions on their persons are only broken through personal interaction while the initial reaction does not change towards the affiliated groups. Stereotypes do not go away because when you lump people into groups certain attributes are tied to them. Instead, through individual experience and understanding, stereotypes are broken by seeing people of certain ethnic groups as unique individuals that do not fit into easy categories and through these individuals in your life as an influence, group affiliations are changed. “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” is quoted to Martin Luther King Jr when he spoke about breaking away from the categories that he felt black citizens were tied down under. By showcasing yourself positively, how the larger group is viewed will slowly change over time.

To start with, what is a stereotype? A stereotype is simply a common over-simplified concept that a wide number of people hold to be universally true for members of a certain group.  Common ones would be things like, ‘all Asians are smart’ or, ‘all geeks have huge square-shaped glasses with tape holding them together’ or, ‘all Hispanics are incredibly funny’. Stereotypes are not harmful by nature and we have them to aid our understanding of the world. The problem is when these stereotypes affect the way individual members of that group are treated because it over simplifies their person and makes unhealthy assumptions about their behavior and interests. According to “Myths and Stereotypes About Native Americans”, the authors state, “When it comes to Americans’ knowledge about Natives American culture and history, one might say there are two types of people — those who know nothing about Natives and those who know less than that.” (pg 1) The oversimplification of this highly diverse group of people has caused in many cases for certain tribal groups to be completely ostracized by the American public for not meeting these preconceived prerequisites for what it means to be a Native American tribe. While stereotypes are based in truth, applying them as if they concern most if not all cases can be very dangerous. This has been seen even on the academic level where seven United States textbooks have been found to portray Native Americans as being tied down to reservation life, going so far that, “none of the textbooks actually report how two-thirds (65%) majority of Native Americans do NOT live on reservations.” (Hawkins, pg 53) This is a serious problem because these stereotypes are not being used individually to understand what unites certain group members together but rather to systemically view them as oppressed and second-rate citizens. What was supposed to be benign and useful in aiding basic appreciation of another culture has led to a lie that harms them both as individual members in society and as a group. In “The Only Good Indian is a Dead Indian,” Mieder explains, “As long as the white majority population of the United States retain its prejudices and stereotypes about this minority population, the proverb [the only good Indian is a dead Indian] will not cease to exist.” (pg 56) Many of the common stereotypes about these tribal people are causing real damage to their image and their treatment within society. How someone is perceived has a huge impact on what type of life is possible for them to live.

In the poem, “The Exaggeration of Despair,” a person is noticing the destitution that surrounds many Indian lives, especially when they inhabit the reservation allotted to their tribal group. The poem emphasizes the pessimism that the people feel living in their situation and the desperate measures that they go to in an effort to survive. “and this Indian woman was born to an Indian woman / who sold her for a six-pack and a carton of cigarettes / and this Indian poet shivers beneath the freeway / and begs for enough quarters to buy pencil and paper” (pg 424) The hopelessness in these lines portray a lack of empathy that deeply affects their living conditions. The stereotypes of reservation life and what it means to be a member of a Native American tribe has created a self-fulfilling prophecy that keeps these people in a state of misery without an easy escape.

While there are common elements, these stereotypes harm each person in a different way. In “The Surrounded”, Max Leon’s impression of the Salish people cause him to separate from his wife due to their inability to trust each other. (pg 10) After the book plays out, several of Max’s conceptions of the Salish change and so he requests his son, Archilde, to plead for his wife, Catharine Le Loup, to move back into his home as his wife again. (pg 177, pg 183) She agrees without much hesitation because she has a strong forgiving nature which Max had not considered previously as he had viewed her too much like a stereotypical Salish squaw instead of as an individual woman who was his wife.

McNickle emphasizes the stereotypes given to tribal people by making all of the minor characters personify these attributes. Hoefel explains that all of the female characters have been, “[d]epicted as squaws, princesses or heathens to be converted, they have been stereotyped, often at the cost of their former status within tribes.” (pg 46) This has been done to emphasize the perspective of the speaker in those moments. When Archilde first returns home, his view on native peoples is negative and limiting. After reconnecting with his mother and other family members, Archilde develops a better understanding of them and stops viewing them adversely.

Archilde’s personal struggle to overcome his perspective that he gained while away at school is aided by the women in his life who, “defy the persistent impotence of [Archilde’s] misguided ‘kindness’ which arrives, unbidden and oblivious.” (Hoefer, pg 52) The two most clear examples of this would be at the end of the novel when Archilde sees the situation most transparently. The first case would be when he encounters the old woman who, “could not even understand that he wished to help.” (pg 234) By encountering this woman, he sees firsthand how terrible the poverty of the people could be, forcing him to realize that there was to be no simple solution for fixing the problems that native people face. A little while later, he encounters a starved mare who had too much pride to be helped but in his obstinance and short-sightedness, pursues the idea of helping her until the only mercy he can show is death. (pg 238-242) At the beginning of the story, he probably would have shrugged off this event as just a dumb animal too stupid to accept the help offered and go about his day but because of all that he has learnt throughout the story, he comes to understand that the Salish people are just like that horse in that what may seem to be a kindness can be considered hindrance to their way of life. Even so, these new revelations that he has accumulated did not change his initial effort to help without understanding because the image that he holds of the native people has not changed — merely his view of certain individuals has modified his conception of their ability to fit within his stereotypes of them.

A prime example of this would be the guilt of Faithful Catharine after she murdered the man who shot her son. She grew up with Catholic beliefs and so confessed her sin to the local priest but when that did not satisfy the remorse in her heart, she determined that she had to fall back onto the old ways of the tribe: “The Whip has covered the Fault.” (pg 49) She pleaded her case to the other Salish members and once they finished talking, she got her wish. (pg 211) Their personal methods of dealing with justice fit into their beliefs systems more authentically and so were more accepted than the rules of general society. Goldberg explains this point as such, “[W]hen tribal communities do not consent to the criminal justice system operating within their territory, when that system is culturally incompatible with the community’s understandings of justice, and when the system is perceived to be unfair, the system will lack legitimacy.” (pg 851) The legal system that everyone wanted Catharine Le Loup to follow would have led her to confessing her crime in court after her Confession. However, the Salish people do not right wrongs in that way and she did not believe that it was necessary to have her say in court when her sin was in retaliation against her son’s murder. She believed that she deserved personal punishment for the game warden’s death but saw no need for legality. The Sheriff and those involved in the case viewed this reasoning as an act of defiance and immorality while the Native Americans considered their methods to count the issue as resolved. This difference of opinion helped reinforce negative stereotypes about native behavior due to a lack of understanding and compromise between these separate methods of resolving the transgression. The medium between these two opposing forces was Archilde who believed in following the national law but found it difficult to convince himself that his mother should have to investigated by this system that she did not accept as legitimate. In this way, Archilde rids himself of his predetermined assessments of tribal resistance to modernization by acquainting with the people.

One of the most effective ways in literature to emphasize the importance of an issue is through satire and exaggeration. McNickle based the premise of “The Surrounded” off of his own youth (Goldberg, pg 839) and then expanded the story to the climax of the composition. In his first draft of the story, Archilde managed to travel to Spain and lived a happy life after accepting integration. However, after reuniting with his own mother and realizing the disservice that message left the Native populations, McNickle revised the story to convey a message to the majority population about the harmful effects of their current thought processes towards the tribal peoples. One of the ways he does so is by personifying quite a few of these stereotypes into his characters. “Most of McNickle’s Salish respond to the prohibition of their traditional economic practices by relying on government handouts or engaging in illegal activities.” (Christensen, pg 13) A common stereotype of Native Americans is that they are all gambling, drunk fools who waste away their days on reservations without amounting to anything. When Archilde comes back to the reservation for one last visit to his family, he learns from his parents that his brother is wanted for being a horse thief. (pg 4, 11) The book starts off with the premise that reservation Indians all live by these negative stereotypes and those who live in the town nearby expect nothing else out of them than just that. For example, George Moser complains about their drunkenness and the debt that the natives owe him while at Father Grepilloux’s funeral service. (pg 146-147) Even Archilde’s father who is married to an Indian woman and had several children with her holds these stereotypes as truth to the point that he exclaims, “What kind of Indian are you, then?” (pg 6) when Archilde admits that he does not play card games. This strong oversimplification of the tribe allows the revelations made by the characters later in the story appear to be more dramatic as they unveil the truths that they have been denying the entire time by relying on common stereotypes to understand the situation.

McNickel spent his life trying to modify the perceptions that the general public had towards this minority group through his works. In “The Surrounded” most of this effort is shown through the character development in Max Leon and his son, Archilde, as they come to appreciate and understand the Salish community. Not all of McNickle’s efforts were as subtle as this approach in his other works. “In 1949 McNickle published a history of American Indians in the United States, the first comprehensive history written by a Native American. They Came Here First contained descriptions of the diverse and ingenious peoples who had lived in the Americas before 1492. He described native legal systems and religious beliefs and reviewed the history of contact and European expansion.” (Hoxie, pg 9) As mentioned previously, even historical textbooks have been misinformed about native life (Hawkins, pg 53) and by creating his own source to represent their history, McNickle was hoping to break down some misconceptions and reveal the simpleminded approach that the tribal peoples had been viewed with. Unfortunately, They Came Here First was written over 65 years ago and most of the stereotypes have not gone away or changed. Why is this so? Mieder explains that, “[r]ationality is not part of stereotyping, but changing the truth and perpetuating lies are definite ingredients.” (pg 54) Hearing the truth is not enough to change a person’s mind. If this was so, there would not a war on GMO’s or vaccinations in this country. It is only through personal experience and a willingness to listen that change can occur. Knowledge does not sink in without hands-on experience. This is why students enroll in lab sections when they are taking science courses. This is why mission trips are considered so life-changing to the people that travel to unfamiliar country. You cannot help someone that you do not know.

By publishing works of literature that express the real frustrations and issues of native peoples, the urgency to change the current awareness of their issues and who they are has expanded from those who are intimately involved in the situation to people all across the world. However, this alone is not enough of an effort by itself. “First, it seems clear that Native American historical perspectives vary over time and space . . . Second, and perhaps more interesting, is the fact that none of these major interpretive approaches can trace itself to pre contact Native American culture . . . suggest[ing] that Native American perspectives on the past are products of history as well as of cultural inheritance.” (Hoxie, pg 13) Every tribe is different in how they have been affected by Westernization even though some elements have remained constant between them. Members in these tribes are even more diverse than the differences between tribes and so approaching the situation requires much care and thought for the efforts of those concerned to be useful. Only through personally interacting with the people that wish to be helped for the purpose of understanding who they are and what they need can the endeavors of outsiders be beneficial.

In conclusion, stereotypes have a strong influence on the treatment of individuals. The simple judgements that are made when we learn of group affiliations help simplify complex subject matters. However, the over usage of these easy tools can cause harm when a more personalized understanding is essential. In the case of Native Americans, the common stereotypes of who they are and how they live have resulted in a strong need for change. However, stereotypes are like bad habits and do not break just because you say ‘please’. Only by familiarization and a willingness to listen can these stereotypes be broken by showing how ill-fitting these broad generalizations are for the people in question. How can we aid one of the most repressed minority groups in the United States? Know who they are.

Works Cited

Christensen, Laird. “Not Exactly Like Heaven.” Editorial. University of Nebraska Press 1999: 2-16. Print.

Fleming, Walter C; Juneau, Carol. “Myths and Stereotypes About Native Americans.” Editorial. ProQuest 30 April 2016: 1-8. Print.

Goldberg, Carole. “A Native Vision of Justice.” Editorial. Michigan Law Review April 2013: 836-854. Print.

Hawkins, Jeffrey. “Smoke Signals, Sitting Bulls, and Slot Machines: A New Stereotype of Native Americans?” Editorial. Multicultural Perspectives 2005: 51-54. Print.

Hoefel, Roseanne. “Gendered Cartography: Mapping the Mind of Female Characters in D’Arcy McNickle’s The Surrounded.” Editorial. University of Nebraska Press 1998: 45-64. Print.

Hoxie, Frederick E. “Thinking Like an Indian.” Editorial. Project Muse March 2001: 1-14. Print.

McNickle, D'Arcy. The Surrounded. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico, 1978. Print.

Mieder, Wolfgang. “The Only Good Indian is a Dead Indian.” Editorial. University of Illinois Press 1993: 38-60. Print.

Purdy, John Lloyd., and James Ruppert. Nothing But the Truth: An Anthology of Native American Literature. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print.