Hollywood's Indian

The Portrayal of the Native American in Film

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Edited by Peter C. Rollins and John E. O'Connor

Type: Studies
Subject: Sociology
Keywords: Native Americans, representation, social aspects
Publishing date: 2003
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 250 pages
6 x 9 inches (15 x 23 cm)

ISBN-10 ISBN-13

0-8131-9077-0
978-0-8131-9077-8

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Book Presentation:
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.

About the authors:
Peter C. Rollins is Regents Professor Emeritus of English and American Film Studies at Oklahoma State University and is former editor of the journal Film & History. He is the coeditor of numerous books, including Hollywood’s Indian: The Portrayal of the Native American in Film.

John E. O’Connor is professor emeritus of the Federated Department of History at New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University. He is also a founding editor of Film & History and the coeditor of several books.

Press Reviews:
Raises interesting issues and challenges readers to consider the complex realities of American Indian cultures and Indian/non-Indian relations that major motion pictures often fail to communicate. -American Graduate

Important and groundbreaking work. -Bookman News

Enables readers to construct a cinematic chronology of the Hollywood Indian and to comprehend the larger cultural forces at work interpreting the Indian-white past on screen. -Choice

Rollins and O'Connor have skillfully blended a variety of thoughtful veiwpoints. -Chronicles of Oklahoma

A collection of quality essays, put together by two of the leading experts in this particular topic area. -Communication Booknotes Quarterly

Hollywood's representation of Indians is a subject which up till now has generated a lot more heat than light. This welcome new collection of essays covers a lot of ground... including a valuable piece on Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans and earlier versions of Cooper's 'Leatherstocking Tales,' a surprisingly and convincingly sympathetic essay on Dances with Wolves, and an informative account of Pocahontas. -Edward Buscombe

Will become the standard source for reference for an important subject, not only in American contemporary popular culture, but for evolving attitudes in a new century. -Film and History

The essays provide valuable ways to think about the meaning and impact of Hollywood's portrayal of American Indian characters. -Great Plains Quarterly

Offers an engaging and timely update to previous critical anthologies. -H-Net Book Review

An engaging and timely update to previous critical anthologies. -Journal of American Culture

The value of this collection resides in the concentrated attention it gives to the portrayal of Native Americans on film. -Journal of American Ethnic History

The essays are solid pieces that place the films in a proper historical and artistic context. -Journal of American History

The essays add to the growing literature on films about American Indians, and individually, they provide interesting insights into the process of movie-making and viewing. -North Carolina Historical Review

A welcome contribution to the lively and timely debate on the representation of ethnic minorities in the media. -Zeitscrift fur Anglistik und Amerikanistik

An excellent set of essays on the subject. -Choice