Bibliography
Books:
Adare, Sierra. “””Indian”"”” stereotypes in TV science fiction. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2005.
This book looks at the use of certain stereotypes of the Native American and the context they are used in television. This helped my research by giving me explicit detail of the aspects of Native culture and how they were twisted and contorted to fit the small screen.
Baughman, James. Same Time, Same Station. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007.
Same Time… is full of the history and development of the three major networks: ABC, CBS and NBC. One chapter, titled ‘The Patrons’, led me to question the portrayal and treatment of minorities in early television. And agent wrote “our company policy…[is to] do nothing to incur the ill will of any substantial group of people.” Yet, African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans and others were insulted and degraded daily.
Bolt, Christine. American Indian Policy and American reform. London; Boston: Allen and Unwin, 1987.
An in-depth review of the relationship between the tribes and the American Government. This helped me put into perspective how Natives were being treated, and the battles they were facing merely to thrive as a culture.
Dench, Ernest. Making the Movies. California: The Macmillan company, 1919.
This book talked about the process that went into filmmaking and was used as a primer for early television shows, everything from casting to production. A harsh, and racially biased, portrayal of ‘Redskins’ was quoted to show the reflection of Natives at the time.
Wilkinson, Charles. Blood Struggle: The rise of Modern Indian Nations.New York; London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2005.
This is a dense, but wonderful, book on the trials and tribulations that tribal leaders went through on their way to continue to uphold the pride of their people and continue living amidst their culture. This book helped me gain see some of the situations [politically, economically and socially] that the First Nations were dealing with during the 1950′s into the 1960′s.
Woll, Allen. Ethnic and Racial images in American film and television. New York: Garland, 1987.
A must-read, for it’s accurate and detailed research into the representation of over ten minorities in both film and television. Section XI was dedicated to Native Americans and helped me understand the treatment of Natives, both on screen and off.
Articles:
Gruber, Enid, and Helaine Thau. Sexually Related Content on Television and Adolescents of Color: Media Theory, Physiological Development, and Psychological Impact. The Journal of Negro Education 72.4 (2003). JSTOR.org. Journal of Negro Education. Web. 08 Nov. 2009. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3211195>.
This article deals with the psychological development of Natives, and other races of color, as they perceive their own race on television, and the inherent sexual messages they receive. This showed me a scientific, and straightforward message of what the Native goes through as they see these images.
Price, John. The Stereotyping of North American Indians in Motion Pictures. Ethnohistory 2nd ser. 20 (1973). JSTOR.org. Duke University Press. Web. 8 Nov. 2009. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/481668>.
Price argues that, although the images were still negative, the portrayal of Natives after 1948 actually improved from earlier years, and was getting better as time went on. His stance on Tonto was of great use in my research, as he talked of Silverheels accomplishments in the role, instead of his failures.
Schmidt, Rob. Mark Twain, Indian Hater. BlueCornComics.com. Blue Corn Comics, 28 May 2001. Web. 30 Oct. 2009.
Schmidt examines the fiction and non-fiction of Twain to discover whether or not Twain truly had a distaste for Natives. I used a quote from this article that was taken from one of Twain’s book to show the prevailing attitude towards Natives.
Tan, Alexis, Yuki Fujioka, and Nancy Lucht. Native American Stereotypes, TV Portrayals, and Personal Contact. J&MC Quarterly 2nd ser. 74 (1997). Print.
A well-written, well-researched article on the messages that television gave on Native Americans, and how far they differed from the truth. Another great resource for my paper on the view of Native in the 1950′s and 1960′s.
Nesteroff, Kliph. Tonto via Toronto: The Rise and Fall of Jay Silverheels. WFMU.org. WMFU, 15 Mar. 2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2009.
A detailed history of Jay Silverheels, and his path into film and television that brought him to the role of Tonto. I used this to show the aspects of Tonto that Native activists hated and Silverheels attempts to improve conditions for Native on screen and off.
Mercurie. The invisible Minority: Native Americans on American Television [Parts one and two]. Blogspot.com. Blogspot, 27 July 2009. Web. 5 Nov. 2009. <http://mercurie.blogspot.com/2009/07/invisible-minority-native-americans-on_27.html>
A fantastic exploration of Natives on television, of the Westerns they appeared on and on red face casting. This article was a great help to my research and supplied a lot of material for me in many regards.
Merskin, Debra. Sending up signals: a survey of Native American media use and representation in the mass media. Howard Journal of Communications, 1998, Vol. 9 Issue 4, p333-345, 13p
An excellent resource on the images on natives on television and the differences between the small screen and real life. This helped me gain a real-life view of Native life and culture.
Mihesuah, Devon. American Indian Identities: Issues of Individual Choices and Development. American Indian Culture and Research Journal 2nd ser. 22 (1998). Print.
A historical development phase for those who are biracial and the challenges they face. A wonderful article for seeing into the mind of one who is, or wants to become, culturally Native, and their reactions to television images of Natives.
Vecsey, Christopher. American Indian Environmental Religions. American Indian environments ecological issues in native American history. Syracuse, N.Y: Syracuse UP, 1980. Print.
This book is a collection of essays that “examine Indians’ attitudes toward their world, their subsistence upon it, and their struggles with non-Indians over possession and use of it.” This gave me insight into both sides of the struggle over land, both Natives and non-natives.
Wilson, Pamela. Confronting ‘The Indian Problem’: Media Discourses of Race, Ethnicity, Nation and Empire in 1950s America. In: Living color: race and television in the United States / edited by Sasha Torres. Durham [N.C.]: Duke University Press, 1998.
A very intense and in-depth examination of media’s relationship with minorities. I relied heavily on Wilson’s work, as she gave me wonderful insight and answered many questions that other works left me with.
Videography:
Geller, Bruce. “Scorched Feather.” Have Gun Will Travel. CBS. CBS, 14 Feb. 1959. Television
Native Male
