{"id":1526,"date":"2017-09-26T00:54:53","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T05:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=1526"},"modified":"2017-09-26T00:55:00","modified_gmt":"2017-09-26T05:55:00","slug":"the-misrepresentation-of-native-american-culture-in-mass-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2017\/09\/26\/the-misrepresentation-of-native-american-culture-in-mass-media\/","title":{"rendered":"The Misrepresentation of Native American Culture in Mass Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the modern day of 2017, so much of our lives are spent online. We as people have the universe at our fingertips – with so much information out there, what all can be considered trustworthy? An issue with the concept of Mass Media is that anything and everything can be found somewhere online. Anyone who is able to access the internet is able to contribute their information and knowledge. Like moths to a flame, we are instantly bound to the first bit of information we see and accept it as fact. This leads to many issues spanning across many topics. In the past few years, the concept of \u201cCultural Appropriation\u201d has exploded across everywhere and everything. To be correct when describing, defining, or demonstration any form of culture is so incredibly vital that issues arise when someone does this incorrectly. With it being so easy to misappropriate a culture in Media, what are we able to trust and how does the mass media change our perception of different cultures through their ideas of appropriation?<\/span><\/p>\n

Native American culture is found in the roots of this country’s foundation. Often, when considering American history we forget that America was populated BEFORE 18th century colonization. The culture of Native Americans is one that has been appropriated for hundreds of years, through music, art, dance, etc. Because of this, our concept of this culture has been warped by pop culture and media as demonstrated in this cartoon\u2026<\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This cartoon presents the problem of misappropriation. This boy only identifies \u201cIndians\u201d as the overly stereotypical form displayed in movies, sports teams, or cartoons. To him, this girl who looks \u201cnormal\u201d doesn\u2019t fit that stereotype and thus he questions her cultural authenticity. <\/span><\/p>\n

Another example of this kind of appropriation occurs in cartoons. One example in particular is in Seth Macfarlane’s TV cartoon comedy \u201cFamily Guy\u201d. In the episode <\/span>The Life of Brian <\/span><\/i>the episode begins with Stewie and Brian running from a band of Indians in a modern day city. They explore and make racist remarks about their ways of transportation, medicine, clothing, and music.<\/span><\/p>\n