Lesson 4: Native American Images in the Media

In this lesson, students will learn about the images of Native American identity presented in the media. They will reevaluate their common knowledge of Native Americans, in a continuation of lesson 1, and will learn about different archetypes or tropes that Native Americans fulfill in mainstream media, as well as how negative images of social groups or cultures can become stereotypes. They will challenge these images, and study a particular archetype of Native Americans in film, and what the purpose of these images can be, in dominant culture. This lesson will examine Native American identity from external perceptions, revisiting the meaning of identity from the external lens; they will also understand how portrayals in media have impacted Native American identity, looking at “The Newspaper Indian”, many media tropes of Native Americans, and, in particular, of Pocahontas.