Making Indiansin the 19th-Century Press

John M. Coward Faculty of Communication The University of Tulsa

“Making Indians”My simple thesis:

—Native Americans were and are real people from varied and complex societies, but they have long been ignored or misunderstood by mainstream Americans and media.

—The “Indian” was a white invention, a small set of stereotypes produced and endlessly repeated in American popular culture, including news.

“Making Indians”My complex thesis:—Popular representations of Indians are

deeply rooted in the nation’s history and social fabric

—Ideas and images of Indians were and are narrowly constructed, mostly stereotypes

—Popular meanings of Indians and “Indianness” are largely predetermined and seemingly obvious

Evidence from the Press

1819

“It is well known that the pagan part of these [Six Nations], which compose a large majority of the whole, have always strenuously opposed any advance towards civilization.”

—Niles’ National Register

Evidence from the Press

1830“[R]elative to the Cherokees,…the

wandering Indian has been converted into the industrious husbandman; and the tomahawk and rifle are exchanging for the plough, the hoe, the wheel, and the loom,…attaining a degree of civilization that was entirely unexpected….”

—Niles’ National Register

Evidence from the Press

1838

“Bold and decisive in action, deadly but consistent in hatred, dark in revenge, cool, subtle, sagacious in council,…[Oceola] established…a resistless ascendancy over his adoptive tribe….” --Charleston (S.C.)Mercury

Evidence from the Press

1844

“The North American Indian in his native state, is an honest, hospitable, faithful, brave, warlike, cruel, revengeful, relentless,—yet honourable, contemplative and religious being.”

--George Catlin

Evidence from the Press

1856“The outrages perpetuated upon the

citizens of Oregon are of the most startling character. The old Indian wars, even of New England and Virginia, furnish no pictures of riot and murder, as mark every hour upon the Columbia….”—Democratic Review, Washington, D.C.

Evidence from the Press

1860

“One needs but little familiarity with the actual, palpable aborigines to convince any one that the poetic Indian—the Indian of Cooper and Longfellow—is only visible to the poet’s eye.”

—Horace Greeley

Evidence from the Press

1860

“Squalid and conceited, proud and worthless, lazy and lousy, [Indian men] will strut out their existence, and at length afford the world a sensible relief by dying out of it.”

—Horace Greeley

Evidence from the Press

1864

“Among the brilliant feats of arms in Indian warfare, the recent [Sand Creek] campaign of our Colorado volunteers will stand in history with few rivals and none to exceed it in final results…. All acquitted themselves well, and Colorado soldiers have again covered themselves with glory.”

—Rocky Mountain News

Evidence from the Press1864

“As the ‘bold sojer boys’ passed along, the sidewalks…were thronged with citizens…expressing their admiration for the gallant boys who donned the regimentals for the purpose of protecting the women of the country, by ridding it of red-skins.”

—Rocky Mountain News

Evidence from the Press

1867

“Another terrible Indian massacre took place at Fort Buford…. Colonel Rankin, wife, child and the whole garrison of eighty souls were slaughtered. Colonel Rankin shot his wife to prevent her falling in the hands of the Indians.”

—Harper’s Weekly

Evidence from the Press1874

“On the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, Indians is the cry on all sides. Yesterday Albert Lesenger was killed by the savage fiends; and they are burning railroad bridges and driving off the stock….”

—Chicago Tribune

Evidence from the Press

1876

“It is agreed on all hands that there must now be an Indian war till the hostile Indians of the North-west have been chastised and subjugated.”

—The New York Times

Evidence from the Press

1876“Let that christian philanthrophy which

weeps over the death of a lazy, lousy, lying, stealing red skin, whose hands are still reeking with the blood of defenceless women and children,… take a back seat.”

—The Bismarck (N.D.) Tribune

Evidence from the Press

1881

“To talk of civilizing and christianizing the Indian without first thrashing him into fear is the sheerest nonsense. He is a lout and must be made to fear before he can be made to respect.”

—Arizona Weekly Star

Evidence from the Press

1890“The governor of [South Dakota] has issued

a large number of Springfield rifles to ranchers and cowboys for protection…. It is reported that some cowboys have lain near the reservation lines for Indians and when they appear shoot at them….”

—The (Washington, D.C.) Evening Star

The 19th-century verdictTwo kinds of IndiansGood: Noble, free, Christian, religious,

honest, honorable, hospitable, brave, docile, progressive.

Bad: Savage, squalid, treacherous, fiendish, worthless, conceited, resistant, pagan, lying, stealing, cruel, deadly, bloodthirsty, lousy

So what?—Newspapers helped create and sustain this

dichotomy, oversimplified categories that interfered with more accurate, sensitive, and humane portrayals of Indians.

—The journalistic legacy lives on, embedded in popular discourse and imagery.

—Then and now, the press and public believes they “know” what Indians look like, what they wear, how they talk, how they act, and so on.

The Problem of the PressTraditional news values do not always serve

the truth when applied to Native Americans

The facts themselves are not necessarily neutral or objective in many Indian stories

The media has a civic and moral responsibility to learn about other American cultures and to go beyond the sensational and the episodic

The Lessons of History —Reporting on Native Americans has a

highly checkered legacy, and remains an obstacle to accuracy, understanding, and reconciliation

—Stereotypes hurt, reinforcing preexisting ideas and reducing empathy

—History, knowledge, and context is crucial