Injun Country: Difference between revisions

== [[Film]] ==

* ''[[Dances with Wolves]]'' has both extreme flavors of the trope. The Pawnee tribe is purely malevolent, slaughtering a harmless white man for entering their land. The Lakota tribe, however, are proud, noble, far superior to the madness of white society, and tragically doomed. Many Lakota were not happy about being portrayed as helpless innocents in need of a [[Mighty Whitey]].

* The films ''[[Smoke Signals]]'' and ''[[The Business Of Fancy Dancing]]'' are insider views of present-day Indian reservations; and examine the issues that modern Native Americans face. Both films were written, and the latter directed, by Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene author, screenwriter, and poet.

* The ending of ''[[Stroszek]]'' takes place on a reservation.

* Jim Jarmusch's ''[[Dead Man (film)|Dead Man]]'' is a thoroughly modern take on Injun Country, portraying the madness of white industrialism encroaching into the American Frontier. The main character's train passes the tipis and bison of the Great Plains to arrive somewhere in the American Northwest. The hero is never in any danger from Indians, and in the end, he arrives at a Makah village, which looks very different from the stereotypical tipi camp.

* In ''[[The New World]]'', the Virginian Powhatan tribe is portrayed, and they are much different from the standard Great Plains stereotype. Though ominous and warlike at first, they enjoy a much more favorable portrayal then the initial white settlers. The Powhatan are shown to be clean, fit, and prosperous, while the English fort is filthy and filled with sick, hideous, mean people. As the film goes on, however, Pocahontas learns to appreciate English culture as well, and she is enchanted by England when she visits it.

* ''[[The Outlaw Josey Wales]]'' takes place in a revisionist Injun Country. The primary conflict is between white soldiers on opposite sides of the Civil War. Josey acquires an Indian companion who grouses about the white man but also subverts various stereotypes. While holed up in a ranch house that has been fortified against Indian attack, Josey has a heart-to-heart with the honorable chief of the local tribe to avoid a conflict with them.

* ''Renegade'' (aka ''[[Blueberry]]'') features a white lawman who was adopted into an Indian tribe in his youth. He lives with one foot in his white frontier town and one foot in Injun Country. Indians are portrayed as wise and mystical people whose knowledge of hallucinogens ultimately allows the hero to achieve a climactic epiphany.

* ''[[Maverick (film)|Maverick]]'' subverts the classic Wild West Injun Country. Maverick's Indian friend is a sly, greedy conman who helps Maverick pull a trick on his companions and bilks money from a wealthy white hunter, who wants the Indians to behave like they do in the books.

* In ''[[Appaloosa]]'', the heroes chase the villains into Injun Country. When they're all attacked by a war band, the white folks all agree to a truce until they get out of Injun Country.

* In ''[[Stagecoach]]'', the stagecoach enters Apache country and must ultimately flee from a swarm of angry Apaches giving chase.

* In ''[[Fort Apache]]'' the very reason for the fort's existence is to keep in check the unruly Apache populace.

* Parodied in the western comedy ''[[The Villain]]''; there's a literal white line drawn across the desert, and when some pursuing Indians reach it, they screech to a stop; the one guy who tumbles across hurriedly scrambles back.

* Hilariously lampooned in ''[[Cannibal! The Musical]]'', where Alfred Packer and his party pass through a Ute settlement. All of the Native Americans are played by ''Japanese'' actors. There's even a scene showing the tribal warriors practicing their katas. The chief points out all the stereotypical aspects of their camp and dress to try to convince the whites that they're genuine.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* ''[[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'' ends with our protagonist announcing that it is his intention to move out here and have a hollerin' good time with the Injuns. In the TV series ''The New Adventures of [[Huckleberry Finn]]'', he actually ends up in ''India''.

* The American poet and author Sherman Alexie is known for using (and often deconstructing) this setting. Incidentally, he grew up on a reservation. He's Spokane-Coeur d'Alene.

* The works of 19th century writer Karl May are the uber-example of this trope for anyone who learned to read in German as a kid. Despite never having been to the then still Wild West himself,<ref>presumably because he spent several years in prison for fraud</ref> he wrote vivid first-person accounts of "his" encounters with [[Noble Savage]] Apache [[Winnetou]].

 

* ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]'' had an episode where the family went to a casino; Malcolm got in trouble for card-counting for his father.

* ''[[The X-Files]]'' episode "Shapes" is set on an Indian reservation whose elders complain about people turning away from their old beliefs. An Indian Reservation in Montana [[California Doubling|that looks a lot more like the west coast of British Columbia]]. Thankfully, the native people shown avert both the [[Noble Savage]] and Casino Indian stereotypes.

* ''Deadwood'' features a [[Reconstruction]] of their original role in Westerns - the Sioux are largely just the faceless Threat From Without, and are seen committing random raids and murders. At one point, Bullock gets into a mano-a-mano with a [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]] who thought shooting him would be too easy.

 

* ''[[Shadowrun]]'' has the extreme example, with the return of magic to the world allowing Amerindians to (re)take the western half of the continent. The new nations vary wildly; some of have become high-tech powerhouses, while others sink ever-further into squalor and decay.

* Basically wherever the Wendigo werewolf tribe hangs out in ''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]'' (especially the ''Wild West'' setting). The more militant ones are still mightily pissed off at the European werewolves who moved in with roughly the same beliefs as the normal humans regarding the New World (they also [[Sealed Evil in a Can|released the Eater of Souls]] by accident, but water under the bridge, eh?).

 

* ''[[Drawn Together]]'' has a bunch of Indian ghosts building an absurdly huge casino in the house's backyard. Captain Hero and Spanky Ham start making money with fraudulent bets, while Foxxy Love and Princess Clara start a strip club in the house.

* ''[[South Park]]'' features a nearby Indian reservation. In one episode, Cartman finds out that a local Indian man had slept with his mother and visits the reservation to speak with him. Another episode lampoons the New Agey makeover of Indian culture. The owner of an alternative medicine shop exalts the virtues of natural medicine developed by local Indian tribesmen. It turns out that the cures are useless shams, and the "Indians" were just Mexicans anyway. The episode "Red Man's Greed" features the local tribe opening an Indian casino and trying to wipe out the white townsfolk with blankets infected with SARS. Stan cures the townsfolk by going on a vision quest and rediscovering the traditional medicines of his people: [[Day Quil]], chicken noodle soup, and Sprite.

 

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[[Category:Native American Tropes]]

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