Throughout the film, "Drums Along the Mohawk" the Indian was given more responsibilities. Meaning, Blueback was able to communicate with the settlers, help them out, and give them "tips" on how to treat women which is a large contrast from "The Battle of Elderbrush Gulch" where the Indians are virtually silent apart from "Me eat dog". Discuss how Blueback's communication with the Americans really only furthers stereotypes of Native Americans. What happened when the directors gave the Native Americans a "voice'? Use examples from Kilpatrick to further your explanation.
During the film, "Drums Along the Mohawk" the music changes drastically when the frame has Indians in it. It's a methodical drum beat that makes one feel on edge. And it usually means that a battle will soon take place or is already happening. What effect does one think music has on viewer in terms of stereotypes? How does it make one feel towards Indians? Do you think it has any effect at all?
Lauren Thompson
Question 1
Ryan Rastl
In the movie, “The Battle of Elderbrush Gulch,” the Indians never had a line in the movie, expect “Me eat dog.” In the “Drums Along the Mohawk,” Blueback an Indian was given more responsibilities in the movie like talking to the settlers about how to treat their wives and what women work is. But, Blueback’s communication with the Americans really only furthers stereotypes of Native Americans. In the “Drums Along the Mohawk,” whenever Blueback talks he sounds like he is drunk or like a little kid. Also when he helps the settlers, he makes very discriminating comments about women like how the settlers should beat their wives. This is only furthers the stereotype, because it makes the Indian look stupid, because he can’t speak good English. Also, another stereotype is that Indians are drunks, and with Blueback talking way he does it only reinforces that stereotype. When Blueback talked in the movie it was for humor purposes or to make a very tense scene lighter. In the book, “Celluloid Indians,” by Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, she said this about Indians speaking in films, “Hollywood had its own ideas of what an Indian sounded like, and the industry went to fairly extreme lengths to get the “authentic” sound” (37). In the movie, when other Indians made sounds it was mostly grunts or screams, and I believe this what Hollywood believed was what an Indian sounded like, and Hollywood only furthered stereotypes of Indians when they made the Indians in the movie say things like that. I believe that Hollywood only furthered the stereotypes of Indians when they were given a chance to speak in a film, they either sound drunk for humor reasons or they were screaming or grunting to make them look like savages. Hollywood didn’t reinforce stereotypes of Indians with just images, but with sounds too.
Question 1
Brandon Eason
Blueback’s dialogue in “Drums Along the Mohawk” was the typical stereotype of Native Americans in film. They only speak broken English in a stoic manner. He was playing the comedic sidekick role throughout the entire film. There wasn’t any part that made you think that Blueback was his own person. His goals were always aligned with the goals of Gil or the other settlers. Whenever he actually presented his opinion on problems (such as the behavior of his Gil’s wife), his response is silly or made to look uncivilized. The other Native Americans in the film didn’t have speaking roles, but there their behavior was also stereotypical of Native Americans in films. They are violent for the sake of being violent. What is the reason for it? Why did they join up with British instead of with the settlers? These questions are never answered. This may be the reason directors didn’t provide Native Americans with large speaking roles in old westerns. They don’t want the viewer to question the intent of the cowboys or settlers. They use the Indians to reinforce the cowboys’ actions. When the Indians speak they sound silly or uncivilized from the viewpoint of the audience. Thus, its ok for the cowboy to take control of the situation. He can attack the Indian, kick him off his own land because the Indian isn’t competent. The voice of Native Americans in many of these old westerns only reinforced known stereotypes.
Moira Pirsch
I agree with what both of my classmates when they say the intention of giving Indians a voice in the example of "Drums Along the Mohawk" was often for purely “humor purposes” or to change the dynamic of a scene in not always a positive way (especially for the Indian who’s voice was being used in this example.” I also found in “Drums Along the Mohawk” the use of noises (grunts or chanting sounds the film implied the Indians were making) when a scene intensified seemed kind of odd. Kilpatrick, in Celluloid Indians, explains the inclusion of these noises or grunts are intentional. "Noises are not without purpose either...it communicates place, time, and circumstande in definite though generally subconcious way." (39) I also found the BlueBack character to be very interesting in the way the filmmakers half give him credit for being a friend, ally, human. They often discount what he may have to say by presenting him as either drunk or without real connection to what the white people were doing. Kilpatrick also recognizes this when she says Indians in film are often, "the worst ally and the best enemy." (58)