Redface

Redface is the term being used to describe the wearing of feathers, warpaint, etc. by non-natives which perpetuate Native American stereotypes, analogous to the wearing of Blackface.[1] In the early twentieth century, it was often Jewish performers, coping with their own limited access to mainstream society, who adopted blackface or redface.[2] In the early days of television sitcoms, "non-Native sitcom characters donned headdresses, carried tomahawks, spoke broken English, played Squanto at Thanksgiving gatherings, received "Indian" names, danced wildly, and exhibited other examples of representations of redface".[3]

The copying from minority cultures by members of a dominant culture is cultural appropriation, which is not universally viewed as a negative activity with regard to "artistic borrowing".[4] However, redface has been used to describe non-native adoption of indigenous culture, no matter how sympathetic, such as the painters in the Taos Society of Artists during the early 20th Century portraying themselves in their own works wearing native clothing.[5]

Redface in sports, fashion and pop culture

While now often associated with the behavior of sports fans for teams with Native American names or mascots,[6] redface also includes other instances such as "Indian" Halloween costumes, or headdresses as a fashion accessory.[7]

Redface in Hollywood movies

Westerns were a popular film genre from the 1930s to the early 1960s. A common plot involved conflict between Native Americans and the cavalry, settlers, or both. Native actors, when present, usually portrayed minor characters or extras.

Espera Oscar de Corti, an Italian-American, had a decades-long career portraying Native Americans as Iron Eyes Cody.

Beginning in the late 1960s, westerns attempted to depict a more realistic and balanced view of the Old West in movies such as Little Big Man. However, the casting of Johnny Depp as Tonto, in Disney’s 2013 revival of "The Lone Ranger" was labelled as "redface".[8]

Notable films

Last of the Mohicans

The James Fenimore Cooper novel "The Last of the Mohicans" was filmed many times. Not until 1992 were Native Americans cast in all the major roles in the story of Uncas son of Chingachgook who was the last "Mohican" until he was killed by Magua, a Huron chief. The actual Mohicans continue to live in the Hudson River Valley.

Film dateChingachgookMaguaUncasNotes
1920 Theodore Lorch Wallace Beery Alan Roscoe American
1920 Béla Lugosi Kurt Rottenburg German
1932 Hobart Bosworth Bob Kortman Frank Coghlan Jr. American Serial
1936 Robert Barrat Bruce Cabot Phillip Reed American
1947 Buster Crabbe Rick Vallin American, retitled "Last of the Redskins"
1965 José Marco José Manuel Martín Daniel Martín A Spanish/Italian production done in the style of a Spaghetti Western, the character Magua is renamed "Cunning Fox"
1965 Mike Brendel Ricardo Rodríguez Daniel Martín German: Der letzte Mohikaner
1977 Ned Romero Robert Tessier Don Shanks Romero was of Chitimacha ancestry

See also

References
  1. The Associated Press (March 17, 2019). "Native Americans say movement to end 'redface' is slow". The Oregonian.
  2. Peter Antelyes (2009). "Haim Afen Range: The Jewish Indian and the Redface Western". MELUS. Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States. 34 (3): 15–42. doi:10.1353/mel.0.0047. JSTOR 40344855. S2CID 126754809.
  3. Dustin Tahmahkera (2008). "Custer's Last Sitcom: Decolonized Viewing of the Sitcom's "Indian"". American Indian Quarterly. University of Nebraska Press. 32 (3): 324–351. doi:10.1353/aiq.0.0012. JSTOR 25487882. S2CID 161435088.
  4. Young, James O. (2010). Cultural Appropriation and the Arts. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 156. ISBN 9781444332711. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  5. John Ott (2009). "Reform in Redface: The Taos Society of Artists Plays Indian". American Art. The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. 23 (2): 80–107. doi:10.1086/605710. JSTOR 10.1086/605710. S2CID 191229545.
  6. Erik Brady (July 21, 2014). "Native American activists seek to eliminate 'redface'". USA TODAY Sports.
  7. Adrienne J. Keene, EdD (November 1, 2010). "Native Appropriations: Paris Hilton as a "Sexy Indian"". Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  8. "Depp provokes Lone Ranger race row over 'redface' Tonto". The Times. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  9. "Redface at the Movies 1950-1960". BGSU - University Library. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
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