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The binary opposition of the noble and the bloodthirsty savage can easily be transferred to the representation of Native American women, who are either presented as the Celluloid or the Sexualized Maiden (Marubbio 2006, 5). In the analyzed movies, the negative stereotype of the Sexualized Maiden or 'bad' Indian woman is absent. The 'good' Indian woman is characterized by her love and devotion to white men, as in The Invaders and White Fawn's Devotion. The Squaw's Love's content is exclusively Indian and shows two Indian women in love with two Indian warriors. The women are developed characters who show a wide array of emotions, from joy to jealousy. One of them even has a moment of rare female heroism, when she dives under the canoes of their followers to cut them open. The only movie that shows Indian women as mothers is White Fawn's Devotion. White Fawn is visibly dismayed by the idea of her husband going east to claim his inheritance and clutches her daughter to her in an overt gesture of claiming the custody for her.

Indian Maids & Indian Children

 

Indian children are absent from all movies but White Fawn's Devotion, where a mixed-race child plays a significant role, and The Vanishing American, where the main character Nophaie has a substantial relationship with Nasja, a boy of about eight. Furthermore, one of the other main characters is a white school teacher on the reservation, which provides many impression of Indian kids passing time playing familiar games and spending time on a modern playground, as seen on the picture on the left. Indian kids in modern clothing playing the same games as white contemporary kids are a stark juxtaposition to the stereotype of the stoic, grim, and brutal warrior. The Vanishing American is also extraordinary in the way that it opposes this grim image by offering images of Nophaie joking around and conversing with Nasja. Especially the joking, which is also present in The Squaw's Love, provides a different image than later movies that rely on the never laughing stoic Indian. White Eagle and Gray Fox, who seem to be perpetually grinning and joking around, are a welcome variation. This category of Indian women, kids, and laughing Indians is what supports the claim that Indian pictures of the silent era differed from later images the most. Sadly the time on screen is accounts for only roughly twenty-three percent of Indian on-screen time. Nevertheless, as can be seen from the chart on the left, this puts the Indian women, kids, and joke-makers visibly ahead of the villain, with 10.8 percent of the combined screen time of all six movies.

Indian kids playing on a modern playground in The Vanishing American.

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