"Indian Pictures":
Film Portrayals of Native Americans in the Silent Era
The Invaders, a 1912 Kay-Bee production directed by Thomas Ince, is commonly considered to be one of the first Indian-themed movies with a strong Western component that shifts its narrative to the Plains Wars. It reaches a complexity and quality that Griffith never achieved, Scott Simmon claims (Simmon 2003, 56). The use of Oglala Sioux as actors who play all Indian characters except the chief's daughter contributes to a more authentic depiction than other historical dramas at the same time achieved (Buscombe 2006, 90-2; Simmon 2003, 63).
The Invaders (1912)
summary
The US government agrees to not settle any further Sioux land after some land cessions and both parties sign a treaty. A year later, surveyors for the Transcontinental Railroad arrive and start surveying the land nevertheless. The chief's daughter, Sky Star, meets one of the surveyors and they fall in love. When her father learns of the invasion of his lands, he goes to the post and protests the invasion. When the whites do not retreat, he asks the Cheyenne to join him and the two tribes plan an uprising. Sky Star rushes to the military post to warn her lover, but she is injured and reaches the settlement only after the fighting has already begun. The Colonel's daughter takes her in and cares for her while on lieutenant rides off to get help from the next fort. Eventually, the Colonel tries to use Sky Star as a hostage and threatens to kill her if the Indians renew their attack. But when the colonel and his daughter return to the log cabin to check on her, she has already succumbed to her wounds. The Colonel informs the Sioux chief that he was mistaken and that Sky Star is not at the post. In the face of the Indian attack, his daughter begs him to shoot her and the colonel is about to do so when reinforcement arrives and they are saved. The last shot is within the cabin where Sky Star lies dead, the colonel, his daughter and her husband are all visibly regretful and sad.
tone
Indians are clearly the wronged party in this film. The treaty text is shown three times in total, making both its terms and the fact that it was broken by the US government abundantly clear. Nevertheless, the attack on the post is merciless and brutal and the first people to be called “victims” are white. Furthermore, the Indian maid prefers the white man over her Indian suitor who is reasonably rich and liked by her father. Also, even though she favors the white surveyor, even consensual miscegenation is avoided by her death. Miscegenation through rape is equaled with the dishonoring of the woman, as demonstrated by the Colonel's daughter's attempt to die before the Sioux and Cheyenne arrive at the post. On the other hand, a more positive attitude towards Indians can be found in the fact that Sky Star is portrayed as a heroine who gives her life to save the whites.
representation
The Sioux are presented as smart and fair – they can read, they know their rights, they protest in a civil manner before they go to war, only go to war after diplomacy hasn't worked, and they form alliances to fight the whites, they effectively communicate with the Cheyenne via blanket signals. Except for Sky Star non of the Indians have names which sets her apart from other Indian characters, as does her screen time which lies at almost twenty-three percent (Fig. 11). The other Indian characters such as "the chief" or the “an unwelcome suitor”, and thus resemble types more than actual characters. Nevertheless, it remains that the Indian attack is justified by the broken treaty, thus, providing the characters with a motivation that sets them apart from later screen images of Indians.