Cowboys and Indians: Perceptions of Western Films Among American Indians and Anglos
Author(s): JoEllen Shively
Source: American Sociological Review, Vol. 57, No. 6 (Dec., 1992), pp. 725-734
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2096119
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COWBOYS AND INDIANS: PERCEPTIONS OF WESTERN FILMS
AMONG AMERICAN INDIANS AND ANGLOS*
JOELLENSHIVELY
University
of Michigan
I examinesociologicalmodelsof howpeopleuse andinterpretculturalmaterials.Myfocus
is on howminoritiesparticipatein and reworkthe centralmythsof the dominantculture.
Afterviewinga Westernfilm, matchedgroupsof AmericanIndianand Anglo males answeredwrittenquestionnaires
andparticipatedinfocus-groupinterviews.AmericanIndians andAnglosbothlikedthefilm,butfor differentreasons.IndiansperceivedWesternsas
representing
a set of valuesabouttheland,autonomy,andfreedom,whileAngloslinkedthe
Westernmythto theirownhistoryandturnedit intoan affirmation
of thevaluestheirancestorsstrovefor and imposedon the West.Theseresultsimplythatthe meaningimputedto
culturalworksvariesoversocialspace.Lackof dataon audienceinterpretations
of cultural
productshas renderedexistingmodelsof the culturalsignificanceof Westernfilms and
othergenresspeculative.
T
1972 to arguethatWesternsresembleprimitive
myths. Drawingon Levi-Strauss,Wrightdeveloped a cognitive theoryof mythic structuresin
which "thereceiversof the Westernmyth learn
how to act by recognizingtheirown situationin
it" (p. 186). Wright'smain thesis is thatthe narrativethemesof theWesternresolvecrucialcontradictionsin modern capitalism and provide
viewers with strategiesto deal with their economic worlds. The popularity of Westerns,
Wrightargued,lies in the genre's reflectionof
thechangingeconomicsystem,whichallows the
viewers to use the Westernas a guide for living.
These explanationsof the Western'spopularity attendto culturaltextsbutignoretheviewers,
whose motives and experiencesarecrucial.The
lack of solid dataaboutaudienceinterpretations
of variousformulasrendersexisting models of
the culturalsignificanceof Westernsand other
* Directall correspondence
to JoEllenShively, Degenres
speculative.
partmentof Sociology, Universityof Michigan,Ann
While
growingup on an Indianreservationin
Arbor, MI 48109-1382. An earlier version of this
paper was presented at the annual meeting of the the midwesternUnited States, I observed that
AmericanSociological Association,August 1991, in fellow Indiansloved Westernmovies andpaperCincinnati.Ann SwidlerandMorrisZelditch,Jr.,con- backs. Subsequently,I observed this phenomtributedsubstantiallyto the developmentof the un- enonon Indianreservationsin OregonandNorth
derlyingresearchand I benefitedfrom theirvaluable Dakota,as well as amongIndianswho lived off
commentsas well. I am gratefulto SarahM. Corse, the reservations. As scholars have noted
JamesG. March,HowardSchuman,RussellThornton, (McNickle 1973; Cornell 1987; Snipp 1991),
culhe dominantapproachto understanding
turalproductstypicallyselects a particular
populargenrefor analysisin thehope of generating conclusions about the societal values expressedin the culturalproduct(some exceptions
areRadway1984;Griswold1987;andLiebesand
Katz 1990).1Forexample,Cawelti(1970, 1976),
on the basis of his readingof Westernnovels,
concludedthatthese novels area vehicle for exploringvalue conflicts,such as communalideas
versus individualisticimpulses, and traditional
ways of life versusprogress.Caweltiarguedthat
Westernsareformulaicworksthatprovidereaders with a vehicle for escape andmoralfantasy.
In the major sociological study of Western
films, Wright(1977) used his own viewing of
the most popularWesternmovies from 1931 to
and the Editor and reviewers of the ASR for their
careful readings and insightful comments. This research was supportedby a grant from the National
Instituteof MentalHealthandby a Dean's Research
Awardfrom StanfordUniversity.
IMuchworkhas involvedliteraryandfilm studies.
However, literarytheories such as reader-response
theory (Iser 1974; Fish 1980), pertainmostly to an
"impliedreader"within the text, and psychoanalyze
what ethnicity,gender, religion, etc., in films mean
(Friedman1991). This work is interesting,but irrelevant for a study of how real audiencesactuallyrespond.
AmericanSociological Review, 1992, Vol. 57 (December:725-734)
725
726
AmericanIndianshave always lived in a culturally, economically,andpoliticallymarginalsubcultureand are ambivalentaboutAmericanvalues of achievementand acquisitionof material
wealth.Thus,it seemedunlikelythatIndianswho
like Westernswould need them as conceptual
guides for economic action as Wright alleged.
The popularityof WesternsamongIndiansmust
be explainedin otherways.
In an argumentsimilarto Wright's, Swidler
(1986) suggested that culturalworks are tools
used by peopleto contendwith immediateprobin a broadsense
lems.Swidlerdiscussed"culture"
as comprising"symbolic vehicles of meaning
includingbeliefs, ritualpractices,artforms,ceremonies as well as language,gossip, storiesand
ritualsof daily life" (p. 272). Swidler was concernedwith how cultureshapesactionand with
how people "use"culture.AssumingthatWestern movies are a story or an art form, how do
AmericanIndiansuse this culturalproduct?
I addressseveral issues thatprevious studies
have made assumptionsabout,but have not addressedclearly.One issue is the generalquestion
of how different groups appropriateand find
meaningin culturalproducts.In particular,does
Wright'stheoryaboutthe culturaluse of Westerns hold truefor AmericanIndianswatchinga
"cowboysvs. Indians"film? Is the mythicstructureof a drama- the "goodguy/badguy"opposition in the Western- more salient than the
ethnicaspectof the culturalproduct,or do Indians in the audienceidentifywith Indianson the
screen,regardlessof who the good guys andbad
guys are? Do IndianspreferWesternsthatportraysympatheticandpositive images of Indians,
e.g., BrokenArrowand othermovies described
by Aleiss (1987) andParishandPitts(1976)?Do
IndianslikeonlyWesternsthatshowa tribalgroup
otherthantheirown as the villains?Fundamentally,how do Indianslink theirown ethnicidentity to the Western,or limit this identityso they
can enterthe narrativeframeof the Western?
AMERICANSOCIOLOGICALREVIEW
informantandone Indianinformantwho invited
five ethnicallysimilarfriendsto theirhomes to
watchthe film. Writtenquestionnaireswere administeredimmediatelyafterthe film, followed
by focus-groupinterviews.An Anglofemaleconductedthe focus-groupinterviewswith Anglos;
I conductedthe focus-groupinterviewswith Indians.(I am Chippewa.)(Transcriptsof thefocus
interviewsare availablefrom the authoron request.)
Respondentswereaskedwhy theylikedor did
not like TheSearchersin particularandWestern
movies in general.Basic demographicquestions
includedracial identification,including "blood
quantum"for Indians.
The researchsite is the secondlargesttown on
the reservationand has a populationof about
1,200.Equalnumbersof IndiansandAnglos live
in the town.3Accordingto the TribalHeadquartersEnrollmentOfficer(Bighorn,12 May 1988),
of the 600 Indians,approximately40 percentare
Sioux, 10percentareAssiniboine,10percentare
Indians of mixed Indian origins, and approximately 40 percentof the self-identifiedIndians
are "mixed-blood,"i.e., Indianand white ancestry.BecauseI wantedto avoidthepossibleambiguity of asking how mixed-bloodsunderstand
Westerns,all Indiansin my sampleclaim to be
"full-blood"Sioux, and all Anglos claim to be
white.4Because the Westerngenre is primarily
3 Of the approximately50,000 residentsliving on
the 7 federallyrecognizedreservationsin this statein
1980, 48.5 percent are Indian and 51.5 percent are
Anglo (Confederationof AmericanIndians1986, pp.
125-34). Underthe 1887GeneralAllotmentAct, more
than 100 IndianReservationson the Plains,along the
Pacific Coast, and in the Great Lakes states, were
dividedup and allottedto individualIndians.The remainingland was declared"surplus"and opened up
to white homesteaders.Under the terms of this Act,
Indians were eventually dispossessed of almost 90
millionacres(Talbot1981,pp. 111-12). Today,whites
continueto own land and live on these reservations
between Inwhere their land is "checker-boarded"
RESEARCHDESIGN
dian-ownedland.On some of thesereservations,nonIndiansown as much or more land than the tribe or
Matched samples of 20 Indian males and 20 Indiansdo, and the proportionwhite is equal to or
Anglo2malesliving in a townon anIndianreser- higherthanthe proportionIndian.The researchsite is
vationon the WesternPlainsof the UnitedStates on one of these reservations.
watcheda Westernfilm, The Searchers.Ethni4 I have observed that "mixed-blood"Indiansaccally puregroupswere assembledby one Anglo knowledge and respect both their Indian and white
ancestries.To avoid speculationabout whether the
2 "Anglo" refers to non-Indianwhite Americans findings might be associatedwith the self-identified
and does not include those of Spanish or Mexican Indians'"Indianness"or "whiteness,"I includedonly
full-bloods.
descent.
ANDINDIANS
COWBOYS
about males, only males were included in the
sample.5
The respondentsdid not constitutea representativesample,but were assembledin an effortto
create roughly matchedgroups. I attemptedto
matchIndiansandAnglos on age, income,years
of education,occupation,and employmentstatus, but succeeded in matchingmainly on age,
education,andoccupation,andwas less successful on income and employment status.6In the
analysis,neitheremploymentstatusnor income
appearto affect the dependentvariables.Matching Indians and Anglos on educationrequired
All
me to excludecollege-educatedrespondents.7
subjectswere betweenthe ages of 36 and 64
the average age of Indianrespondentswas 51,
and the averageage of Anglo respondentswas
52. Most of the respondentswere married.8
I chose The Searchers(1956) as the Western
film to show because its major conflict is betweencowboysandIndians.Accordingto Wright
727
(1977), The Searchers was one of the period's
top-grossingfilms, a sign of mythicalresonance.
The film starsJohn Wayne - a criticaladvantagefor a Westernaccordingto IndianandAnglo
informants.Briefly, The Searchersis about Indian-hatingEthanEdwards's(JohnWayne) and
MartinPolly's (Jeff Hunter)five-year searchto
find Debbie Edwards, Ethan's niece (Natalie
Wood), who has been kidnappedby Comanche
Chief Scar (HenryBrandon).In the end, Scaris
killed, and Debbie, who was marriedto Scar, is
takenback to the white civilized world.
FINDINGS
I began my researchwith the assumptionthat
people understandmovies based on their own
culturalbackgrounds.Therefore,the experience
of watchingWesternmovies shouldbe different
for Indiansand Anglos, especially when watching scenes in which Indiansareportrayedin distorted,negativeways. My most strikingfinding,
however,is an overall similarityin the ways Indians andAnglos experiencedTheSearchers.
All respondents- IndiansandAnglos - indicated that they liked Westernmovies in general. Furthermore,in the focus interviews,they
saidthey wishedmoreWesternswerebeingproduced in Hollywood. I askedthe respondentsto
rankthe threetypes of films they most liked to
watch from a list of 10 (musical,gangster,horror, and so on). All 40 subjects- both Anglo
and Indian- rankedWesternsfirst or second;
the Westernwas far and away the most popular
genre.Seventy-fivepercentrankedWesternsfirst.
Combatmovies were a distantsecond, and science fiction movies were third.
On both the writtenquestionnairesand in the
focus interviews,all respondentsindicatedthat
theylikedTheSearchersandconsideredit a typical Western.OneIndianandtwo Anglosreported
thatthey had seen the film before.
In responseto the question,"Withwhom did
you identifymost in the film?,"60 percentof the
Indiansand 50 percentof the Anglos identified
with JohnWayne, while 40 percentof the Indians and45 percentof the Anglos identifiedwith
Jeff Hunter.9None of the Indians (or Anglos)
identifiedwiththe Indianchief, Scar.Indiansdid
not link theirown ethnicidentityto Scarandhis
bandof Indians,butinsteaddistancedthemselves
fromthe Indiansin thefilm. The Indians,like the
5 My data show that the Westerngenre is popular
among women, but because the major focus of this
study is on racial differences and because I had a
limitedbudget,I controlledfor genderby looking at
males only.
6 The medianannualhouseholdincome for the Indians was $9,000; the median annualhousehold income for the Anglos was $13,000. Seven of the 20
Indianmen were unemployedat the time of the researchcomparedto 3 of the Anglo men. Of currently
employedIndians,fourwere workingpart-time;three
of currentlyemployedAngloswereworkingpart-time.
Thereareno significantdifferencesbetweenthe Indians in my studyandthe 1980 Censusdataon income
andunemployment(U.S. Bureauof the Census 1986,
Tables 9, 10, 25; U.S. Bureau of the Census 1988,
Table 234). Occupationsof the Indiansincludedbartender,farm worker,mechanic,factory worker,carpenter,and food-service worker.Occupationsof the
Anglos includedjanitor,school bus driver,bartender,
storeclerk,factoryworker,carpenter,mechanic,foreman, andpostal worker.
7 IndiansandAnglos differedin the proportionwho
completedhigh school, but this differencehad no effect on the analysis. Among Indianrespondents,25
percent had completed high school and 60 percent
had some high school. For Anglo respondents,80
percent had completed high school and 20 percent
had some high school.
8 To obtainmatched20-personsamples, 11 groups
comprising 30 Indians and 25 Anglos watched the
film. Of these, 2 Indians and 3 Anglos had "some
college education"and 8 Indiansand 2 Anglos were
mixed-blood.Theserespondents'questionnaireswere
9 One Anglo identifiedwith Laurie,Jeff Hunter's
not used andthe respondentswere not involvedin the
girlfriend.It was difficultto tell why.
focus interviews.
728
Anglos, identifiedwith the charactersthat the
narrativestructuretells themto identifywith the good guys. In the focus-groupinterviews,
both Indiansand Anglos reiteratedtheir fondness for John Wayne. For both audiences,the
Indiansin the film were eitherneutralor negative. Whatstoodout was not thattherewereIndians on the screen,but thatthe Indianswere the
"bad guys." For example, in the focus groups
respondentswere asked. "Do you ever root for
the Indians?"Both Indiansand Anglos consistentlyresponded,"Sometimes,when they'rethe
good guys."Theirresponsessuggestthatthereis
no strong ethnic bias governing whom the respondentsrootfor andidentifywith.Instead,antagonismis directedagainstthe bad guys. The
structureof oppositionsthatdefinestheheroesin
a film seemsto guideviewers'identificationwith
the charactersin the film and overridesany ethnic empathy.
The Indians'identificationwiththe good guys
in the film is similarto Jahoda's(1961, p. 104)
observationsof African audiences reacting to
films set in AfricathatportrayAfricansas "rude,
barbaricsavages."Jahodafound thatthe majority of Africansdid not identifywith the Africans
on the screen- only a minorityof highly-educatedAfricansidentifiedwith the Africans.
AlthoughIndiansandAnglos reliedon cues in
The Searchersabout whom to identify with, in
otherways the fictionalframeof the film did not
completelycapturetheseviewers.Whendiscussing The Searchers, Indians and Anglos rarely
used the main characters'story names. Instead
they used the actors'names- JohnWayneand
Jeff Hunter- which suggestsa strong"stareffect."AlthoughJohnWayneplaysdifferentcharactersin differentfilms, these audiencesassociatedhis "cowboy"personalitywiththeoff-screen
JohnWayne,not with specificmovie characters.
On one level, they saw the actoras embodying
all his movie roles. For example, when asked,
"Why do you think Ethan Edwardshated the
Indiansin this movie?"the Indiansand Anglos
respondedin similarways:
Indians
Well, JohnWaynemighthave hatedIndiansin this
movie, but in othermovies he doesn't hate them.
(Mechanic,age 5 1)
Well, they've killed his brotherand his brother's
wife. He doesn't hate Indians in all his movies.
(Cook, age 56)
Anglos
JohnWayne doesn't like the Indianshere because
they've killed his brother's family. But in other
AMERICANSOCIOLOGICALREVIEW
movies, he's on their side. He sticks up for them.
(Foreman,age 56)
Sometimes he fights for the Indians like in Fort
Apache. (Bartender,age 48)
Both Indiansand Anglos reportedthat they
liked all of John Wayne's movies, whetherhe
playeda boxing champion,a pilot, or a cowboy.
In all of his films, they see the strongpersonality
characteristics
of "theDuke,"or"Dude,"as some
of therespondentsreferredto him.ForbothIndians and Anglos on this reservation,being called
"cowboy"or one of John Wayne's nicknames,
often "Dude"or "Duke,"is a token of respect.
Indiansoftensee themselvesas "cowboys,"greeting each otherwith, "Howya doing, cowboy?,"
or "Longtimeno see, cowboy,"andreferto their
girlfriendsor wives as "cowgirls."Fixico (1986)
described a similar emulation of the cowboy
amongreservationIndiansin ArizonaandSouth
Dakota.
The respondentstalkedaboutJohnWayne as
if he were one of them and they knew him personally- like a good friend.Believing in John
Waynethe man is partof the charismaattached
to the cowboy role. It is a self-reinforcingcycle:
BecauseJohnWaynealwaysplays good guys characterswith whomviewersempathize- it is
easy to identifywithJohnWayneandall he represents.Levy (1990) notedthat,"becauseacting
involves actualrole playing and because of the
'realistic'natureof motion pictures,audiences
sometimesfail to separatebetweenplayers'roles
onscreenand theirreal lives offscreen.The difference between life on and offscreen seems to
blur"(p. 281). For respondents,John Wayne is
the Cowboy, both in his movies and in real life.
This focus on "JohnWaynein real life" is similarto LiebesandKatz's(1990) findingthatwhen
retelling episodes of the TV series "Dallas,"
Americansand Kibbutznikstalk aboutthe "real
life" (behind-the-scene) personalities of the
actors.
TheReal and theFictional:Patternsof
Differences
AlthoughAnglos andIndiansrespondedin similarways to the structureof oppositionsin thenarandvaluedcharrative,thetwogroupsinterpreted
acteristicsof theculturalproductdifferentlyonce
they "entered"the narrative.The narrativewas
to fit theirown interests.Although
(re)interpreted
bothIndiansandAnglos saw someaspectsof The
Searchersas realand othersas fictional,the two
COWBOYSAND INDIANS
729
Table 1. Ranksof Reasons for Liking The Searchers,by Ethnicity
AmericanIndians
Reason
Anglos
Weighted
Ranked Ranked Ranked Sum
1st
2nd
3rd of Ranksa
Weighted
Ranked Ranked Ranked Sum
1st
2nd
3rd of Ranksa
Action/fights
2
4
5
19
2
6
4
22
JohnWayne
5
3
2
23
2
3
0
12
IthadcowboysandIndians
6
5
3
31
3
2
5
18
Scenery/landscape
6
3
2
26
3
5
6
25
3
Humor
1
5
6
19
0
1
1
Romance
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
Authenticportrayalof Old West
0
0
0
0
10
3
3
39
Other
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
aRanksare weighted: 1st x 3; 2nd x 2; 3rd x 1.
groups differed on what,they saw as authentic
andwhatthey saw as fictional.
Table 1 shows how the two groupsresponded
when asked to rank their three most important
reasons for liking the film. The Kendall rankordercorrelationcoefficientof X = .29 indicates
thatIndians'andAnglos' reasonsoften differed.
Thetwo groupsagreedon the importanceof "action and fights,""it had cowboys and Indians,"
and "the scenery and landscape"as reasonsfor
likingthe film. They also agreedthat"romance"
was not an importantreasonfor liking the film.
But the differencesbetweenIndiansandAnglos
in Table1arestriking:None of theIndiansranked
"authenticportrayalof the Old West"as an importantreasonfor likingthemovie, while 50 percent of the Anglos rankedit as the most importantreason.
The resultsin Table 1 suggestthatthe distinctive appealof the Westernfor Indianshas two
elements:(1) the cowboy's way of life - the
idealizedWesternlifestyle seems to make this
culturalproductresonatefor Indians;and(2) the
settingof the film, the beauty of the landscape
(MonumentValley)movesIndianviewers.When
askedin thefocus groups,"Whydidyou like this
film, andwhatmakesWesternsbetter(or worse)
than otherkinds of movies?"Indiansreported:
"Westernsrelateto the way I wish I could live";
"Thecowboy is free";"He'snot tied down to an
eight-to-fivejob, day afterday";"He's his own
man";and "He has friends who are like him."
Whatmakes Westernsmeaningfulto Indiansis
thefantasyof beingfreeandindependentlike the
cowboy and the familiarityof the landscapeor
setting.
The setting also resonated for Anglos, but
Anglos perceivedthese films as authenticportrayalsof theirpast.In the focus groups,Anglos,
but not Indians,talkedaboutWesternsas accurate chronicles of their history. When asked,
"Why did you like this film, and what makes
Westernsbetter(or worse) than other kinds of
movies?" Anglos said, "My grandparentswere
immigrantsand Westernsshow us the hardlife
they had";"Westernsare aboutmy heritageand
how we settled the frontierand is about all the
problemsthey had";"Westernsgive us an idea
about how things were in the old days"; and
"Westernsare trueto life." What is meaningful
to Anglos is not the fantasy of an idealized
lifestyle, but that Westernfilms link Anglos to
their own history.For them, Westernfilms are
like primitivemyths:Theyaffirmandjustifythat
theirancestors'actionswhen"settlingthis country"were rightandgood andnecessary.'0
Indiansseemedambivalentabouthow the Old
West was portrayedin TheSearchers.In the focus groups, I asked Indiansif the film was an
authenticportrayalof the Old West andthey responded:
As far as the cowboy's life goes, it's real, but you
don't get to know the Indians,so it's hardto say it's
totally authentic.(Bartender,age 42)
I thinkit's realin some ways, like whenyou see the
cowboy andhow he was. (Mechanic,age 51)
' Describingtherole of the mythamongTrobriand
Islanders,Malinowski(1948) wrote:"Themythcomes
into play when rite, ceremony, or a social or moral
rule demandsjustification,warrantof antiquity,reality, and sanctity"(pp. 84-85).
730
The cowboys are real to me. That's the way they
were.ButI don'tknowabouttheIndians'causeyou
never see much of them. (Farmworker,age 50)
Yeah, the movie is more aboutthe good guys than
thebadguys. I mean,thebadguys arethere,butyou
don'tget to know themvery well. Mostlythemovie
is aboutthecowboys, the good guys, anyway.(Carpenter,age 48)
For Indians,the film was more aboutcowboys
than about Indians.This does not hinder their
enjoymentof the film or make it less meaningful, becausethey did not view the Indianson the
screenas real Indians.
Both Indians and Anglos were asked, "Are
Indiansandcowboys in thisfilm like Indiansand
cowboys in the past?"and, "Arethey like Indians andcowboys today?"Anglos replied:
I thinkthe cowboys andthe settlersareprettymuch
like those in the old days. It's hard to say if the
Indiansarelike Indiansin the past. (Mechanic,age
39)
They're not like Indianstoday. (Foreman,age 56)
Indiansdon't go aroundkidnappingwhite women
and childrenthese days. (Bartender,age 48)
Probablythey'resimilarto how some of theIndians
werein the past,I meanIndiansreallydid scalp
whitemen.(Postalworker,age49)
Yeah,andtheykidnapped
whitechildrenandwhite
women.Mygrandparents
usedto tellstoriesabout
howtheirparentstoldthemtobecarefulwhenthey
playedoutside.Theyhadtostayclosetotheirhomes,
'causethe Indiansusedto kidnapchildren.(Bus
driver,age49)
Anglos thoughtthecowboys in theWesternwere
similarto cowboysof thepast,andtheysuggested
thatIndiansin the film were similarto Indiansin
the past.However,they did not thinkIndianstoday are like Indiansin the film.
Whenaskedthe samequestionsaboutwhether
Indiansandcowboys in the film are like Indians
and cowboys today and in the past, Indiansreplied somewhatdifferently:
Thecowboysarelikecowboysin thepast.Maybe
someIndiansinthepastwereliketheIndiansinthe
films.(Bartender,
age58)
They'renot like Indianstoday.I mean,the only
timeIndiansdressupis forpowwows.(Cook,age
60)
In thismovieandothermovieswithIndians,you
don'tget to knowthem.I mean,they'renotreally
people,likethecowboysare.It'shardtosaythey're
like Indiansin thepast.Forsurethey'renot like
Indianstoday.(Bartender,
age42)
AMERICANSOCIOLOGICALREVIEW
The Indiansaren't at all like any of the IndiansI
know. (Unemployedfactoryworker,age 44)
Indianstodayarethe cowboys. (Bartender,age 42)
The phrase "Indianstoday are the cowboys,"
means that contemporaryIndiansare more like
cowboys thanAnglos are, in the sense that it is
Indianswho preserve some commitmentto an
autonomousway of life that is not fully tied to
modemindustrialsociety.Indianswantto be, and
value being, independentand free - separate
from society - more thanAnglos do.
BecauseTheSearchersportraysIndiansnot as
human beings, but as "wild, blood-thirstyanimals,"Indiansmight be expected to reportthat
the Indianson the screenarenot like Indiansthey
knowtodayorlike Indiansin thepast.How could
they identifywiththe Indianson the screenwhen
Indiansareportrayedin such a caricaturedfashion? The only connectionsthatIndiansmadebetween the Indianson the screen and Indiansof
thepastandpresentwerewiththecostumesworn
by the Indianson the screen.
On somedeeperlevel, however,Indianrespondentsmay have identifiedwiththe Indianson the
screen. For example, when asked in the focus
groups, "What'sa bad Western like?" Indians
reportedthat they like all Westernsexcept for
films like SoldierBlue. All of the Indianrespondentswerefamiliarwiththisfilm. SoldierBlueis
a 1970film basedon the SandCreekmassacreof
1864, when Colonel Chivingtonof the U.S. Calvaryambushedandslaughtereda villageof peaceful ArapahoandCheyennechildren,women,and
menin Colorado.Inall of theIndianfocusgroups,
this title was mentionedas one Westernthey did
not like. This suggests that when films are too
realisticandevoke unpleasantemotions,theyare
no longer enjoyable. This finding resembles
Radway's(1984, p. 184) findingsabout"failed"
romancenovels. A "failed"romanceis one that
evokes overlyintensefeelings of anger,fear,and
violence. Such novels are discardedby readers
becausetheyarenotenjoyable.SoldierBlue,however, is sympatheticto the Indians,andthe narrative leads the viewer to empathizewith the Indians.UnliketheIndians,Anglosreportedthatthey
like all Westernsand could not think of an exampleof a bad Western.
Anotherstrikingdifferencerevealedin Table
1 is that Indianscited "humor"as an important
reasonfor liking the film, while Anglos did not.
In the focus groups,Indianstalkedaboutseveral
comic scenes in the film. When asked if humor
was importantin Western films, they all said,
COWBOYSAND INDIANS
731
Table 2. Ranks of QualitiesThatMake a Good Hero in a Good Western,by Ethnicity
AmericanIndians
Quality
Anglos
Weighted
Ranked Ranked Ranked Sum
1st
2nd
3rd of Ranksa
Weighted
Ranked Ranked Ranked Sum
3rd of Ranksa
1st
2nd
Bravery
8
6
4
40
3
4
1
18
Integrity/honesty
2
2
0
10
8
9
5
47
Independence
0
0
2
2
0
0
1
1
Toughness
8
8
4
44
0
0
0
0
Sense of humor
0
2
8
12
0
1
1
3
Strength
2
0
0
6
0
0
0
0
Loyalty
0
0
0
0
1
0
7
10
Intelligence
0
2
2
6
8
6
5
41
Other
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
aRanksare weighted: 1st x 3; 2nd x 2; 3rd x 1.
"Yeah."Theyreportedthattheylikedhumorand
wit in Westernmovies and valued this trait in
theirfriends.Humoris a sourceof joy for them
- a gift.
Anglos, in contrast, never mentioned John
Wayne'shumor.WhydidIndiansandnotAnglos
respondto the humor?If Anglos perceivedthe
film as an authenticstoryof theirpast,they may
have concentratedon the seriousproblemsin the
film, i.e., getting the white girl back. Perhaps
Anglos were so preoccupiedwith the film as an
affirmationof theirpast thatthey were unableto
focuson theintendedhumor,oratleastothercharacteristicsof the film were more important.On
the otherhand,Indians,who did not see the film
as an authenticstoryof theirown past,may have
focusedmoreon the intendedhumorin the film.
Ideal Heroes
Indiansand Anglos also valuedindividualtraits
of the cowboy differently.Table.2 shows how
thetwo groupsrespondedwhenaskedto rankthe
threemost importantqualitiesthatmake a good
hero in a good Western.A Kendallrank-order
correlationcoefficient of X = .167 shows little
agreementbetweenIndianand Anglo rankings.
Indiansranked"toughness"and"bravery"as the
two most importantqualitiesof a good hero in a
goodWestern,whereasAnglosranked"integrity/
honesty"and "intelligence"as most important.
Perhapsaudienceslook for exceptionalcharacteristicsin a good hero - qualitiesthey would
like to see in themselves.To live free and close
to the landlike Indianswish to live, exceptional
braveryand toughness are necessary. Because
Anglos do not wantto live like cowboys,bravery
and toughnessare not as important.Responses
of Indiansin Table 2 are similarto responsesin
Table 1 and to the oral responses.For example,
whentheIndiansdescribedJohnWayneas a reason why they liked TheSearchers,they concentratedon JohnWayne's toughness.
While the two groupsdifferedon the qualities
thatmakea goodhero,IndiansandAnglostended
to agreeon the characteristics
of a good Western.
When askedwhat characteristicsthey liked in a
good Western, a Kendall's rank-ordercorrelation coefficient between Indian and Anglo responses was high, X = .78, i.e., there were no
pronounced differences between Indians and
Anglos. For both groups,the threemost important characteristicsof a good Westernwere: "a
happy ending";"action/fights";and "authentic
portrayalof Old West."Like the rankingof "a
happyending"as the most importantingredient
in a good romancenovel (Radway1984, p. 59),
Indianand Anglo viewersranked"a happyendof a good
ing"as themostdesirablecharacteristic
Western.The essentialhappyendingfor my respondentsmay be relatedto Cawelti's (1976, p.
193) "epic moment" when the villain is conquered,the wildernessis subdued,and civilizationis established.The importanceof the"happy
ending"may also supportWright's(1977) contentionthatthe outcomeof theWesternnarrative
is important.
For Indians,the importanceof a "happyending"in a good Westernfilm also reflectson their
evaluationof SoldierBlue as a bad Western-
732
SoldierBlue does not fulfill the "happyending"
criterionof a good Western.AlthoughIndians
like action or fights, they are discerningabout
whatkindsof actionor fights they enjoy.
For both Anglos and Indians,the three least
liked characteristicsof a good Western were:
"heroridesoff intothe sunsetalone";"Indiansas
bad guys"; and "romancebetween hero and
woman."Both groupspreferredthat "the hero
settlesdown."In some ways, the characteristics
the respondentslike to see in a good Western
supportCawelti'sassumptionsaboutthecultural
significanceof the Western."I
THEPOLITICSOF PERCEPTION
Some Indiansdo identifywith the Indiansin the
Westernand are not affectedby the film's signals aboutwhom to identifywith. Before taking
my researchproceduresinto the field, I pretested
them with 15 AmericanIndiancollege students
at a West Coastuniversity(10 males,5 females).
Because Indiansin the reservationsample differed in importantcharacteristicsfrom the Indians in the pretests(9 of the Indianstudentswere
"mixed-bloods"),systematiccomparisonswere
not possible.
However,Indianstudentsrespondeddifferently
fromIndiansin thereservationsample.Ethnicity
was a salient issue for the majorityof the students. The narrativeof The Searchers did not
"work"for the studentsand they were unableto
fully enter the drama.For example, unlike the
reservationIndians,a majorityof the Indianstudentsidentifiedwith androotedfor Scarandhis
Indians or Debbie, the kidnapped girl. They
thoughtDebbieshouldhavebeenallowedto stay
with Scar and that the search should-not have
takenplace at all.
Likethe reservationIndians,the college-educatedIndiansdid not view The Searchersas an
11I collectedsome datain the field on femalereservation Indiansand female Anglos. These datareveal
genderdifferencesas well as differencesby ethnicity.
For example, women identified with the women in
the film, while the men did not. Women ranked"romance"as one of the most importantreasonsfor liking the film, whereasthe men rankedit as the least
importantreason. Women ranked"action/fights"as
one of the least importantreasonsfor liking the film,
while the men rankedit as one of the most important
reasons.Like Anglo men, Anglo women saw the film
as an authenticportrayalof the past, while the Indian
women, like the Indianmen, did not. Indianwomen,
like Indianmen, also distancedthemselvesfrom the
Indianson the screen.
REVIEW
AMERICANSOCIOLOGICAL
authenticportrayalof the "OldWest"and were
quickto point out stereotypicalportrayalsof Indiansin the film. They reactedagainstthe negative message in the film that"theonly good Indianis a deadone."They also pointedout many
inaccuraciesin the film, suchas the use of Navajos and the Navajo language for Comanche,
"Comanche"Indians wearing Sioux war bonnets, and Indianssometimes wearingwar bonnets while fishing. Neither the Indiansnor the
Anglos in the reservationsamplementionedany
of these inaccuracies.
All studentsbut one reportedthat they liked
Westerns in general, but preferredWesterns
whoseplotsareabout"cowboysvs. cowboys"or
"Indiansvs. Indians,"or a "cowboys vs. Indians" plot in which the Indianpoint of view is
shown.Severalmale studentsindicatedthatthey
and theirfriendsoften rentWesternvideos and
namedthevideo storesnearesttheuniversitythat
had the best selectionof Westerns.
None of the studentsparticularlyliked John
Wayne.Likethereservationsample,the students
talked aboutJohn Wayne in "reallife" and referredto what they consideredraciststatements
he madeoff-screenin variousinterviews.
I askedeach student,"Do Indiansback home
on the reservationlike Westerns?"and"Do they
root for the cowboys?"All of them said, "Oh
yeah, sure."One Sioux studentsaid his father
hadmost of JohnWayne'sfilms on video, anda
Chippewasaid that his uncle was named after
JohnWayne.One Navajosaid of his reservation
town, "Eversince they closed down the movie
theaterseveralyearsago, everyFridaynightthey
show a movie in the cafeteriaroom at the high
school, and most of the time it's a Western.Everybodygoes."
The heightenedethnic awarenessof the college studentsinterfereswith, or overrides,their
responsesto the Westernso thatthey do not get
caughtup in the structureof oppositionsin the
narrative.Becausetheyidentifywith theirethnic
group,-they see The Searchersthrougha different lens. Educationincreasestheirawarenessof
anti-Indianbias in the film, producinga "revised
eye" that framesthese films in ethnic terms.In
this context,ethnicityis a constructof a particularcultureor subculture.
CONCLUSION
Althoughit would seem problematicfor Indians
to know which charactersto identifywith in The
Searchers,it was not a problemfor themat all -
COWBOYSAND INDIANS
theyidentifiedwith the cowboy andhis lifestyle.
Indiansdid not focus on the Indians,who areoften portrayedon-screenas a faceless, screaming
horde.Instead,theysawthecowboysas theywant
to see themselves- as the good guys.
What appearsto make Westernsmeaningful
to Indiansis the fantasyof being free and independentlike the cowboy. In addition,the familiarityof the settingis important.Anglos, on the
other hand, respondto the Western as a story
abouttheirpastandtheirancestors.The Western
narrativebecomes an affirmationof their own
social experience- the way they are and what
their ancestorsstrove for and imposed on the
West are"good."Thus,for Anglos, the Western
resemblesa primitivemyth. But it is not a myth
in this sense for Indians- Indiansdo not view
the Westernas authentic.
Both Indiansand Anglos find a fantasyin the
cowboy story in which the importantparts of
theirways of life triumphandaremorallygood,
validatingtheirown culturalgroupin the context
of a dramaticallysatisfying story. Perhapsthis
motive for ethnicgroupvalidationis more general andnot peculiarto cowboy movies.
Oppositionsin the Westernnarrativeare importantto viewers.IndiansandAnglos bothroot
for andidentifywiththe good guys. The strength
of thenarrativelies in its Levi-Straussianoppositions, and Wright (1977) correctlyfocused on
them.However,Wright'sthesis,thatviewerssee
their own economic situationin Westernsand
use its messages to deal with their economic
world, is not supportedhere. Both Indiansand
Anglos respondto "theirown situation,"but not
in Wright'ssense. Wright'ssociological explanation of the culturalsignificanceof Westerns
does not entirelycontradictCawelti (1976). AlthoughCawelti's discussionis too nonspecific,
and thereforemore difficult to refute, my evidence is more compatiblewith Cawelti's argument thatviewers use Westernsas a fantasyfor
exploringvalue conflicts (e.g., traditionalways
of life versusprogress)andto affirmthe valueof
their ideals and way of life. Cawelti's
nonspecificityand Wright's incorrectexplanation may have resultedfrom theirfailureto ask
viewersor readerswhy they like Westerns.
The Indiancollege students,who by attending
collegehaveoptedforsomeof thevaluesof white
society, find othermeaningsin The Searchers.
Because they are immersed in the intellectual
worldof theuniversity,the symbolicimportance
of thefilm forthemlies in its false representation
of theirancestryandhistory.
733
JOELLEN SHIVELYis AssistantProfessor of Sociology
and FacultyAssociate at the Centerfor Research on
Social Organizationat the Universityof Michigan.
Currentresearch includes a comparisonof U.S. Indian reservationswhereonly Indianslive with reservations where the proportion white is equal to or
higher than the proportionIndian,particularlywith
regardto socioeconomicstatus,assimilation,and ethnic identity,and a study on perceptions offilms by
genderand race.
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