Originally appeared in Toronto Film Scene in 2015; language updated to be correct in 2023 except in direct quotes.

One thing our society is very often guilty of is ignoring the voices of the people whose opinions should matter most. We seem to think that if our intentions were good, it doesn’t matter if people are offended because we didn’t mean for it to happen. This is a devastatingly problematic habit that we fall into as a society because we’re so afraid of being the bad guy that we fail to realize that sometimes being a mensch means owning up to our mistakes and working on making amends rather than coming up with excuses. That’s partially why, for this article, I decide to speak to some local Indigenous kids and get their opinions on the portrayals on Indigenous portrayals in mainstream movies.

Not surprisingly, Indigenous kids aren’t so thrilled about the way their people are portrayed in movies, old and new alike. “I feel like a lot of movies with Aboriginals involved in it aren’t portrayed as best as they could be,” 18-year-old Kaillin put it, being a lot kinder than I would have. “I think Hollywood should do more research than they usually do and educate themselves more instead of following this certain routine they seem to have set for Aboriginals.”

“I have always disliked and felt disgusted with the portrayals of Indigenous Peoples in mainstream media, from film to televised series,” said 15-year-old Nyame. “These films are a tool to further divide and other us Indigenous peoples.”

The films in question are numerous and range from now-classics like Disney’s 1953 animated favourite Peter Pan to The Twilight Saga to 2013’s box office flop The Lone Ranger. I asked the kids about these movies since they are memorable for their unflattering portrayal of Indigenous people and—unsurprisingly—they do not find it cute, amusing or entertaining in the least.

Cheyenne is 18 years old and refuses to sugarcoat her thoughts: “I am actually disgusted by the portrayals [of] Aboriginals in Peter Pan; all Disney did was take a bunch of stereotypes and mashed them all together,” she says. “Let me just clarify: I, personally, do not have red, hot pepper skin [and] a huge nose; nor do I speak in a caveman-like way.” This sass is delicious, but behind that is a crucial point, which is that Hollywood has a history of not doing its homework and/or taking liberties with facts for the sake of a good story as well as for a polar contrast to the (often white) hero. “If they did their homework on Indigenous people and actually studied [their culture], they would have gotten everything correct, but they made it clear that they think we are the punchline to a bad joke.”

And the joke is a form of making a clear distinction between the “heroes” and the “savages” they must save. “As we may know, ‘othering’ is the first crime you can commit against a people and a key move to allow one to dehumanize someone, opening the door to cultural and ethnic genocide,” says Nyame. But at the same time, 15-year-old Destiny points out that despite trying so hard to separate them, mainstream movies still don’t let them be too different, lest it isolates the viewer.

“Indigenous languages aren’t spoken enough in movies about/starring Native peoples and for that I am sad. Why talk about and romanticize our culture but not preserve our language? I’m shaking my head.” Me too, Destiny, me too. It’s almost as if Hollywood doesn’t really care about appropriately or correctly representing Indigenous People but, rather, cares only about using them as hurdles that the (often white) heroes need to overcome in the course of their adventures.

“I think the Indigenous people in these films should have been shown in school for a scene or two, speaking their language. It would have shown what so many movies fail to bring to attention: our children preserving our traditions and cultures that are otherwise going to be forgotten. Our elders, who carry these teachings and aspects of our culture, are passing away and the generation before us isn’t knowledgeable enough to keep our language and ceremonial values alive on their own. We need to take a stand.”

To be completely honest, Destiny surprised me here. I never thought of the accurate portrayal of Indigenous cultures in mainstream moves to be a way to help keep their traditions and culture alive. It makes sense since so much of culture is unintentionally preserved through film, but it’s interesting to suddenly realize that it’s the constantly evolving mainstream culture of the European colonizers that we eagerly and happily preserve and fail to give a damn about any other culture, even ones of the people who have a legitimate right to call this their home and native land. What does it say when it’s a 15-year-old who opens your eyes to something as crucial as this? If filmmakers took Destiny’s advice and accurately portrayed Indigenous culture candidly and with education, what a difference that would make!

For one thing, the seemingly undying use of inaccurate and often offensive racist stereotypes that are now unfortunate cliches would likely cease.

“First, we have the savage who runs around in a loin cloth throwing spears and swinging tomahawks and shooting arrows and, let’s not forget, scalping ‘handsome and true white men,’ kidnapping white babies and children [to] raise as their own or to sacrifice to some ‘heathen god.’ Next up are the Indian Princess and the Stoic Indian, who are both proud individuals in touch with nature, talk to the animals and want nothing but peace [and who] fall in love with a white person, have a baby and indirectly stop an invasion through this act. [Then] we have the substance-addicted, abused abuser who lives on the street or is found in a prison or health group; and lastly, the self-deluded and lost-as-Columbus, New Age Native youth who just wants to be like everybody else without even knowing themselves,” states Nyame, who has quickly become my favourite 15-year-old ever.

“Our people dress and associate with others like any other race does, so why are we always dressed differently and treated differently? … My people are seen to be wild and ruthless in so many movies, it upsets me. I mean, sure, we have our alcoholics and drug abusers, but what community doesn’t?” Destiny continues.

Almost all of the kids agree that simple research would have done wonders for not only classic movies that miscast Indigenous roles but especially for modern ones. “In the majority of these films … they would make fun or belittle the Indigenous peoples by mocking the way they spoke in sometimes ‘pidgin English’ … In reality, traditionally, in our Indigenous cultures, we do not send our kids to an institutional ‘education system’ to have their identity ground like beef, then to be stuffed and packaged as a meat sausage only to be used as a means to a corporate end,” says Nyame.

“Now let’s remember how challenging it is to learn a foreign tongue even in this day and age, even with all of the books, classes and online resources that individuals are easily privy to in the ‘developed world’ … In a time that many of these stories are supposed to occur, there were no computers and it’s not like an Indigenous person could just walk into a class that was for the betterment of those of European heritage.”

Kaillan adds, “A lot of these films portray Aboriginal people kind of slow or dumbfounded in certain situations, whereas the white people … are there to help them in some way or make fun of them. I think Hollywood should do more research than they usually do and educate themselves more instead of following this certain routine they seem to have set for Aboriginals.”

Then there’s the problem of the fact that when and if Indigenous people are portrayed, they are often done so by non-Indigenous actors. “I think that Caucasians playing Aboriginals in movies is pretty strange,” says Destiny. “We have so many talented actors and actresses, why can’t they get a role? If a Caucasian played an African-American, that would be weird, right? [It] may be considered racist even … The black-and-white, soundless movie days are over, people; we can go back to using Anishinaabe People in our movies.”

Cheyanne has a similar sentiment to mine: “Caucasians, or any other race, shouldn’t even have the option to audition for the role of a different race … it doesn’t make sense. I don’t like seeing other races play the roles of people of a different background; it just ruins the movie for me.”

Despite these criticisms, at least one of the kids does recognize that change is in the air, slowly but surely. Destiny put it most eloquently when she said, “We’re oftentimes oppressed and kept on the sidelines in real life, but times are changing: the wind is howling in the enaaghtig [maple tree].”