Native Americans in the 20th Century
Native Americans were fit into the description of the noble savage who were viewed as gentle peaceful after the Enlightenment. Their state of living was believed to be very calm and innate. On the other hand, some were depicted as innoble savages, which we can see in the culture of people during this time. They were also viewed negatively based on their skin colors and their image, often times said to be cruel, poor, and nasty. People during colonization were separated into groups, forming their ideologies. In Edward Curtis’ image “Bow River Blackfoot”, it shows the traditional figure of Native Americans during this time with a full headdress with a house on Bow River. On the 1904 advertisement for Northern Steamship Company titled “The Great Lakes of America”, it illustrates the voyage that Native Americans took and how they were seen in the way they looked and dressed. During the twentieth century, people from the natives were not shown in popular culture and Native Americans were seen as being fierce. The stereotypes visible today were much different than what we see historically in the past. They are naturally placed upon different groups of people of different cultures, and mostly coming from what we see in society past and present. We can see stereotypes illustrated in photographs, paintings, everyday life, advertisements, and all throughout visual culture. These stereotypes are simplified representations of a larger group of people in society, so not everyone would call under the same stereotypes. They do create of separation of different races and types of individuals, as we see them widely spread during the 20th century.
