First published in 1992, The Imaginary Indian is a revealing history of the "Indian" image mythologized by popular Canadian culture since 1850, propagating stereotypes that exist to this day.
Images of First Nations people have always been fundamental to Canadian culture. From the paintings and photographs of the 19th century to the Mounted Police sagas and the spectacle of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show; from the performances of Pauline Johnson, Grey Owl, and Buffalo Long Lance to the media images of Oka and the Vancouver Winter Olympics?the Imaginary Indian is ever with us, oscillating throughout our history from friend to foe, from Noble Savage to bloodthirsty warrior, from debased alcoholic to wise elder, from monosyllabic "squaw" to eloquent princess, from enemy of progress to protector of the environment.
The Imaginary Indian has been, and continues to be?as Daniel Francis reveals in this book?just about anything the non-Native culture has wanted it to be; and the contradictory stories non-Natives tell about Imaginary Indians are really stories about themselves and the uncertainties that make up their cultural heritage. This is not a book about Native people; it is the story of the images projected upon Native people?and the desperate uses to which they are put.This new edition, published almost twenty years after the book's first release, includes a new preface and afterword by the author.
Authors
Related Organizations
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 305.897/071
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 23
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn---
- ISBN
- 9781551524504 9781551524252
- LCCN
- E98 P99
- LCCN Item number
- F73 2011eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (272 p.)
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)slc00227737 (OCoLC)760412274 (CaOOCEL)440172
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- INDIAN INDIAN 1
- INDIAN INDIAN 3
- CONTENTS 11
- PART ONE 26
- Taking the Image 26
- The Vanishing Canadian 30
- Writing Off the Indian 57
- Red Coats and Redskins 74
- PART TWO 96
- Presenting the Image 96
- Performing Indians 99
- Celebrity Indians and Plastic Shamans 121
- Indians of Childhood 156
- PART THREE 182
- Appropriating the Image 182
- Marketing the Imaginary Indian 185
- PART FOUR 204
- Implementing the Image 204
- The Bureaucrats Indian 208
- Guns and Feathers 232
