Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes - Molly Bassett
13. What is the origin of common stereotypes of Native American religious life?
Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes - Molly Bassett
Sarah Dees [+]
Iowa State University
Sarah Dees is an assistant professor of Religious Studies at Iowa State University. Her first book, a history of Smithsonian research on Native American religions, will be published by the University of Nebraska Press.
Description
This entry will discuss representations of Native traditions that have had a major influence on popular conceptions of Native American religions: museums and popular media. It will cover representations of Native American traditions in museums, literature, and movies, especially Westerns, which popularized the stereotype of Plains warriors. It will also encourage readers to consider how and why representations exist and some ideas for thinking about them critically.