June 14, 2008

Indian folk song in Family Guy

In the "Deep Throats" episode of Family Guy, which aired April 9, 2006, Peter and Lois recall a song they performed when they were hippie folksingers:

Noble Indian ChiefNoble Indian Chief,
Bring us back your ways.
You Indians were so awesome
In oh, so many ways.
They all loved each other
Regardless of the tribe.
One Comanche needs a cup of sugar
And the Blackfoot would oblige.
Lois: Oblige.
The only cause of death
Was drifting off to sleep.
And they left this piece of wisdom
That we hope you all will keep.
And they said...
[whooping] Wah wah wah wah wah, wah wah wah wah wah, wah wah wah wah wah wah wah
Wah wah wah wah wah, wah wah wah wah wah, wah wah wah wah wah wah wahwahwahwaaah.
Lois: They're gone now.
Peter: How could this have happened?
Both [hands raised in faux Indian greeting]: How.
Comment:  Indians weren't as peaceful as this New Age-style songs portrays them, of course. But this is an acceptable example of stereotyping. Why? Because it puts the naive beliefs about Indians in the mouths of naive hippies. The song makes them look foolish, not Indians.

For more on the subject, see TV Shows Featuring Indians.

2 comments:

dmarks said...

Glad you found this one. This is the song I tried to tell you about earlier, but did not recall many details.

Rob said...

Yes, I remember. I linked from your earlier comment to this posting.

P.S. I have a season pass for Family Guy on my TiVo, so I'll see all the episodes eventually.