Werewolves excised from Lone Ranger

A Native filmmaker says Disney excised a werewolf plot from Johnny Depp's The Lone Ranger:The tone is bonkers. All the underlying structure of Injun Werewolves is still there... We see Butch Cavendish eat the Lone Ranger's brother's heart, and then the next scene is wacky hijinx with Tonto. Tonto calls Cavendish "Wendigo" all through the film. 200 residents of Tonto's boyhood village were killed by two white men with pistols? No one ran away? They never ran out of bullets? Clearly it was supposed to be a werewolf attack. Helena Bonham Carter's leg was eaten by Cavendish. There are rabbit meat-eating bunny rabbits everywhere. The signs of the excision of the Werewolves are everywhere... and they're typically over the top and unnecessarily violent. They go utterly unexplained, and then are immediately papered over in each case by goofy pratfalls. It's just bizarre. I went in with a truly open mind, and was enjoying it for a while... but then it abruptly got stupid and long and wow was it tedious toward the end. The final action sequence is 30 minutes long, and it's visually amazing... But it comes too late to save a truly confused film.Comment:  Tonto says he's hunting Cavendish because Cavendish is a wendigo--a flesh-eating creature from the northeastern woodlands.

It doens't make sense for a wendigo to be in Texas--the movie's setting. Or in Monument Valley in southern Utah, the movie's actual setting.

It also doesn't make sense for Tonto, supposedly a Comanche Indian, to believe in or care about wendigos. It would be like a Chinese man hunting a Jewish golem. It could happen, but it makes no sense without an elaborate explanation.

I don't know anything about the supposed werewolf subplot. What's left is a villain who's inordinately evil because he's a wendigo--a malevolent spirit in human form. He eats human hearts and massacres whole villages--which isn't much different from your usual mass-murdering bad guy.

Rowling appropriates Native cultures

The author of Harry Potter lost her humanist cred among Natives when she engaged in pan-Indianism and appropriation in her History of Magic in North America. Some postings on the subject:

Dear JK Rowling: We're Still Here

Pottermore problems: Scholars and writers call foul on J.K. Rowling’s North American magic

'Magic gets organized when the white people show up': Critics blast JK Rowling for appropriating Native American culture in new series

J. K. Rowling’s Unfortunate Attempts at Globalization

JK Rowling’s Anti-Native ‘Magic’ Racism – And How Authors Can Do Diversity Better

Persistent stereotype of burial grounds

A posting on the stereotype of Indian burial grounds makes some good points:

'The Darkness,' 'The Shining,' And The Persistent Myth of The "Indian Burial Ground"

Redsploitation Horror has a long tradition in American cinema. Kevin Bacon's new horror flick continues the trend.

By Matt KimIn truth, these types of stories often frame Native Americans—who rarely appear in horror stories purportedly written about them and their culture—into westernized notions of the supernatural and the afterlife. Ghosts and possessions and the like are more closely associated with European superstitions, while there are simply too many diverse traditions in the indigenous culture to pigeonhole as a unified religion, or set of spiritual practices.And:There is some poetic justice, I imagine, in films which revolve around Native American “curses” destroying the lives of suburban white families. Naive nuclear family units who often overstep their bounds by moving into either a former reservation land, or burial ground, end up incurring the wrath of the vengeful spirits or dormant curse laid down by a people who were themselves laid down by the United States government. There’s an attempt at cultural restitution there, by way of making white American guilt into a literal horror.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Evil Spirits in The Darkness.

Powwows are "magic" at Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com: A Pow Wow Is An Event Where Indians Practice 'Magic'

By Simon Moya-SmithDictionary.com, a popular website of definitions and synonyms, defines a pow wow as an event where Native Americans—wait for it—practice "magic," ICTMN discovered Monday.

In its official definition, the website writes that a 'powwow' is "[among North American Indians] a ceremony, especially one accompanied by magic, feasting, and dancing, performed for the cure of disease, success in a hunt, etc."

The discovery of the curious definition comes weeks after a heated debate surrounding author J.K. Rowling's latest series, "A History of Magic In North America." In it, fictional Native Americans practice witchcraft and wizardry. Rowling is the author of the widely-successful 'Harry Potter' series.

Sarah Ortegon, a jingle dress dancer who is currently studying fancy shawl, told ICTMN Monday that although the beauty of pow wows can "cast a spell" on viewers, it is not magic in its official definition.After a couple of days of online complaints, the problem was solved:Dictionary.com Agrees to Drop 'Magic' From 'Powwow' Definition

By Simon Moya-SmithOn Monday, ICTMN reported that Dictionary.com, the world's leading digital dictionary, defines “powwow” as an event where Native Americans practice “magic.” Since then, Native Americans and others have taken to social media to express their disapproval over the antiquated definition.

Within 24 hours, officials at Dictionary.com responded to ICTMN stating they will change their definition of “powwow,” and that they will effectively remove the word “magic.”

“The word ‘magic’ does not appear in our revised definition,” Stephanie Cooley, spokesperson for Dictionary.com, said in an email.

“After reviewing the entry for ‘powwow’ we concluded that the definition did not reflect the history and usage of the term, and so we’ve drafted changes to reflect this. We plan to reach out to a professor of Native American Studies as part of our editorial process. With almost half a million entries, sometimes outdated or erroneous definitions can go overlooked and we depend upon our dedicated users to let us know if they come across any entries in need of review that we’ve missed,” she wrote in an email.Comment:  Why would anyone think a social event like a powwow had "magic" dances? Because non-Natives think all Indian dances are meant to call spirits or whatever.

According to the prevailing stereotype, Indians aren't normal like other people. They're otherworldly, with supernatural powers that let them talk to animals, control the weather, or summon demons.

Needless to say, the definition is silly. Not only because of the "magic" reference, but the whole thing. Curing disease, insuring a successful hunt...these are ceremonies done within a tribe on religious occasions. Not dances done among tribes on social occasions. Other than the concept of Indians dancing, the two have little or nothing in common.

For more on the subject, see Fictional Potterverse vs. Real Native Religions and Rowling Colonizes and Vanishes Indians.

Fictional Potterverse vs. real Native religions

What J.K. Rowling’s New Story Can Teach Us About Cultural Appropriation

Rowling messed up big time. What next?

By Claire FallonReading and listening to Native American and First Nations activists, authors, and readers reacting to the treatment of their cultural heritage, certain important points keep emerging: “History of Magic in North America” relied on worn-out stereotypes that erase tribal distinctions, ignore the true cultures and traditions of different nations, and reinforce conceptions of Native American people as mystical beings rather than real people who continue to exist today. The story was shallow and poorly researched, not a detailed and thoughtful exploration of the histories of the peoples who have lived on this continent for centuries.

Scholar Amy H. Sturgis, who is of Cherokee descent, told me, “Some of her descriptions—the claim that the Native American wizarding community was ‘particularly gifted in animal and plant magic’ for instance—refer less to Native American cultural traditions than to stereotypes of the mystical Noble Savage that have been used for centuries by non-Natives to make Native Americans seem exotic and Other.”

Regarding the skinwalker narrative, which has garnered particular outrage, she noted that it was particularly troubling to see Rowling make use of a Navajo tradition “as legend, a smokescreen for ‘real’ magical history, and to divorce this tradition from its specific origins and apply it to all of Native America as a whole.”

One thing’s certain: Rowling didn’t have much idea what she was writing about, and it showed. “I don’t think she has the knowledge necessary to do justice to marginalized peoples,” Debbie Reese, a Nambe Pueblo Indian scholar, told me. (Reese writes the blog American Indians in Children’s Literature, which carefully reviews young people’s literature with representations of American Indians to tease out the often glaring misrepresentations, appropriations, and damaging stereotypes within.)The Rantin’ Raven: Harry Potter and the… WTF?

By Dana CorbyHere’s the problem, as I see it, I said: Ms. Rowling seems to be unaware that the cultures she talks about are real. That there are still living members of these still-living cultures whose cause and position in the real world are harmed by the publication of untruths about them–untruths that are too often unconsciously accepted by those not interested enough to look into them.

Most fantasy novels are set in an alternate universe, the future, the remote past, or in some other way are not part of the here-and-now. The fantasy becomes a shared game of “let’s pretend” and pretty much anything can go. But as eloquently pointed out by N.K. Jemisin in “It Could Have Been Great,” Rowling’s world purports to be a secret side of our real world, occurring in real time alongside everyday reality. The whole premise is that nobody who isn’t magical knows about those who are–with a few noted exceptions like the families of muggle-borns, of course. What a fun concept! But because it’s set in the real world, extra caution needs to be exercised not to do violence to what isn’t part of the fantasy.

It’s not just Rowling’s clueless assumption that belief in skin walkers was/is continent-wide rather than strictly a Diné belief, or her saying that “skin walker” is just an Indian word for animagus when in Diné culture they are living vectors of evil. It’s saying that non-magical Native medicine people were/are fakes. She’s talking about people outside her wizarding subculture, and suddenly it’s not fantasy anymore.

In all the Potter books, she never once so much as hints that Christianity and non-magical medicine might be fake, even when her wizarding characters are being condescending about the amazing ways muggles find to get along without magic. Christianity is assumed and respected in the Wizarding world, if not spoken of much, with crosses in the churchyard—and churches, for that matter—and St. Mungo’s Hospital. If Wizards aren’t Christians, how can there be a wizarding saint? Muggle medicine is shown to work fine for everything except magical maladies. But non-magical Indian medicine people are ‘fakes.’ Indians have been told this by Europeans for 500 years and it’s long past time we stopped doing it and they stopped being expected to tolerate it.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Rowling Colonizes and Vanishes Indians and Rowling's Magic in North America. Also see:

Native People Respond to Rowling

Why it's more than fiction

Native People Respond to Jason Aaron's SCALPED and JK Rowling's Magic in North America

Rowling colonizes and vanishes Indians

Paquette: J.K. Rowling lifts Indigenous traditions but ignores history

By Aaron PaquetteRowling takes the more than 500 distinct Nations of North America and lumps them into a simplistic amalgam called “the Native American community.” She also appropriated the legend of Navajo skinwalkers (shape-shifters) without so much as a please or thank you and additionally painted some of the spiritual leaders of the Navajo as corrupt charlatans.

So what? The stories are fiction, right? What about books and movies about ancient Greek or Norse gods? Or leprechauns and vampires? Isn’t this the same?

Not really. No one believes in vampires.

Many Navajo take their beliefs seriously and regard knowledge of skinwalkers as sacrosanct–part of an interweaving expression of the Navajo worldview. These aren’t just stories, they’re ceremony, as significant today as they were in the past.

Rowling’s new foray is different than borrowing from old traditions no longer practised, or from cultures that are safe and thriving. She’s taking the property of a marginalized people for her own use simply because she can and wants to.

This is colonialism. Simply put, it’s cultural theft and these are not her stories to tell.The Colonization Effect In Rowling’s Magical American History

By Katie Majka“Harry Potter is fictional,” people have (and will continue to) insisted, and that’s true enough. But the history that Rowling has rewritten to suit that fictional world isn’t—that history is real and valid and important, and not to be used as a malleable narrative prop.

As a white person, I can’t sit here and say that what Rowling did was permissible; I can’t and won’t attempt to justify it, both because I don’t think it’s worthy of justification, and at the end of the day it has nothing to do with me, anyway, and everything to do with the Native peoples whom it affects. While I don’t think Rowling purposely set out to colonize Native American history, the point is that’s precisely what happened and it needs to be addressed by her. When any person sets out to explore a culture that isn’t their own, it’s that person’s responsibility to do the proper research, and that responsibility goes double for white people. We have a wide and vast history of colonization and cultural appropriation, which we still benefit from and are ignorant of (see: a few notable American sports teams/mascots, white people on Halloween, etc.) today.Native Americans to J.K. Rowling: We’re Not Magical

The author has come under fire for equating Navajo religious beliefs with the world of her fictional Harry Potter characters.

By Becky LittleThere is another, more subtle, layer to the depiction of Native Americans as magical, fictional beings—they end up being portrayed as though they don’t exist. Howe refers to this as “the trope of the vanishing Indian.”

“The vanishing American Indian is in art, it’s in stories—we’re the so-called Last of the Mohicans,” she says. “We exist in the minds of mainstream America as dead and forgotten because the white Americans won the American West.”

When native traditions are constantly depicted as relics, it gives the impression that those traditions—and the more than 5 million native people in the United States—don’t exist anymore. Think of the Native American characters you’ve encountered in books and movies. How many of them were portrayed as characters from the past, and how many of them were depicted as people in the modern world? (Modern characters that are also magical don’t count—I’m still looking at you, Twilight.)

On a more basic level, the stereotypes of the “vanishing Indian,” the magical medicine man, or even the noble savage dehumanize the people they profess to represent. Children read books to learn, but also to identify with the characters. For native children, this presents a problem if most of the images they see of themselves are otherworldly, long gone, or sports mascots.

“These stereotypes hurt us in terms of our human rights,” says Howe. “You cannot have civil rights, you can’t really have human rights or be thought of in a significant way, if you are invisible and you’re dead. So the trope of the vanishing American Indian is in a way undermining the humanity of native people because the assumption is we’re dead, or there’s just a few of us left.”Comment:  For more on the subject, see Rowling's Magic in North America and Pocahontas in Harry Potter.

Rowling's Magic in North America

JK Rowling's problems began with the first trailer for her expansion of the Harry Potter universe, Magic in North America:

“Magic in North America”: The Harry Potter franchise veers too close to home

By Adrienne KeeneI don’t really know what to say beyond my original letter, but I’ll reiterate it again. Native spirituality and religions are not fantasy on the same level as wizards. These beliefs are alive, practiced, and protected. The fact that the trailer even mentions the Navajo concept of skinwalkers sends red flags all over the place, and that it’s mentioned next to the Salem witch trials? Disaster. Even the visual imagery of the only humans shown in the trailer being a Native man and burning girls places the two too close for comfort.

We fight so hard every single day as Native peoples to be seen as contemporary, real, full, and complete human beings and to push away from the stereotypes that restrict us in stock categories of mystical-connected-to-nature-shamans or violent-savage-warriors. Colonization erases our humanity, tells us that we are less than, that our beliefs and religions are “uncivilized”, that our existence is incongruent with modernity. This is not ancient history, this is not “the past.” The ongoing oppression of Native peoples is reinscribed everyday through texts and images like this trailer. How in the world could a young person watch this and not make a logical leap that Native peoples belong in the same fictional world as Harry Potter?When Rowling released snippets of Magic in North America, Keene continued her analysis:

Magic in North America Part 1: Ugh.

By Adrienne KeenePart 1 of MinNA, The 14th to 17th century, starts with this:

Though European explorers called it ‘the New World’ when they first reached the continent, wizards had known about America long before Muggles (Note: while every nationality has its own term for ‘Muggle,’ the American community uses the slang term No-Maj, short for ‘No Magic’).

So first off, we’re centering Europeans, calling brutal colonizers benign “explorers” (yes, it’s written for children, but I don’t think anyone would argue the HP canon is absent of intense violence).

The Native American magical community and those of Europe and Africa had known about each other long before the immigration of European No-Majs in the seventeenth century.

“The Native American community.” Oh man that loaded “the.” One of the largest fights in the world of representations is to recognize Native peoples and communities and cultures are diverse, complex, and vastly different from one another.

The legend of the Native American ‘skin walker’–an evil witch or wizard that can transform into an animal at will–has its basis in fact. A legend grew up around the Native American Animagi, that they had sacrificed close family members to gain their powers of transformation.

What you do need to know is that the belief of these things (beings?) has a deep and powerful place in Navajo understandings of the world. It is connected to many other concepts and many other ceremonial understandings and lifeways. It is not just a scary story, or something to tell kids to get them to behave, it’s much deeper than that.

The magic wand originated in Europe.

Wands are a European invention, so basically she’s demonstrating Eurocentric superiority here–the introduction of European “technology” helps bring the Native wizards to a new level. AKA colonial narrative 101.Others quickly chimed in, often quoting Keene's remarks:

J.K. Rowling's New Story & Cultural Appropriation

By Carolyn L. Todd"No doubt you'll use the cloak of artistic license." Keene contended, "It's not 'your' world. It's our (real) Native world. And skin walker stories have context, roots, and reality."

And that, right there, is the issue, isn't it? Are we living in Rowling's world—where magic is real and all inspirations are fair game? Or are we occupying the real world, where there is a real heritage and history that merits respectful and accurate portrayals? And who gets to decide? Isn't Rowling the arbiter of her own universe? But then, aren't Native Americans entitled to ardently defend their culture and history, one that has been decimated in the real world and repeatedly mangled by pop culture?

I don't have the answer to these questions, and I won't pretend that I have the experience or knowledge to speak on the issue with any authority. What I can say for sure is that had I read this piece in a bubble, without knowing about the accusations of cultural appropriation beforehand, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about how the tale might affect Native Americans.J.K. Rowling's latest wizardry prompts criticism from Native Americans

UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: Harry Potter fans in Native American communities are disappointed with the depiction of their cultures and history in the British novelist's latest stories.

By Cathaleen ChenThe biggest challenge, Mr. Fleming tells The Monitor, was for Rowling to have recognized that charms, potions, and spirituality are already deeply entrenched in Native cultures.

“It’s very flattering that she would want to extend her world into [the Native American] world, but it’s not a very good fit, because it’s too good of a fit,” he explains. “What happens is that you’re taking an assumptive fictional community–the wizarding world–and you’re trying to apply it to a culture where it’s not an assumptive fictional world. There are elements that are believed and practiced.”

For instance, some Native tribes really do believe that “charms” have certain powers, and that “medicine men” can conjure supernatural abilities to heal wounds. But when Rowling renders such concepts in a fictional context, the pertinent cultures are thereby simplified, or even erased, to become stereotypes.

Rowling's depictions become all the more dangerous, Houska says, because these misconceptions of Native people already exist in American culture.

“Her fiction isn’t far off from what kids are learning in school books,” she says. Houska recalls being the only Native student in a school of white kids, and how discouraging it was to be taught a skewed version of her culture’s history.J.K. Rowling's History of Magic in North America Was a Travesty From Start to Finish

By Katharine TrendacostaOne of the many things that made Harry Potter so great was the specificity. Rowling was drawing on real places to create Wizarding Britain. It was all based on things she knew backward and forwards.

But American history and culture are not her fields. And the beliefs of the various Native American tribes and their histories was something she was especially not qualified to speak on. If you absolutely have to include these things, speak to some people.

Creating a second history for an existing place that is not your own is not easy. It requires a lot of research. Research Rowling clearly didn’t do.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Pocahontas in Harry Potter.

Evil spirits in The Darkness

Real Life Native American Demons Wreak Havoc In 'The Darkness'

By Jancy RichardsonYou guys. I'm super stoked to share this exclusive footage from Blumhouse Tilt's newest venture The Darkness with you. The horror powerhouse that brought The Purge, Insidious, The Conjuring, and Sinister into our lives is teaming up with Wolf Creek director Greg McLean to create The Darkness, a dark horror tale about an autistic kid unleashing something that should have been left in Native American history....

Check out the trailer for The Darkness (if you can handle tension)!

Comment:  I think we have a winner for the millionth movie to feature evil Indian spirits that come back to life. With an image of what looks like a Hopi snake dancer, something completely different that has nothing to do with evil spirits.



"They curse you"

More images suggest how the movie stereotypes Native culture and history as dark and accursed. A computer screen:



A girl with Native-style handprints:



And the Indians' evil spelled out:



I'm not sure anyone knows more about The Darkness than what's in the trailer. So we can't tell how stereotypical the movie is. But I'll stick with my rule of thumb: the stereotyping is always worse than what you see or hear initially.

For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Movies.

Native Voodoo in Gilligan's Island

I've been watching reruns of Gilligan's Island. Given the oft-mentioned Native islanders, it's had several indigenous-themed episodes.

I didn't recall any Native American content, but I was wondering if such content would show up. The answer is yes...in the Voodoo episode.

Season 3, Episode 5
Voodoo (10 Oct. 1966)A witch doctor wreaks havoc on the castaways after he steals a personal item from each of them and then creates voodoo dolls that bear their likenesses.My comments on this episode:

Mesoamerican archaeology revolutionized on ‪#‎GilligansIsland‬! Gilligan finds artifacts in a cave, including a vase that's a "classical example of early Mayan worksmanship."

So the Maya were a seafaring race that reached the Hawaiian islands? Incredible!

The castaways find gold jewelry encrusted with gems, too! Priceless!

Unfortunately, the artifacts are accompanied by a "witch doctor" who practices "voodoo." Even though the Professor says there's no such thing within a thousand miles.

In keeping with the Mayan claim, the witch doctor is played by Eddie Little Sky.Eddie Little Sky was born on August 15, 1926 in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, USA. He is known for his work on A Man Called Horse (1970), Paint Your Wagon (1969) and 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964). He was married to Dawn Little Sky. He died on September 5, 1997 in Pennington, South Dakota.

With the Mayan objects and the Native American actor, there's a pretty clear implication that Mesoamerican religion and culture were equivalent to black magic aka "voodoo."

The episode ends with the castaways returning the artifacts they've taken and Gilligan finding the voodoo dolls. So there's still a Native American "witch doctor" on the loose? Let's hope he's satisfied with the return of his ancestors' items!

In the 1960s, Mayan Indians were driving cars, watching TV, and going to college like everyone else. So this portrayal of a "witch doctor" practicing "voodoo" is horribly wrong. It wasn't true in the classical Maya period and it's certainly not true a thousand years later.

But the episode isn't a total failure. It does identify Mexico as the closest Native American site. And give it a point for using a Native actor to play a Native character. Even if he is a witch doctor.

For more on the subject, see Mohawk Astronaut in Gilligan's Island..

The "Indian burial ground" trope

Why Every Horror Film of the 1980s Was Built on 'Indian Burial Grounds'

By Dan NosowitzThese days, the Indian Burial Ground trope is something that’s become so overused, so expected, so old, that its only use, really, is as a comedic device. (The Onion tried it way back in a 2011 video titled “Report: Economy Failing Because U.S. Built On Ancient Indian Burial Grounds.”) The basic idea is that much disruptive ghost behavior can be traced back to current Americans (and Canadians) disrespecting a place where American Indians are buried by, say, building a house or a hotel on the spot.

But the trope has also, in recent years, become an interesting plaything for academics and critics, especially those identifying as American Indian (or First Nations, the Canadian equivalent), because there are so many weird things going on with it: fear, of course, but also guilt, ignorance, racism, and commercialism. So where did it come from?

First of all, it’s important to note that the Indian Burial Ground, which is sometimes abbreviated to IBG, is a trope, and not a real thing. Pre-Columbian peoples identified as hundreds of totally different communities, families, or nations, without very many similarities between them. That extended to the burying and treatment of the dead; in some arctic communities, the dead were simply left on the ice to be eaten by predators (what else are you going to do up there?), whereas other groups practiced more familiar burial forms ranging from mass graves to careful and solemn burials to burials performed quickly and with great fear of the corpse. The IBG concept is wrong right from the get-go; depending on how you look at it, there’s either no such thing or an unending variety of them.The explanation for this trope:Theory Five: Karma and guilt. Americans know that atrocities were committed and hundreds of nations were obliterated or nearly obliterated. Retribution is feared, and some people may believe that the ghosts of those who died due to this nation's invasion and European takeover will some day come back to get their revenge.

Remember that this is not long after the famous “Crying Indian” anti-littering ad, which was a harbinger of the change in the way post-Columbian American immigrants saw American Indians. The trend slowly started to move from a conception of the Savage Indian to something more like a survivor. It’s no coincidence that just as IBG emerged in the 1970s, so did many activist organizations: The American Indian advocacy group, began in 1968. The Trail of Broken Treaties, a massive coast-to-coast protest, took place in 1972.

The idea that one could disrespect American Indians, that theirs was a history on which we had trampled, was, embarrassingly but truthfully, sort of new to much of the American public in the 1970s. And what could be scarier than having your worst mistakes come back to haunt you?Comment:  For more on burial grounds, see Native Ghosts in Comic Books and Burial Ridge in Blacklist.

Native ghosts in comic books

A teacher e-mailed me to say she was interested in Native ghosts. For a section of her literature class, she wanted to know about Native ghosts in comic books. I sent her this response:

Native ghosts in comic books...interesting question.

There are a ton of stories in every genre--comics, movies, TV shows, novels, etc.--that feature Indian ghosts, spirits, or demons. Often they arise from an Indian burial ground that's been cursed somehow.

But these are usually throwaway stories. They're not central to the comic book, movie, or whatever in question. So it's difficult to produce a list of such stories. You'd have to search for "Indian burial ground," "Indian ghost," "Indian spirit," and so forth and weed through the false hits.

There are all sorts of variations, of course. I remember an old Tomahawk story where some Brits pretended to be ghosts to scare the Indians. Lots of wacky things like that.

As one approach, I'd suggest perusing my blog on two topics:

Burial grounds
Supernatural

Most of the postings are about movies or TV shows, not comics. But they may spark your interest anyway.

As for particular comics, characters such as Alpha Flight's Shaman, the New Mutants' Dani Moonstar, the Justice League of America's Manitou Raven, and DC's Arak sometimes enter the spirit world or the dream world. That's kind of like being a ghost. You could search those series for individual issues about ghosts. For instance, try "Alpha Flight Shaman ghost." See what it pulls up.

Beyond that, I can think of a few possibilities. Most of them don't involve ghosts in the classic European sense, but they may be close to what you want:

Desperadoes: Buffalo Dreams. I don't remember this mini-series well, but it may involve actual ghosts.

Ghostdancing. Dancing through different realms or dimensions--kind of like being a ghost.

Muktuk Wolfsbreath. Entering the dream world--again kind of like being a ghost.

I Am Coyote (Epic). Coyote shifts into a phantom state, which is kind of like being a ghost.

Timespirits. I don't remember this series well, but the characters go traveling through time and space. I wouldn't be surprised if they entered a ghostly state too.

New Mutants: The Demon Bear Saga. Dani Moonstar faces a spectral demon, which is kind of like a ghost.

As you can see, there are many suggestions about characters like a ghost. I don't know if that helps, but it's about all I can think of.

As for buying them, I sell just my own comics and a few others. I'd try Mile High Comics at http://www.milehighcomics.com. They have a huge inventory--possibly the biggest online.

From what I've seen, it's about 50-50 whether they have Native-themed comics such as the ones I've mentioned. But the prices for lower-quality items are reasonable.

I trust that helps!

Rob



P.S. In a follow-up message, the teacher said she was also interested in Native spirits, demons, and related supernatural beings. That would increase the number of relevant comic books immensely.

Mishipeshu in Grimm

** Spoiler alert ** for this Native-themed episode of Grimm.

'Grimm' fan recap: The legend of the Mishipeshu

By TeamTSDSeason 4 | Episode 18 | “Mishipeshu” | Aired Apr 17, 2015

NBC’s Grimm borrowed from real Native American mythology this week and tackled the legend of a well-known water being, the Mishipeshu.

Wesen of the week.

The Mishipeshu is a real legend among Great Lakes and Northeastern Woodlands Native American tribes, notably linked to the Ojibwa. It’s also referred to as an “Underwater Panther,” and Mishipeshu directly translates to “The Great Lynx.” In Native American mythology, the Mishipeshu is a serpent-feline mix with cat-like paws, scales all over its body, horns, and spikes on its tail. Descriptions of its size and appearance vary, and some even say the tail or horns are made of copper.

Our Grimm case of the week begins when a school janitor is found mauled to death. When Nick, Hank, and Wu question the principal, they find out that the janitor was most likely to blame for scrawling racial slurs on a former Native American student’s locker. The student was Simon George, who we learn watched his father be beaten to death when he was five years old. Hank and Janelle head to the reservation to find Simon, but are informed by a man named Hector that he’s currently on a power quest. What does this mean exactly? It means Simon was dropped off alone on a mountain to find his guardian spirit (an animal) and he’ll stay there for days probably starving, scared, and lost. No, this spirit quest is not the same as your two-day Daredevil marathon accompanied by agonizing internal conflicts over what to feed yourself (not that we’d know what that’s like.)

When another person is murdered at a car-repair shop, and another man is nearly killed in his home before Nick & Co. save him, the gang realize these three men all knew each other well. They also realize that Simon is being possessed by the Mishipeshu and is looking for revenge.

Vision Quest.

At the reservation, Hank, Janelle, and Nick are told by Hector that in order to find Simon, they need to enter the “dream world” and view Simon’s past. Hank drinks a mystery liquid (kids, don’t try this at home) and starts sweating and having visions.

In the vision, he is Simon, and he watches his father get beaten to death. Surprise! The men who killed Simon’s father are the three victims that the Mishipeshu mauled (although one is still alive). Meanwhile, Janelle gets too high and is kicked out of the wigwam. Bye, Janelle!

Hank, still linked to Simon, starts running through the woods toward the father’s burial spot. Unfortunately for Hank, he runs across Simon and the Mishipeshu decides to possess Hank instead. Body swap! The Mishipeshu wants to finish what he started and kill the third man. Nick, Simon, Hector, and Janelle reach Hank in time to keep him from killing the guy and expel the Mishipeshu from him. Everyone knows that this douchebag killed Simon’s father, but without evidence, they can’t arrest him. It’s totally fine though, because later that night, Janelle (voluntarily?) gets possessed by the Mishipeshu and kills the last murderer herself. Case closed.

Rob's review

Mishipeshu is another mixed episode of a network TV show. These days you can almost bet on "mixed," "average," or "mediocre" being the verdict. TV shows are rarely exceptionally good or bad where Natives are concerned. Mediocrity rules.

Let's review:

The tribe is unnamed but in the Portland, Oregon, area. It has hints of a Pacific Northwest culture. Oregon may be too far south for such a culture, but at least it's in the right vicinity. The episode gives us a culture that's regionally correct, at least.

The actors, Gregory Cruz and BooBoo Stewart, have some Native blood. They look like reasonable choices for their roles.

The Mishipeshu or underwater panther is a creature from Ojibwe mythology. A book shows us the legend's source.

But the episode has to stretch for an explanation of why the Mishipeshu is in the Northwest: because it came with Simon's Ojibwe mother. It left its underwater home and traveled across half a continent...well, because.

In fact, a quick search doesn't show anything about underwater panthers leaving the water, traveling long distances, or possessing humans. Other than getting its origin right, Grimm turns the Mishipeshu into a typical death-dealing demon.

Simon goes on a "power quest" to find his "spirit guardian." In other words, a vision quest to find his spirit animal.

Alas, I don't think Pacific Northwest tribes practice vision quests. The made-up terms don't justify the pan-Indian stereotyping.

Similarly, I don't think Pacific Northwest tribes practice sweat lodges. Which is what the "dreamworld" ceremony is--a modified sweat-lodge ceremony.

It comes across as pure rubbish. For starters, a tribal practitioner in Oregon wouldn't know anything about contacting a Great Lakes spirit. It would be like a Celt contacting a Greek god or a Greek contacting a Celtic god...ridiculous.

And no way would Hector enlist two non-Natives to enter the dreamworld and seek the Mishipeshu. Like brain surgery or an exorcism, this isn't something done by amateurs. A medicine man or "shaman" would do it only by himself, after years of training.

So the look and feel of the tribe is decent. The use of real Native mythology--and not the overused wendigo--is decent. But the Mishipeshu's spree of possessing and killing people, and the phony ceremony to stop it, are stereotypical. The special effects are nice, but they're not enough to save the story.

Native stereotypes in Journey's End

Some talk about the non-political aspects of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Journey's End:

The Ars staff picks our least-favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes

Turns out Trek isn't like pizza—when it's bad, it's just really really bad.

By Ars StaffThe plot feels like the result of hours of sleepless brainstorming by a bunch of people on a rapidly approaching deadline—as if, at about 3am the morning the script was due, someone yelled out "GUYS, I've got it: let's do a deep criticism of colonialism and national policy by drawing a parallel between a Federation-Cardassian dispute and government land-grabs of the late 1800s!"

And then, instead of shooting the idea down, someone else yelled "And we should have actual for-real Native Americans in it! We've had Nazi planets and Roman planets—we need a Native American planet!" And then instead of a third person punching the first two people in the face, they banged out the screenplay and turned it in and then all fell asleep at their desks.

Actually, the person most directly responsible for this episode is none other than Ronald D. Moore, who also wrote some of the greatest TNG episodes (along with, you know, Battlestar Galactica and stuff). Moore's touch shines through in a few places—the scenes with Wesley and Picard are actually quite good!—but it's hard to understand what the hell he was trying to accomplish with the colony that looks like a hastily built My First Adobe Village on a soundstage. The planet's inhabitants are a pastiche of 1950s-era "Cowboys and Indians" antagonists, and once they start nagging Wesley about pantheism and how he needs to get his Space Peyote on and do a "vision quest," I was ready to pull the eject handle and bail out.

Tim Lynch Star Trek Reviews Wiki: Journey's EndI liked the two major guest stars after Wes and Nechayev, those being Tom Jackson as Lakanta and Ned Romero as Anthwara. Both did a good job being enigmatic and frustratingly calm; while I'm not sure it's particularly realistic, it really _did_ work for dramatic purposes. (George Aguilar as Wakasa, the most hostile member of the council, however, has to go. Bleh.)

I do think the whole "look, we're including Native Americans, aren't we wonderfully multicultural!" angle of the show was a bit overdone, however. First, it stuck out like a sore thumb--I'm all for keeping cultural differences alive, but not when every scene featuring these people is saying "Look, we are a separate culture--a culture that's not yours and that's separate, got it?" That's more or less what was here; thankfully, it was rarely the majority of any given scene, some of the early ones aside. Second, I'm not certain it's a particularly accurate portrayal; I don't know why, but I have that feeling. (My own contact with Native Americans has been exceedingly limited, however, so I'd appreciate comments from those with more experience than I on how well it worked.) As I said, it worked beautifully for dramatic purposes, and since I don't know enough of the reality to comment, that's all I can really talk about.Pan-Indian mishmash

I talked about the problems in Dorvan V's relocation conflict. Here are some problems with the Indians themselves:

The Indians mostly have long hair. They wear hybrid Native-meets-Renaissance clothing. They speak normally--perhaps a bit too formally--with a smattering of spiritual mumbo-jumbo.

In other words, they're not quite modern like the Federation visitors, but they're not quite stereotypical either. In fact, they're like almost every other "alien" race in Star Trek. Their faces and hair, clothing, and mannerisms diverge slightly from the Federation norm--enough to mark them as different without requiring any real effort.

Dorvan V's tribe isn't named and has no specific culture. Are these people Cherokee, Navajo, Haudenosaunee, Ojibwe, or what? These tribal groups aren't the same thing--in fact, they're quite different--so it matters.

The colony may be a pan-Indian agglomerate of several cultures. But then the people wouldn't act in unison, as if they had one set of sacred beliefs, so that isn't plausible. I imagine the colonists were meant to be a single culture, but the writers were too ignorant or scared to come up with something specific.

The village does look like "My First Adobe Village," but that's pretty much true of every alien race visited by the Federation. Presumably the budgets required that every outdoor scene looked like it was filmed on a "primitive village" set.

Probably the worst bit is the so-called "vision quest" in the Habak--whatever that is. One, the room has a jumble of Native artifacts from different cultures. That's flatly wrong. Two, vision quests typically involve going off into the wilderness and fasting for four days. They're not the same as any supernatural event involving Natives and visions.

Vision quests aren't a part of every Native culture. And they don't occur in four-walled rooms with artifacts. The whole thing is patently phony.

Compounding the problem, the Indian leading the vision quest, Lakanta, turns out to be the non-Native Traveler. This implies Native religion is the same as or similar to alien science-magic. It belittles such religion by suggesting a sufficiently advanced alien could imitate or even become a Native spirit.

If a Christian prophet performing miracles turned out to be an alien, would that be an acceptable commentary on Christianity's authenticity? Because this is kind of the same thing.

In terms of stereotyping, Journey's End is fair to poor. The Indians aren't much better than the ones in 1960s Westerns like Bonanza, which also portrayed them sympathetically.

Indeed, I'd say the relocation debate is more interesting than the pseudo-Indians. It might've been better to invent a fictional culture rather than give us this mishmash of Indian ideas and concepts.

For more on Star Trek, see The Native Spock and Critique of Journey's End.

Running Zack in Saved by the Bell

I didn't watch Saved by the Bell when it was on the air. But every long-running show has to have an "Indian" episode, it seems, and Saved by the Bell had one too.

Here's the basic idea:

Running Zack (24 Nov. 1990)If Zack wants to run the track meet, he better prepare his ancestry report where he gets help from an Indian.Running ZackZack fails his family heritage presentation. Unless he can make it up, he is off the track team. His teacher Miss Wentworth arranges a tutor for Zack named Chief Henry, who happens to be a Native American. Zack soon learns about his own Native American heritage, but does not feel like going to the upcoming track rally when tragedy strikes.From what I read, fans seem to think Running Zack was one of the worst episodes ever. The whole series seems to be written for juvenile pre-teens, but I don't think Running Zack is worse than other Native-themed episodes I've seen. I'd say it's mediocre rather than terrible.

Let's go through the major plot points and compare what the critics have said:

episode #29 ‘Running Zack.’

Saved by the Bell Season 2, Episode 13: “Running Zack”

Running Zack

to my impressions.

First presentation

Miss Wentworth's students have to do a family-tree presentation, which involves talking for 30 seconds in front of the class. That's more like something you'd do in 3rd grade than in high school, but hey...this is a compressed TV sitcom, so never mind.

Zack finds an old photo of an Indian. His mother told him the Indian was a distant relative. That's good enough for Zack to base a half-assed report on.

This is roughly the rationale given by wannabes such as Ward Churchill, Elizabeth Warren, and Johnny Depp. Claiming Native ancestry based on a hypothetical ancestor in one's family lore is common. If a kid is lazy and doesn't do his homework, he could easily seize on such a story for a class report.

A couple of people said Zack is clearly Nordic (or Anglo-Saxon, or Aryan) and couldn't be Native. But he didn't declare himself to be Native because of one ancestor. He could have a distant Native ancestor in his family tree. And since the assignment apparently was to talk about one of his ancestors, he was doing what he was told.

Zack gives a perfunctory talk using Screech as his assistant. Zack draws "war paint" on Screech and gives him a toy tomahawk. Screech stands like a cigar-store Indian and talks like Tonto.



Yes, it's a stereotypical if not racist presentation. But Zack is supposed to be ignorant about Indians at this point. Since Running Zack aired two years before Dances with Wolves, and kids are still dressing and acting this way today, it's not an terribly unbelievable report. Many people, especially naive youngsters, really are this dumb and foolish.

Meeting Chief Henry

Miss Wentworth sends Zack to meet her friend Chief Henry. The critics wondered how they could've met. Perhaps at UCLA, since he said he went there. It's totally normal to meet Indians in everyday life, especially in an urban environment such as Los Angeles. The real issue isn't how they met, but why people are questioning it.

Critics also wondered about his "Chief Henry" name. Yes, it's a stereotypical name for someone who isn't a chief. But it could just be a nickname. If that were the only problem, I'd call the episode a success.

More important than these points is the overall impression Henry makes. He's played by Dehl Berti, a Chiricahua Apache actor. That's good; no redface casting here. He dresses and acts like a beach bum, not a wise elder or shaman. He punctures Zack's ignorance about Indians several times--for instance, saying he learned beading in a class at UCLA, not from his elders.

Except for the minor details noted above, and too many Native artifacts lying around, I'd say this is an above-average TV portrayal. In fact, I'm not sure I can think of a better one in a sitcom before 1990.

Zack finds his ancestor's photo in a book and goes back to Chief Henry to learn more. Again, the Indian confounds Zack's expectations. Henry gives Zack a beaded headband and the name "Running Zack" before heading out to surf.

Critics complained that Running Zack is a stereotypical "Indian name." True, but Henry knew Zack was a runner. I think Henry was playing with Zack--giving him a faux name to match his hobby. I don't think it was supposed to be a genuine naming ceremony.

Second presentation

Zack does a makeup presentation in a full buckskin costume, headdress, and warpaint. This is perhaps the most offensive thing in Running Zack. He's read the books and learned about his ancestor...but he still comes to class in the most stereotypical outfit possible? He apparently hasn't learned a thing about how Indians look.

Despite the ridiculous outfit, Zack gives a decent summary of his ancestor, who turns out to be Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce. Zack names a real Indian from a real tribe and gives his real history, including his "I will fight no more forever" line.

That's a nice dollop of history for a lowbrow comedy. It's more than you'll get from most shows, even today, with their no-name or fictional tribes.

Chief Henry dies suddenly. The critics asked why. It could be anything--it doesn't matter what. The critics said Zack didn't know him long enough to grieve. True, but sometimes you can connect deeply with a person in just a few minutes. This was clearly meant to be like that.

Again, compressed sitcom. I think the episode wanted us to imagine Chief Henry had two long soulful meetings with Zack. That they didn't appear on screen is a limitation of the format.

Chief Henry's ghost

Chief Henry's ghost visits Zack while he's asleep. He's dressed in a white suit and talks about getting his wings and enjoying his afterlife. Critics said that sounded like Christianity rather than a Native religion.

True, but Henry could've been Christian or a Native/Christian blend. Again, it subverts expectations not to have Henry mouth platitudes about the Great Spirit or the happy hunting grounds.

One also could connect the ghost to the idea that all Indians have supernatural powers, but I don't think the show was suggesting that. I took it as more of a dream sequence, even though Zack seemed fully awake. I guess there was a whiff of Indians = supernatural, but not enough to bother me.

Other aspects of Running Zack were arguably worse than the Native storyline. Screech's malapropisms and misunderstandings are stupid rather than funny. Jessie's stalking Lisa because Lisa's ancestors were slaves and Jessie's were slavetraders is also stupid rather than funny. No one feels incredible guilt because a few of their ancestors did something bad hundreds of years ago.

Let's sum it up. First presentation: Intentionally racist and bad. Meetings with Chief Henry: Good. Second presentation: Bad looks, good words. Meeting with Chief Henry's ghost: Not bad.

On a scale of 1-10, I'd call that a 5 or 6. Which means mediocre, not terrible.

Overall, Running Zack was poor, but not because of the Indian bits. I think those were some of its more interesting parts. I'd give the episode a grade of C or C-, not an F.

"Seminole Spirit" = "savage swamp mermaid"

Victoria's Secret Photographer, Model Present 'Seminole Spirit' Imagery in NYCAn exhibit of photography that may elicit a variety of reactions in Indian country opens today at Stephan Weiss Studio in New York City. Called "Seminole Spirit," it consists of highly stylized photos taken in the wetlands and swamps of Florida by Australian shooter Russell James, who is most famous for his photography of Victoria's Secret models. A number of the photos feature Victoria's Secret Angel Behati Prinsloo, while others depict landscapes, alligators, and the Seminole people.

The project was undertaken in cooperation with the Seminole Nation of Florida, under the guidance of Chief James Billie and medicine man Bobby Henry.

"I didn't want [Prinsloo] to be representative of the Seminole, of course," James says, according to Gotham Magazine. "But I went to Seminole land and I shot things like the way they build, the way a man holds his hands—all these things [about] Seminole culture. Then I took Behati and created a fantasy character that I call Seminole Spirit. She represents this thing, this movement that I call relevant, modern, cultural, all of these things combined, and that's how Seminole Spirit came about."The 10 nude photographs of Prinsloo, which represent less than one-third of the material, are bound to grab the most attention. Of the experience, Prinsloo who is currently ranked 15th on the "Money Girls" list at models.com, said that "We painted my body gold as we tried to capture an idea we had of what ‘Seminole Spirit’ is […] I felt like a savage swamp mermaid on Seminole land, crazy."Comment:  A gold-painted savage swamp mermaid? Sounds stereotypical to me.

Talk about your exotic others. Indians as mermaids, fairies, swamp dwellers, savages...this "Seminole Spirit" is a one-woman Peter Pan menagerie. She could star in the next Pirates of the Caribbean as the movie's supernatural monster.

Does photographer Russell James, not to mention Chief Billie, realize that Seminoles are doctors, lawyers, and teachers? Why would you want to reinforce the idea that they're otherworldly creatures who live in a magical world of spirits and demons? That's already what people think, and now they've reinforced the idea.

Review of How I Became a Ghost

How I Became A Ghost (How I Became a Ghost Series)Told in the words of Isaac, a Choctaw boy who does not survive the Trail of Tears, HOW I BECAME A GHOST is a tale of innocence and resilience in the face of tragedy. From the book's opening line, "Maybe you have never read a book written by a ghost before," the reader is put on notice that this is no normal book. Isaac leads a remarkable foursome of Choctaw comrades: a tough-minded teenage girl, a shape-shifting panther boy, a lovable five-year-old ghost who only wants her mom and dad to be happy, and Isaac s talking dog, Jumper. The first in a trilogy, HOW I BECAME A GHOST thinly disguises an important and oft-overlooked piece of history.

Editorial Reviews

"The beginning of a trilogy, this tale is valuable for both its recounting of a historical tragedy and its immersive Choctaw perspective." KIRKUS, STARRED REVIEW --Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2013

"...a thrilling caper . . . a recommendation for reluctant readers who like their history tinged with the otherworldly." RECOMMENDED --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Literature

"Tingle, a Choctaw storyteller, relates his tale in the engaging repetitions and rhythms of an oft-told story . . . spare and authentic." --Dean Schneider, THE HORN BOOK MAGAZINE

2014 American Indian Youth Literature Award --American Indian Library Association, ALA

2014 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People --National Council for the Social Studies & Children's Book Council

2014 American Indian Youth Literature Award --American Indian Library Association, ALA

2014 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People --National Council for the Social Studies & Children's Book CouncilComment:  I read this book because of all the glowing notices it's received. Such as this one from Debbie Reese in her American Indians in Children's Literature blog:

Tim Tingle's HOW I BECAME A GHOSTAs the title suggests, Isaac is going to become a ghost, but this isn't a scary ghost story. Scary things do happen--this is a story about the forced relocation of a people, but it is more about the humanity of the people on that trail than it is about that forced relocation. How I Became A Ghost is about spirituality and community and perseverance. And laughter. There's some delightful moments in this story! Throughout, this story shines with the warmth that Tingle's storytelling voice brings to his writing. I highly recommend How I Became A Ghost. I have it on good authority that we'll hear more from Isaac. I look forward to it.True, it presents civilized Indians who live in a farming community in a Native nation that has treaty rights with the US. That's something if you're expecting the "half-naked grunting Indian men" of Little House on the Prairie.

But that's not enough to make it a good book. I'll have to go with some of the negative comments I found on Goodreads:I know this book was written for the 9-12 year age group, but I think Tim Tingle vastly underestimates the intelligence of that age group. They're kids, they're not stupid. I had a few problems with this book.

This is definitely a children's book, NOT a young adult book, so more advanced readers may be bored by the simple, minimalistic language.

I gave this 4 stars initially, but then just a little bit of research today revealed that some of the history is likely wrong, and that complicates things. There is a fantasy element anyway, but the shocking smallpox blanket scene seems to be entirely fictional.

Even though I think the kids would enjoy this WAW possibility, I just felt it was so exaggerated and unreal that I couldn't get into it. In this story of the Trail of Tears, Isaac is a Choctaw brave that can see ghosts and talk to them and has visions of when people will die. And he becomes friends with another brave that can turn into a leopard. Together they try to free a girl that has been kidnapped and forced to work for several cruel soldiers. This is a no vote for me.

Love the title, and I really wanted to love the book -- Not many kids' books about Indian relocation have passed my way. But I just couldn't get into this. I started reading it out loud to myself; it sounds almost like oral stories written down. As stories told 'live,' in an intimate group, I think it would be better. On the page, it has a stilted, boring feeling. I am not sure kids will stick with this one. Too bad.The smallpox-blanket thing is disconcerting, and perhaps enough to disqualify the book as "history." It might be okay if Tingle had used the blanket gambit once--a bit of untold lore that might have been true. But it's a frequent issue on his Trail of Tears. The characters have to sniff out each blanket to determine if it's contaminated or not.

I think Tingle was trying for a Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn type of adventure with Choctaw protagonists and magical elements a la Twilight. And if someone without Mark Twain's abilities had rewritten Tom Sawyer for 9-year-olds, it might come out like this.

That's fine, but everyone's talking as if How I Became a Ghost is a great read for adults as well as pre-teens. With all the remarkable books out there, I wouldn't even recommend this to 9-year-olds unless they were deeply interested in Indians. To me, it's a Choctaw "Hardy Boys" starring Ghost Boy and Panther Boy, not a serious book for old(er) readers.

Rob's rating: 5.0 of 10. Great cover, though.

Spirit of the Beast in Batman

A posting about a 1991 Batman comics notes its Native subject matter.

2015 31 Days of Comics–First Comic You Ever Bought

By Brian CroninLuckily, as I noted, I had been reading comics for years at this point, so I was not thrown, because otherwise, beginning with part 3 of a three-parter involving Batman teaming up with an 130-year-old Native American Shaman to stop the man’s grandson from killing people as part of a ritual that involved retrieving ancient Native American relics probably wouldn’t be the place to start reading Batman comic books.Comment:  I haven't read this storyline. But based on the page below, it's a mess.

The grandson is wearing a kachina-style mask. That would place him in one of the Pueblo tribes of the Southwest. But they'd consider it sacrilegious to wear a mask for anything but a sacred ceremony.

The grandfather invokes "Manitou" as the grandson tries to kill him with a tomahawk. Both cultural references come from the Eastern Woodlands--the opposite side of the country from the Southwest.

The other Indians are wearing bandanas, which was typical of the traditional Navajo and Apache. These tribes live near the pueblos but aren't Pueblo tribes themselves. And the don't wear bandanas anymore.

For that matter, Indians don't use tomahawks anymore unless they're reenacting their culture in a show. So everything about the story seems flawed. It includes stereotypes from at least three cultures, none of which match.



The three-parter

ComicVine.com gives a synopsis of the whole story:Batman #462--Spirit of the Beast, Part 1: To Live and Die in California

Batman found one of Bruce Wayne's friends dying of an axe wound. He followed a lead to San Francisco. He was on the scene when another was attacked, but he couldn't stop it. Native Americans were taking back artifacts that the white man had taken from them.

Batman #463--Spirit of the Beast, Part 2: Ghost

Batman followed another lead into Death Valley. He stopped the Indians from killing one of their own, an elderly blind man. The old man told Batman what was going on. They went after the rogue Indian preparing for a ritual.

Batman #464--Spirit of the Beast, Part 3: Sacrifice

Batman and the old man stopped the ritual and saved the hostages. Batman left him there to die (he was over 130 years old) and went home (taking the man's dog).If the tribe lives in Death Valley, all the cultural references are wrong. Death Valley tribes don't have kachinas, don't invoke Manitou, and don't wear bandanas.

The plot is the oldest cliché in the book. Someone did something bad to the Indians, so a shaman or demon or ghost vows revenge and returns to kill people.

I don't know if there was anything supernatural in this three-parter. Typically the "bad" Indians pretend to be spirits but turn out to be thugs.

I gather the grandfather inspired his grandson to kidnap people and perform deadly rituals. Then the grandfather turned against the cause and was thrown out.

The deadly-ritual part is standard fare, even though it's badly stereotypical. No Indians are performing any rites except the benign ones they've performed for centuries.

Having the grandfather turn against his followers is a slight twist, but probably not enough to justify the story. These stories usually pit a "good" Indian against a "bad" one who's the black sheep of the family.

Bottom line: Unless your story offers some incredible take on the tired "revenge from the past" plot, you probably should avoid it. I doubt Batman #462-464 is an exception to this rule.

Wendigo in Sleepy Hollow

A recent episode of Sleepy Hollow, titled And the Abyss Gazes Back (airdate: 10/27/14) featured a Wendigo, the legendary monster of Algonquian tribes. Here's the story:

‘Sleepy Hollow’ Recap: Ichabod and Daniel Boone, BFFs?The episode centered on Joe Corbin, the son of the deceased Sheriff Corbin, who was Abbie’s mentor. Just back from Afghanistan with an honorable discharge earned under somewhat mysterious circumstances, Joe turned out to be afflicted with a curse that causes him to change into a monster from time to time. He was, in short, the featured creature of the week, the Wendigo, a forest beast with an appetite for human flesh.Wikipedia provides more details about the Wendigo legend:

WendigoA Wendigo (also known as windigo, weendigo, windago, windiga, witiko, wihtikow, and numerous other variants including manaha) is a demonic half-beast creature appearing in the legends of the Algonquian peoples along the Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes Region of both the United States and Canada. The creature or spirit could either possess characteristics of a human or a monster that had physically transformed from a person. It is particularly associated with cannibalism. The Algonquian believed those who indulged in eating human flesh were at particular risk; the legend appears to have reinforced the taboo of the practice of cannibalism. It is often described in Algonquian mythology as a balance of nature.

‘Sleepy Hollow’ recap: Downward Facing WendigoIt’s at this point we treated to yet another installment of “Ichabod’s Famous Friends.” This week, Ichabod name drops his good pal Daniel Boone, whose brother, Squire, was afflicted with a gnarly disorder following Valley Forge that led to cannibalism. Daniel, himself, fell victim to Squire, using his raccoon hat to hide the scars. The cause of the illness: a Wendigo, the Shawnee legend of a human/beast hybrid triggered by human blood.‘Sleepy Hollow’ Recap: Ichabod and Daniel Boone, BFFs?The best moment of Abbie and Ichabod’s pursuit of Joe the Wendigo was the discussion of Daniel Boone’s headwear. Ichabod apparently knew Boone—of course he did; they were contemporaries, and it was a small world back in the 1700s. Having hung out with Boone, Ichabod was able to correct Abbie and a two-century-old inaccuracy: Boone, he told her, preferred beaver pelts to the coonskin cap he is most identified with. And so we have a new entry for our Top 10 Lines Spoken by Abbie Mills in this series: “As much as I would love to debate the variety of rodent hats that existed in your day, can we please refocus?”Below:  Victor Gage as a Shawnee warrior.



Sleepy Hollow Recap: 'Even God Thought the Devil Was Beautiful'Enter Hawley, who’s brought in because he knows some Shawnee who might be able to help. But they kinda hate him. So Ichabod accompanies him to what looks like SAMCRO: Native American edition, and they succeed in securing a cure for what ails Joe.Big AshBig Ash is a Shawnee contact of Nick Hawley. He and his fellow Shawnee run a motorcycle repair shop. Ash was displeased with Hawley for selling off the tribal mask, as Hawley dishonored his agreement to keep the mask.

Hawley initially assumed that Ichabod Crane was too socially awkward to communicate with Big Ash. But Crane's mention of Squire Boone became the key for Big Ash to agree to help them find a Wendigo cure for Joe Corbin.‘Sleepy Hollow’ recap: Downward Facing WendigoTheir only shot is to corner Joe before he kills and recite some Shawnee prose inscribed on a skull over the Wendigo’s blood. Simple enough. An alleyway standoff ensues and while it doesn’t look good for Joe for a second there, Abbie begs him to pull though and shed his husky Wendigo suit. Cured, he asks Abbie for her recommendation to Quantico, though I doubt a trainee who turned them down carries any sway.

Comment:  A few shadowy Shawnee appear briefly when Crane talks about the Boones. The Indians' primary appearance comes in the single motorcycle shop scene.

Actor Eddie Spears does a good job as the suspicious modern-day Shawnee. The only glitch comes when he refers to an older Indian as a "shaman." Once again, a shaman isn't an all-purpose Native wizard, and few tribes had shamans.

The "Shawnee prose" could be real Shawnee words written in the English alphabet, but it's probably not. Slightly more likely is that Crane uttered real Shawnee words when he supposedly read the curse--but again, probably not.

All in all, And the Abyss Gazes Back was a typical episode of Sleepy Hollow--nothing special. Add points for featuring genuine Native lore and Native actors. Subtract points because movies and TV shows have used the Wendigo dozens of times before. At this point it's totally unoriginal--practically a cliché.

For more on Sleepy Hollow, see Mohawk Shaman in Sleepy Hollow.

Inca artifact in Castle

Last night's episode of Castle, Times of Our Lives (airdate: 11/10/14), featured the long-awaited "Caskett" wedding. This happy event came about because of a mystical Native artifact.

Here's the story with the Native aspects noted:

Castle S7 Ep6–Times of Our LivesThe murder this week is of a courier, found with his hand cut off so that the bad guys could steal the case he was handcuffed to. But when Rick & Kate find the missing case at an abandoned coal factory, it turns out to hold a mysterious Incan artifact that Rick picks up for some reason. Has he never seen Indiana Jones??? The bad guys burst in, and Castle hits his head while still holding onto the artifact–and thus ends up in an alternate universe.Castle Recap–Becket and Castle Say I Do: Season 7 Episode 6 “The Time of Our Lives”Alexis says maybe he’s in alternate universe and they tell him to go lie down. ... He searches for parallel universes and watches videos that describe circumstances similar to his and there’s the artifact he touched! The headline asks if it could be the gateway to another world. In the morning, he shows a print out to his mom and daughter. It’s an article about the Incan artifact that connects to the Incan gateway of the Gods.'Castle' Recap: Castle and Beckett Get MarriedCastle impresses Beckett with his knowledge of the Incan artifact, so she allows him to accompany Ryan and Esposito in their search for armed criminals. Another constant is Castle's inability to follow simple instructions, which leads to him finding the artifact but being held at knifepoint. In the ensuing struggle the artifact is broken.

Beckett decides to let Castle go with a semi-stern talking-to and the team focuses on questioning he woman who held him at knifepoint. Her name is Maria Sanchez, and she and her cousin were trying to return the artifact to the Incan people. She says they had nothing to do with the murder.Castle: The Time of Our Lives (Recap and Review)On his way to the station Rick is kidnapped by the men who stole the artifact and it turns out that the villain has worked out that Castle is in the wrong world because of the artifact and he wants Rick to tell him how it works. Beckett shows up and after a brief shootout, Rick gets the artifact back and leaps in front of Kate to keep her from getting shot. As he dies, Rick comes back to “my you.”

Analysis

The mystical Native artifact is a well-worn plot device. It's stereotypical, of course, since real artifacts don't have supernatural powers.

Why don't European artifacts have as much magic as Native ones? Because Native cultures are more fantastical and unreal--at least to us.

At least Castle tried to link the artifact to the Inca religion--claiming it was a portal between universes and not just an evil talisman created by a shaman's curse. And the disk actually resembles the Inca's golden sun disk. As Wikipedia explains:

IntiInti is the ancient Incan sun god. He is revered as the national patron of the Inca state.

Inti is represented as a golden disk with rays and a human face. Many such disks were supposedly held in Cuzco as well as in shrines throughout the empire, especially at Coricancha, where the most significant image of Inti was discovered by anthropologists. This representation, adorned with ear spools, a pectoral, and a royal headband, was known as "punchao," meaning 'day.'So an actual Inca artifact, more or less, was used in this story. That's almost enough to make the gimmick acceptable.



One article claimed Maria Sanchez was "a notorious stolen-artifact smuggler." Turns out she's stealing artifacts to repatriate them, which is a better cause than stealing them for profit. So the Latina or indigenous criminal is actually a good guy of sorts. Nonstereotypical minority characters aren't uncommon on TV, but it's always good to see another one.

Castle has addressed artifact smuggling--an important topic in indigenous communities--before. Now it's hinting at the subject again. Nice job, Castle.

Anyway, this wedding episode was good if not great. Even though I guessed the bad guy the moment I saw him, as usual.

Stereotypical Dark Shaman comic book

"Dark Shaman #1" Comic Review

By James FergusonThere are all kinds of evil beings within the Grimm Universe. Prepare to meet a new one in Dark Shaman. This time around, we're dealing with an ancient Indian burial ground or rather an evil Native American shaman that feeds on innocent blood for some unknown reason. The four-issue mini-series has Grimm Fairy Tales matriarch Sela Mathers shoehorned at the beginning as she goes shopping and is told of the story behind a strange tapestry.

The comic then jumps to the story featuring a group of co-eds going on the worst beach vacation ever. Things get a little confusing as one of the girls bears a striking resemblance to Sela. Is she in the story? Is this just something else? Anyway, this Dark Shaman shows up and basically wants to kill people. That's really what's going on. The book is set up like a generic slasher movie with a group of stereotypical twenty-somethings that are meant to be cannon fodder for the villain.

One of the kids has a tie to the tribe that the Dark Shaman comes from, but it's unclear exactly how they're connected. There's no real reason that this guy is killing people to begin with. I'm sure that innocent blood tastes great, but there are plenty of other options when it comes to a decent meal. Have you tried the Doritos Loco Taco? It's friggin' delicious.

I wish there was more I could say about this Native American murderer, but there's really not much else to go on. He rises from the depths because of some idiots that got too close to a haunted tree. (This marks the third haunted tree I've seen in comics in the past two weeks, by the way. See also Wytches and Sabrina.)



Comment:  The Timucua named in the story were a real people who lived in Florida. Some details on them:

TimucuaThe Timucua were an American Indian people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people.

By 1700, the population of the tribe had been reduced to 1000. Warfare against them by the English colonists and native allies completed their extinction as a tribe soon after the turn of the 19th century.

The Timucua were a semi-agricultural people and ate many foods native to North Central Florida. They planted maize (corn), beans, squash and various vegetables as part of their diet.

Spanish explorers were shocked at the height of the Timucua, who averaged four inches or more above them. Timucuan men wore their hair in a bun on top of their heads, adding to the perception of height.

Each person was extensively tattooed. The tattoos were gained by deeds. Children began to acquire tattoos as they took on more responsibility. The people of higher social class had more elaborate decorations.Florida Lost Tribes--Theodore MorrisThe Timucua Indians were spread across parts of northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. Their territory was large and consisted of many different environments. Beaches, salt marshes, and forests thrived near the Atlantic coast. Rivers, lakes, swamps, and woodlands covered inland areas. The Timucua were not a single tribe, but rather separate groups, who spoke dialects or types of the Timucua language. For example, the Mocama dialect was spoken by the coastal Timucua near Jacksonville, while the Potano dialect was spoken by the inland Timucua near Gainesville.

Because of Florida’s hot climate, the Timucua wore little clothing. Men dressed only in deerskin breechcloths. Their long black hair was tied in topknots, and their faces and bodies were decorated in brightly colored markings. Some of these tattoos were permanent, while others could be washed away. Women wore skirts of Spanish moss. Their long hair hung loose down their backs. Some women also had tattoos. Both men and women wore bracelets and necklaces of animal bone, teeth, and shell. Colored bird feathers might be placed in their hair during special events. Animal fur capes or robes provided warmth in the winter.Below:  Timucua Indians painted by a non-Indian based loosely on the evidence:




Judging by this review, the comics aren't totally stereotypical. The Timucua were scantily clad with facial markings. They had burial grounds--or at least buried their dead in the ground. There are no Timucua alive today, but other Indians live in the area and may claim descent from them. A few Timucua artifacts may reside in museums.

But that's about it. The "dark shaman" in Satanic robes on the first cover above is false. In fact, most Indian tribes, including the ones in Florida, didn't have shamans. Moreover, shamans aren't some sort of wizard who practices black magic. We don't know much about the Timucua religion, but I doubt it was involved in anything "dark" such as human sacrifice.

So the basic premise of this series is false. It's also stereotypical because it's been done hundreds if not thousands of times. Indeed, a revenge-seeking Indian spirit is the most common Native trope in the horror genre. It's so old and clichéd that it's mind-boggling to see someone using it again. Give it up, copycat creators, and do something original for once.

For more on Indian burial grounds, see Stereotypical Deadskins Video Game.