I think they all (me included) grew up with Peter Pan, Lucky Luke (an old french comic about a cowboy who shoot faster than his shadow) or other cartoons that portray Natives as what they were during the far west era. But i'm happily open to see how it is on today's days (for info, I'm french so I don't know much about 'mericans culture even trough I journeyed in the US once)

There were as always: persecuted by invaders who never respected them and who would murder them to steal their land.

there should be a cartoon where the cowboys are the bad guys

There should be several.

I'm a little out of touch since I'm not American (native or otherwise) but I am always willing to listen and learn more.

Honestly can't be said enough. In the hobbies I enjoy, the "fantasy" aspect is so egregiously prevalent that I've learned only the native-made native american stuff is worth anyone's time.

Nobody does Native like Natives!

I guess Eastern tribes are different than Western tribe. I've never saw this "wild people". And you are the first to mention that a chief is seen as a dictator. The phrase "Concept display" is new to me, I'll have to look further into it.

I grew up in Virginia, and it was a rare event to see ANY Indians growing up. I moved to the West Coast, and this feels like the last place where we weren't murdered into oblivion en masse by colonizers. There are tribes out East whose names we have forgotten... people I will never get to see in this life. When you say Eastern versus Western here, I feel like the comparison isn't fair. Also, what about the bands and tribes in the middle of the country?

I guess I never saw Indians either, I always thought of people as people. Interesting how we seem to always put labels on people. Indian is just an older label for American Native. American Native is such a broad label too as it would also suggest those native to North and South America. I never did like labels for people. It is either used as pride in being a part of a group or used as a way to stereotype a group of people.

The best way to go about it is to identify people by their band or tribe, if you know it. It's also important to differentiate people of different cultures, not to stereotype, but to recognize and respect.

and on the subject, I sure do wish the counter-culture in the US and Canada would stop trying to Courtney Love it up to Natives, pretending like they give a shit about anything about Natives other than "they" (lol distilling all diverse cultural and social values down to a homogenuous mush) allegedly don't believe in private property or national borders.

I think it might help if media existed that depicted different tribes that came from different perspectives and philosophical points when it comes to these subjects. Highlighting the distinctiveness and ways in which different Native cultures may disagree and on what, and how.

I mean? We have more Native media and shows come out now. We are starting to get our soap boxes and speak out, and make beautiful and funny stories. We're working hard out here.

And I appreciate it! A lot!
I'm just saying. I'm rootin' for more.

Hell Yeah

Preach it!

I've come to conclusions that the international community is just as if not worse educated than white Americans on native American cultures and anthropology topics worldwide, specifically because of how white Americans have curated a specific image of native Americans and then shown it to the world.

For people outside of the usa I can only say your view on native Americans and first nations people is probably skewed violently if the topic only arose in entertainment such as cartoons, but thankfully there's time to change these things.

Noticed the phenomenon you speak of ages ago and had a very "keep my name out of your mouth" sort of feeling about it lol

i love native Americans wish i could physically hug them love their music

I love your appreciation and I know you mean to say this as a statement of kindness, but I think I'd feel weird if you came up to me and hugged me out of nowhere lol!

Yeah I'm a nice loving kind person the right thing to do is ask if I could hug you

Tell it like it is, sister! To be honest, I’ve always wanted to learn about Native American cultures and earn a strong friendship with those under the indigenous peoples umbrella, and I’m just as eager to do all that and more.

Thank you for saying as such, ive not experienced as such in art communities as I really do not post as often as I should (or really pay attention to the goings on in the site in particular) but the many time I've faced discrimination in my personal life is quite often.
From people from out of state still believe we live in Teepees, to people discriminating against my children for their hair and to my own coworkers outright saying our people deserved our genocide.

So you're absolutely right to point out we are still seen as something that is in the past and that our struggles aren't real or that we're just used as a skin to apply to fantasy creatures like Orcs, Elves, or the blatant Tauren from a particularly popular fantasy setting.

Oh my god, your coworkers actually said that to you?!

I don’t really know any Native people myself (I do know OF a few who own/run a shop at a local mall), but if I heard someone say something like that to one you guys, I would pretty much go into a rage fit. It’s stupid, heartless stuff like that’s enough to get my blood boiling! I likely would’ve told them to “Fuck off” or to mind their own damn business. Like, who the hell do they think they are, saying that to you or your family!

If it means anything, I wish you and your family my best condolences. You guys truly, genuinely deserve better in your lives than what’s been thrown at you. We’re all human beings and we should treat and respect each other as such, regardless of ethnicity or culture.

I hear this totally!

You are a human being. Every human being needs to be regarded as such regardless of race and creed.

I never really knew or even thought about this until I read this journal, growing up seeing westerns in both movie and tv shows, I once had a different perception on Native American culture as a kid, it wouldn't be until late as I grew up and began exploring the internet more and began exploring youtube even more, I slowly started to learn more than I ever had learned as a kid back in the 90's reading school books and watching classic westerns with my family, going to the native american festival up at stone recently for the first time was an absolute learning experience for me and helped me better understand their culture though I still feel like I have much to learn to fully understand and only scratching the surface, but needless to say my understanding these days now goes far beyond what I used to see in whatever Hollywood cooks up.
as far as art on here goes, I've seen some people's ideas and depictions on Indigenous cultures, but if it were up to me?, if I were doing any kind of artwork depicting a culture like this, I would most likely try and do my research first in the pursuit for as much authenticity as possible and making sure that it's respectful to the culture and stereotyping in any way.
thank you for sharing this with us on here, because the thought of anyone liking Native Americans as a concept never really crossed my mind until you brought it up, I look to going to college to become an artist and a writer, so now I have something like this to think about should I start exploring ideas for any art or writing that may involve Indigenous culture

Keep in mind that the European invaders not only brought themselves and their diseases, but their societal baggage as well. So their perspective was rather ‘biased’ when it came to observing N.A. political systems by their own soiled history. Their own screwed up perspectives ranged from viewing Two-Spirit people and seeing them as Berdache, to farming/ecology as inefficient, to the roles of women and men. And unfortunately, some still hold that viewpoint, which includes the incoming Administration. It’s going to get really bad for us.

I agree completely. I grew up during the early 70's and saw the progression of AIM. Trying to find research information at the time was such a pain, but it raised my awareness that the fantasy was just that. ( It also got me researching my own family's history, but that's another story.) Needless to say, I love the tales, legends, and history, but one can't focus on that without seeing how things really are. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE the costumes from the different tribes at Pow wows, and really enjoy learning the meanings behind the pieces and the cultures, but to be honest, I don't feel right going to those events anymore.

My grandmother was in AIM during its height in the 70s. She met a lot of the big names now associated with the movement back then too. I also had involvement with Native rights movements. Something I most want to impress on people is that the art I get of my fursonas in cultural attire comes from a lineage of peoples who have had to fight for our basic rights since colonization has been a thing. Art like what I've posted can't be seen in an isolated sense without also understanding us in a contemporary context. In general I also really dislike in the fandom treating our attire as a sexual fetish; especially when I've worn similar attire for sacred ceremony for example.

That's so cool; there's so much that happened during that time that there are still problems that are still going on today. I feel you on the whole fetish thing; I've had to deal with that myself at times (as well as aspects of the ceremonies "appropriated" by neo-pagans). I'm glad that you're keeping the line on the respectfulness of the art and subject.

I agree with you 1000%. I fear the old Hollywood Western movies started the fantasized idea of what Native Americans are, and it spread to sports teams using the Native American image as mascots, thus creating the concept you mentioned.
I grew up in the powwow circuit, as well as having a Mom who partially grew up on the Ohi:yo territory, and I can also state that the concept you mentioned is not at all how we live. It's truly sad.

Thank you for saying this. I am PNW Indigenous and I find that tribal fetish art in particular makes me cringe. It also annoys me when people make Native characters that are "pan-Indian" and poorly-informed. The most common offenders in the furry fandom are the people who make Native-themed characters, if that makes sense? Native-inspired coat patterns and fashion accessories without honoring the bands or tribes that those things come from.
You can't just slap feathers on a brown character and call it Native. It's weird.

They talk too much and listen too little. Minds are closed off and not open. People too set in their ways, and don't want to change. I keep running into this brick wall that never seems to wear down, and my voice cant reach past

Andrew Jackson was one of the worst people to ever rule over a country. Ethnically slaughtered what would turn out to be 95 (?) percent of the Indigenous American race because he thought they were inferior. I imagine that the Colonists who came from England, the Mayflower Pilgrims who preceded the Colonists, the Nordic Vikings of Scandinavia several centuries before them and even Christopher Columbus (the failed explorer, not the filmmaker) would have tarred and feathered the jackass if they lived long enough to catch wind of what he did in the 1830’s and what trail of tears he would leave in his wake. They also would have scalped him and put his head on a pike just to frick with him.

Everything you bring up is even before you consider all the different tribes with different structures, systems, beliefs, etc. While there are some overlaps among those things, they're also different enough that relationships between different tribes are varying levels of friendly and...I don't want to say "hostile", but they don't like each other very much at all. I briefly worked with a guy whose parents were different tribes that weren't friendly towards each other, and because of that he was largely ostracized from both. One of those tribes was Navajo and I think the other was Apache, but I'm not sure. It's also worth noting that the tribes that were forced to walk the Trail of Tears were also forced into territory occupied by other tribes, which strained things even more (probably by design).