User:Silent sovereign/sandbox 2

The portrayal of Native Americans in film tends to be loaded with misconceptions that are accepted as reality. Native Americans are depicted by a series of stereotypes, such as the noble savage, sexualized maiden, the princess, and the drunk Indian. These stereotypes are especially present in Hollywood Westerns.

Silent era
Peep shows provided early audiences with exotic entertainment, thus prompting Edison to film Indian dances such as Sioux Ghost Dance (1894). These films being both historically inaccurate and popular, produced false images of Native American lifestyle and culture.

Westerns
Western's depictions of tribe diversity is almost non-existent. Typically, the number of tribes shown on screen in westerns is limited. Most commonly depicted are the Apache, Sioux, Cheyenne, Blackfoot, Kiowa, and Comanche. On occasion, the Shoshone and Seminole tribes are shown. There is little to no representation of Californian tribes in westerns.