It is important to note, however, that Broken Arrow was not intended to be racist. In fact, even Frank Manchel's highly critical essay is entitled "Cultural Confusion." John O'Connor, in fact, feels that the stereotyping and racism shown in most westerns involving stereotypes of Indians are completely incidental, and were made with the intention of doing what they are supposed to do as a movie-make money. In his essay, "The White Man's Indian," O'Connor states that throughout the history of films, even up to the current, Indian's have spoken much more about the current European-American issues than they ever have about Native American issues. Indians, he says, were also used as an example of the "traditional enemy" to boost patriotism throughout war times and the Great Depression. The question begged from this point of view is are we picking on the Indians, or are we using them as an allegorical story device? And from there we must inquire, is there a difference between the two? (O'Connor 27-38).

More pertinent to the general theme of "The White Man's Indian" is the question of whether or not the stereotypes expressed in film were intended to be expressed or not. It seems unlikely based on O'Connor's arguments. Filmic racism is rarely individualized, rather, it is much more frequently institutionally racist, and often so covert that the perpetrators are unaware of their own ills. DW Griffith is rarely thought of as a racist, but there are only a handful of his movies which would not offend at least one minority group. The entertainment factors in movies are for the most part, two fold. The first part being that the movie must appeal to the broadest audience which it can. The more people who view the movie, the more money it makes, and cinema is business before it is art. The second factor is making the film easy to understand. This holds particularly true to the early era of filmmaking, during the rough times before and during the Great Depression. A film was meant as an escape, not a social commentary in the way that we look at certain movies now. These two factions called into consideration, it is more readily understood why the stereotypes of natives have been carried on for so long in cinema. While this does not excuse it, it does help to explain the gross injustices seen for more than a century in film.

In 1925, George B. Seitz directed an adaptation of Zane Grey's novel, "The Vanishing American." The film opens with a quote which is to set the tone for the remainder of the movie: "We have unmistakable proof that throughout all past time there has been a ceaseless devouring of the weak by the strong... a survival of the fittest." The film seems to be telling the viewer that the Indians are vanishing mostly due to the fact that, in history, the dominant race has controlled, and if the minority would not assimilate, they would lead themselves to annihilation. Of course, it is not quite that black and white; Seitz has been credited with being very sympathetic to the Indians, showing quite blatantly in the film that, indeed, the Indians were being victimized and repressed. The Indians (specifically the lead, Nophiae, played by white actor, Richard Dix) are shown more as a noble, but confused race. Nophiae is a character who is a "keenly intelligent man, caught with one foot planted in the traditions of his people, and the other caught amid early modern American culture," (Riley 58). He is a virtuous man, but quickly realizes that the powers who are attempting to aid the cause of the Navajo are not strong enough; that historical progress is not in favor of their people or their traditions, and possibly even more distressing, the American way is likely even less favorable.

The question plaguing Hollywood for years to come is how can they create a system where people are shown on screen as people and nothing less; moreover, how can a people be portrayed for what they really are, without having old stereotypes (positive

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Approximate Word count = 3206
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)