Here is a video of the famous “crying Indian” anti-littering PSA from the early 1970s:
The actor, Iron Eyes Cody, was not actually Native American, he was Italian American. You can read more about him at snopes.com.
In case you didn’t know, the famous “Chief Seattle” speech about the need to honor the earth and care for the environment was written by a white guy, also in the early 1970s.
These could be interesting for discussions of environmentalism and
American Indians. Why do environmental messages somehow have more
authority if they supposedly come from an Indian? Would the “Chief
Seattle” speech be less meaningful if we knew a white guy wrote it? Why?
They could also be used in discussions about the appropriation of
Native American culture and the use of non-Indian actors to play Indian
roles. It’s also interesting as an example of how American Indians are
often depicted as historic throwbacks who are still living in the 1800s
(and are all from plains tribes and wear big headdresses): even though
it was 1971 and the guy was standing next to a highway full of cars, he
was dressed in buckskin and feathers. Because, you know, that’s what
Native Americans wear, all the time. Believe me, back in Oklahoma,
that’s all you see.
NEW: Another
fallacious Native American environmentalist was Grey Owl. Grey Owl was a
Britain named Archibald Belaney who adopted an Indian identity and
became famous in Canada for his conservationist stance. Here is his wikipedia entry.
Gwen Sharp is an associate professor of sociology at Nevada State College. You can follow her on Twitter at @gwensharpnv.
absolute power depends on absolute control over knowledge, which in turn necessitates absolute corruption
Think about this
“Politicians, Priests, and psychiatrists often face the same problem: how to find the most rapid and permanent means of changing a man’s belief…The problem of the doctor and his nervously ill patient, and that of the religious leader who sets out to gain and hold new converts, has now become the problem of whole groups of nations, who wish not only to confirm certain political beliefs within their boundaries, but to proselytize the outside world.”
– William Sargant “Battle of the Mind”
The truth about Jackson’s savagery was just as disturbing as the fake news. After a particularly bloody battle in 1814, Andrew Jackson’s men counted the dead Indians by cutting off their noses. They collected 557 noses. and... (this comment) Jackson ran an ad in the Nashville Gazette, in October, 1804, for the capture of a runaway slave, which stated that in addition to the reward, he would pay an extra $10 per 100 lashes (up to 300), to anyone who willing to inflict them upon his miscreant property. He was known to hold a vengeful lifetime grudge against anyone whom he felt had slighted him, regardless of how minor the supposed offense. His betrayal the Choctow tribe, whom he persuaded to become American allies over the British during the war of 1812, culminated in the “Indian Removal Act” (Trail of Tears), of which he took personal responsiblity to see implemented, resulted in the death of thousands of men, women and children. It’s no surprise that the current occupant of the Wh
In the two years leading up to the riot, bombs were thrown at two dozen homes of black Chicagoans. The police solved none of these crimes. A 6-year-old girl named Garnetta Ellis died in one explosion. And early in the summer of 1919, several attacks on blacks by white mobs were reported on the South Side. “It looks very much like Chicago is trying to rival the South in its race hatred against the Negro,” the renowned black journalist Ida B. Wells wrote in a letter published by the Tribune on July 7, 1919. “Will no action be taken to prevent these lawbreakers until further disaster has occurred?” Twenty days later, her words would prove prophetic. Source: In Their Own Words: The 1919 Race Riot
Press "Sam Pollard’s sobering and essential documentary recounts the government’s efforts to blackmail, discredit, and otherwise disempower Martin Luther King, Jr. during the height of the Civil Rights movement..." —INDIEWIRE "This film seems like one of the most urgent titles on the festival beat this year." —VANITY FAIR "Sam Pollard is back with a new documentary, and it may be the best of this year’s very impressive slate." —ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY "Pollard's 'MLK/FBI' is more than an eye-opening look at an icon...it’s a critical chapter that should be imprinted inside every white American’s heart." —THE PLAYLIST "Director Sam Pollard's illuminating and infuriating documentary focuses on how dirty tricks were used to undermine the work and influence of civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr." —USA TODAY
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