Native American Stereotypes In Ernest Hemingway's Indian Camp

Native Americans are plagued with a plethora of stereotypes. In addition to what could be argued as systematic genocide, Native Americans have had to suffer through an immense amount of bias. These biases, provided and maintained through various media outlets, have led to a significant amount of oppression on Native American people. Ernest Hemingway, an American novelist, displays a myriad of stereotypes of the Native American people in his short story, “Indian Camp”. These stereotypes are utilized to provide a direct contrast to the main character, Nick and his father, both able-bodied white men. The Native Americans are viewed as clueless savages who require the help of a white man. It provides a sense of comfort for them, as not only are …show more content…
This idea, perpetuated today through popular media, causes a power imbalance between Native Americans and white people. A quick look into Native American history provides a way to understand where exactly this stereotype had originated and its effect on the Native American and white populace today. Gerry Cox, a professor at the University of Wisconsin had written, along with his colleague, Vincent N. Parrillo, a professor of Sociology at William Paterson University, an overview of Native American life from the time European settlers had arrived to now in a chapter of their encyclopedia. The chapter, “Native Americans, Cultural Degradation” offers a rather broad overview explaining the difficulty Native Americans had living in tandem and eventually under the rule of the new European settlers. According to Cox and Parillo, European settlers had quickly and effectively destroyed Native American culture and tradition, viewing it as one single entity. Native Americans had quickly become “savages,” and “uncivilized.” Europeans had failed to understand the rich cultures, and as time went on, these cultures would be haggard or outright destroyed by disease, conquest, loss of ancestral lands and subjugations. Due to the popular idea among European settlers that Native Americans were “savages,” and “uncivilized,” they embarked on a century long quest to strip the Native Americans from their heritage. The European settlers had been effective in “stamping out the Indian,” creating a disparity among the Native American people and themselves. They were able to retain their culture while destroying the Native American’s. They were able to create an unbalanced system that had allowed them to benefit astronomically. This savage stereotype had allowed the European settlers to push their