Yesterday I had the opportunity to go along to a talk hosted by a group here at the UofA called Indigenous Thinkers. The blurb is below:
A presentation by Professor Rob Williams, Jr. E. Thomas Sullivan Professor of
Law and American Indian Studies and Director of the Indigenous Peoples Law and
Policy Program at the University of Arizona Rogers College of Law.
"The Savage as the Wolf: Indian Stereotypes and American Indian Law and Policy"
Professor Williams examines the continuing legal force of the racist language
directed at Indians in American society from the nation's earliest days to the
present. Fueled by well-known negative racial stereotypes of Indian savagery
and cultural inferiority, he explores how this language continues to be used in
the Supreme Court's contemporary Indian law decisions to justify the denial of
important rights to Indian tribes.
It was a really interesting presentation in the context of what's happening with the NT Intervention (I'd just finished watching a Four Corners report on that literally minutes before) although I found it a bit depressing. There was quite a bit of bitter railing against stereotypical depictions - admittedly, quite justified - but not much in the way of positive strategies for change, or anything like that. Still, definitely thought-provoking, particularly with regard to the kind of "noble savage" stereotypes, and the harmful effects that they have, as well as the more obviously derogatory "dirty animal" stereotypes.
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