Title
Indians Illustrated: The Image of Native Americans in the Pictorial Press
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Alumni
John Coward
Document Type
Book
Publication Date
2016
Description
Book Summary: In Indians Illustrated, John M. Coward charts a social and cultural history of Native American illustrations--romantic, violent, racist, peaceful, and otherwise--in the heyday of the American pictorial press. These woodblock engravings and ink drawings placed Native Americans into categories that drew from venerable "good" Indian and "bad" Indian stereotypes already threaded through the culture. Coward's examples show how the genre cemented white ideas about how Indians should look and behave--ideas that diminished Native Americans' cultural values and political influence. His powerful analysis of themes and visual tropes unlocks the racial codes and visual cues that whites used to represent--and marginalize--native cultures already engaged in a twilight struggle against inexorable westward expansion. Fascinating and provocative, Indians Illustrated reopens an overlooked chapter in media and cultural history.
Citation Information
Coward, John M.. (Author). 2016. Indians Illustrated: The Image of Native Americans in the Pictorial Press. The History of Communication. Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield: University of Illinios Press. ISBN: 9780252040269 https://amzn.com/B01NH0077S/