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This book highlights the contributions and careers of Native Americans who have carved impressive careers in Hollywood, from the silent film era of the early 1900s to the present, becoming advocates for their heritage.This book explores how the heritage and behind-the-scenes activities of Native American actors and filmmakers helped shape their own movie images. Native artists have impacted movies for more than a century, but until recently their presence had passed largely unrecognized. From the silent era to contemporary movies, this book features leading Native American actors whose voices have reached a broad audience and are part of the larger conversation about the exploitation of underrepresented people in Hollywood.
Each chapter highlights Native actors in lead or supporting roles as well as filmmakers whose movies were financed and distributed by Hollywood studios. The text further explores how a "pan-Indian heritage" that applies to all tribes in terms of spirituality, historical trauma, and a version of ceremony and storytelling have shaped these performers' movie identities. It will appeal to a wide range of readers, including fans of Westerns, history buffs of American popular cinema, and students and scholars of Native American studies.
List of contents
Foreword by Dr. Jan-Christopher Horak
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction
Chapter 1Early Trailblazers
Chapter 2Emerging Identities
Chapter 3A Foundation for Activism
Chapter 4Building a Resistance
Chapter 5Hollywood's Invisible Artists
Chapter 6Breaking the Mold
Chapter 7Reimagining Native Images
Conclusion
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the author
Angela Aleiss is a contributing writer for such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter. She is a former postdoctoral fellow at the American Indian Studies Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Toronto.
