American Indian Movies

Are there any movies about American Indians before the coming of the Europeans? It seems like this potentially very interesting area has largely been unexplored. Aztec, Incan, Comanche...

I wonder why? I would be interested to see some things in this area.

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Before the coming of the Europeans? Hmm, I dunno. All I know is I have an uncle who's Native American, and every Christmas he'd get my family something somewhat Indian-themed. He seemed to run out of ideas pretty quick, though, because after he bought us Geronimo, he sent us The Indian in the Cupboard. I think that's as far as it went. I always found that kinda funny.

Sorry, I know I've been of absolutely no help.

There are several documentaries that deal with the pre-Columbus era… one of the most in-depth is 500 Nations and I would also recommend Before Columbus… but as far as movies, I can't think of any that deal with American Indians before the Europeans… The Last of the Mohicans (1992) is one of the first movies to come out of Hollywood to actually use American Indian actors and to show that Indians have the same human emotions that everyone else has.

If you're interested in any modern day movies about American Indians, I recommend Smoke Signals and Skins(2002)… both directed by Chris Eyre.

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Except in the main role. Or is Lewis part Indian?

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No, he's Irish... but in the movie, they brought out the fact Hawkeye was the adopted white son of Chingachgook...

Except that Mohicans came out a couple years after the mega-success of Dances with Wolves, which of course highlighted many Native Americans in the prominent roles, especially Graham Greene and Rodney A. Grant.

And long before Wolves, Hollywood had gotten much better about using actual Native Americans to play Native Americans. One of the first and in my mind still the best is Little Big Man (1970). It's a dark and brilliant satire, but the respect and care in the treatment of the Cheyenne, especially Chief Dan George, is quite deep and impressive.



As for any narrative films with all injuns and no white man, I can't think of any. Bruce Bereford's Candian production Black Robe (1991) is a great piece about Jesuit priests meeting Hurons in the Quebec wilderness in the 17th century. It employs a large Native cast, including the amazing Tantoo Cardinal (Where the Rivers Flow North). It's a great film, very underseen. Check it out ASAP.

While I haven't seen it, apparently there is a 1920 silent film called Before the White Man Came, which was cast with all Cheyenne and Crow. Good luck tracking it down.

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You're right (as usual...)... Don't ask me why, but I had it in my head Mohicans was before Wolves. Anyway, I really like Dances With Wolves but still have a little problem with Costner's character… judging it from an American Indian perspective, the main character was still a non-Indian/hero… I've heard the same said about Mohicans, but at least Hawkeye was raised by the Mohicans, and he did not stand out as the main hero in the end…

I need to re-watch Black Robe and Little Big Man before I comment on them but I do remember my great grandfather didn't seem to think too highly of Little Big Man…

I can't think of any "pre-europeans" indian films. But there is one film set in the Finnmark, the far north of Scandinavia, around the year 1000. It's called Ofelas (Pathfinder/Veiviseren) by Nils Gaup and is from 1987. The good guys of the film are Sami, the innuit and native people living in the Finnmark, and the language of the film is saami (even though officially it's a norwegian film). I don't know if it is relevant here but I thought it was interesting since the native americans are closer related to the Sami than for example swedes and norwegians are.

The film is really good by the way and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1988.

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Thanks Piddy… Sounds interesting... I'm adding it to my mile long "to see" list…

I just picked up Little Big Man, haven't seen it in years. Looking forward to it.

I have seen Black Robe a few times and really like it.

Ofelas sounds interesting. I will add it to my list also.

When I mentioned this topic to a friend of mine he mentioned a Yul Brynner, Richard Baseheart movie Kings of the Sun (1964) which may be the only pre-Columbian Indian movie. It sounds like it should have been good but I guess it wasn't.

I liked Dances with Wolves a lot and thought it was one of the few movie Kevin Costner had admirable performance.

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i remember, after some 15 years or so, that Little Big Man was a great movie, amazingly funny too, and tragic, well... that kinda mixture that does make a good movie.

I liked Black Robe

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Just saw a great movie, Ulzana's Raid (1972) which was based on a true story about an Apache that escapes from the reservation. It is also a movie that attempts to tell the horror of the Viet Nam war by exploring an episode in the past.

My Top 10 Movies with American Indians
1. The Searchers (1956)
2. Fort Apache (1948)
3. Ulzana's Raid (1972)
4. Black Robe (1991)
5. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
6. Little Big Man (1970)
7. Rio Grande (1950)
8. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
9. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
10. Dances with Wolves (1990)

not sure .

I finally saw this and it was really good. I recommend it highly.

To answer my own question asked at the beginning of the thread:

I did find 2 movies that sort of meet the criteria I set out.

Windwalker (1980) is really unique in that there is no English spoken. The movie is set in 1797 before white settlement had reached this part of the country. There are also no white characters or guns. The movie is subtitled in English and has some English narration.

The Fast Runner (2001) is a story of the Inuit set in the 11th century. I recommend it highly.

and I've updated my list of favorites :



1. Last of the Mohicans (1992)
2, Atanarjuat : The Fast Runner (2001)
3. Dances with Wolves (1990)
4. Black Robe (1991)
5. Cabaza de Vaca (1991)
6. The New World (1995)
7. Little Big Man (1970)
8. Ulzana's Raid (1972)
9. Fort Apache (1948)
10. Windwalker (1980)
11. A Man Called Horse (1970)
12. Broken Arrow (1950)
13. I Will Fight No More Forever (1975)
14. The Searchers (1956)
15. Last of the Mohicans (1936)
16. Rio Grande (1950)
17. She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949)
18. Apache (1954)
19. Geronimo : American Legend (1993)
20. Cheyenne Autumn (1964)

North American only - pre 1900

Windwalker is a good film. I was pleasantly surprized after picking it up last year in the 5.50 bin at wal-mart. I can't think of any others that only feature native americans either. I am very interested when it comes to native culture and generally buy books and movies based on it.
South American Indians would be very interesting also, as I'm sure the migrated into North America, posibally after an ice age or maybe just to hunt new resources.

I just can't stand the racism inherent in some of the old Westerns. I have a certain tolerance for films from a certain period (not to say that they "didn't know any better"), but still... pushes my buttons when I catch it. Some of them sure make me happy that films like Dances with Wolves exist.