Redface


Redface is the term being used to describe the wearing of feathers, warpaint, etc. by non-natives which perpetuate Native American stereotypes, analogous to the wearing of Blackface. In the early twentieth century, it was often Jewish performers, coping with their own limited access to mainstream society, who adopted blackface or redface. In the early days of television sitcoms, "non-Native sitcom characters donned headdresses, carried tomahawks, spoke broken English, played Squanto at Thanksgiving gatherings, received "Indian" names, danced wildly, and exhibited other examples of representations of redface".
The copying from minority cultures by members of a dominant culture is cultural appropriation, which is not universally viewed as a negative activity with regard to "artistic borrowing". However, redface has been used to describe non-native adoption of indigenous culture, no matter how sympathetic, such as the painters in the Taos Society of Artists during the early 20th Century portraying themselves in their own works wearing native clothing.

Redface in sports, fashion and pop culture

While now often associated with the behavior of sports fans for teams with Native American names or mascots, redface also includes other instances such as "Indian" Halloween costumes, or headdresses as a fashion accessory.

Redface in Hollywood movies

were a popular film genre from the 1930s to the early 1960s. A common plot involved conflict between Native Americans and the cavalry, settlers, or both. Native actors, when present, usually portrayed minor characters or extras.
Espera Oscar de Corti, an Italian-American, had a decades-long career portraying Native Americans as Iron Eyes Cody.
Beginning in the late 1960s, westerns attempted to depict a more realistic and balanced view of the Old West in movies such as Little Big Man. However, the casting of Johnny Depp as Tonto, in Disney’s 2013 revival of, The Lone Ranger was labelled as "redface".

Notable films

The James Fenimore Cooper novel "The Last of the Mohicans" was filmed many times, but rarely until 1992 were Native Americans cast in the major roles. In the story, Uncas son of Chingachgook was the last "Mohican" until he was killed by Magua, a Huron chief. The actual Mohicans continue to live in the Hudson River Valley.
Film dateChingachgookMaguaUncasNotes
1920Theodore LorchWallace BeeryAlan RoscoeAmerican
1920Béla LugosiKurt RottenburgGerman
1932Hobart BosworthBob KortmanFrank Coghlan Jr.American Serial
1936Robert BarratBruce CabotPhillip ReedAmerican
1947Buster CrabbeRick VallinAmerican, retitled "Last of the Redskins"
1965José MarcoJosé Manuel MartínDaniel MartínA Spanish/Italian production done in the style of a Spaghetti Western, the character Magua is renamed "Cunning Fox"
1965Mike BrendelRicardo RodríguezDaniel MartínGerman: Der letzte Mohikaner
1977Ned RomeroRobert TessierDon ShanksRomero was of Chitimacha ancestry