After I read Chapter 5 from AOF, I was extremely surprised to see how involved Native Americans were with the begining of debatebly the longest lasting and most popular film genre. Though in the very begining of it all, Native Americans were a popular subject for the first ethnographic films, depicting a fictionalized culture and tradition to seem more exotic and exciting for the white audience.
Films like "Sioux Wolf Dance" and "Nanook of the North" really established stereotypes about Native Americans making them common place in the early ethnographic films. I think it is amazing that despite the stereotypes, native Americans were actualy able to write and direct ther own films, allowing them to depict the relationships between whites and Native Americans in a much more complex matter than most early western/ethnographic films.
Its interesting that most Westerns were considered to be low budget and insignificant until the arrival of the soon to be most famous and recognized character in the history of Westerns, John Wayne, who was catapulted into stardom in the John Ford film "Stagecoach"
