An Analysis of Dear John Wayne

Louise Erdrichs Dear John Wayne highlights the depiction of Native Americans in

modern culture. This poem tells the story of Native Americans viewing a western movie at a

drive-in. Native Americans in the movie portrayed as the antagonist due to their motive to attack

first shows the stereotypes rampant among popular culture. The narrator views the constant

clichs prevalent throughout the movie as enormously humorous. The poem serves to emphasize

the vast array of Native American stereotypes that have befallen society, becoming common

ideology, due to Hollywood romanticizing the expansion of our country to the west coast.

Indian is a common term used in conversation when discussing Native American culture.

This in itself is a derogatory term. The term has been incessantly used in modern cinema and is

sometimes exchanged with other derogatory terms such as Red skins or Injuns. This poem in

itself uses the slang such as when it states, always the lookout spots the Indians first (Erdrich

1141). Indian was first used when Christopher Columbus believed that he had landed in India

and accidentally perceived the Native Americans as the Indian people, a fact that is mostly

unrecognized today. Due to the words incorrect nature, this slang term is disrespectful to the

Native American society.

The poem is set at a drive-in movie theater, a John Wayne western playing on the big

screen. Waynes importance in the poems message cannot be overlooked due to the fact he is the

actor most closely related to the Wild West. One must understand that the depiction of Native

Americans in western films is mostly inaccurate. By writing a letter to John Wayne, Erdrich is

able to generalize an industry that has normalized the stereotyping and racial profiling of an

entire culture.
 Quotes such as a few laughing Indians fall over the hood shows the authors mocking

attitude towards stereotypes in the movie, yet how Native Americans are viewed in society due to

incessant stereotypes is no laughing matter (Erdrich 1141). In 1984, when the poem was written,

racial stereotypes against Native Americans were extremely prevalent among popular culture.

American culture portrayed Native Americans as callous and horrid people who would not

hesitate to stick a tomahawk in your back and scalp your head. This ideology was made prevalent

by fifty years of Hollywood imagination, designed to captivate audiences rather than portray the

truth. No one could foresee the negative impact that such depictions could bring about in society.

Erdrich wrote many pieces that showed the challenges Native Americans had to face in day to

day life, showing her passion to draw attention to the truths about their society.

Though the poem was written many years ago, the ideas it emphasizes are still important

today. Racism and stereotypes pointed at the Native American people is far from extinct.

According to an article in American Indians Quarterly, racism against American Indians has

been normalized and institutionally legitimized, thereby rendering it invisible (Robertson).

Stereotypes that we see in movies and media have become normalized in society, allowing the

racism behind it to go unnoticed. This same article goes on to say that playing Indian is racist --

in no way different from wearing blackface or participating in minstrel shows -- because it

collapses distinct cultures into one stereotypical racialized group (Robertson). While this may

be an extreme view on what can be considered racism, it proves the ideas of racism emphasized

in Erdrichs poem. Many Americans do not think about the racism embedded in our daily lives

such as sitting Indian style or having a pow wow with peers.

School mascots, such as the Warriors, Redskins or Injuns, further emphasize the

ignorance of Native American stereotypes in society. These are incorrectly formulated examples
of how Native Americans look and act; it proves that racism pointed towards Native Americans

continues to go unnoticed. To put this idea in perspective, Steinfeldt states in his article about

American Indian stereotypes that many authors have commented on the paradoxical nature of

societys acceptance of native-themed mascots, particularly in comparison with portrayals of

other minority groups that would be considered socially unacceptable (for instance, no team

would be named the New York Negroes) (Steinfeldt, 21). Every day we see people fighting

against racism towards African Americans and yet society accepts racism towards the Native

Americans because it has become desensitized in todays culture. Racism of any kind should be

eliminated immediately, completely unrelated to which minority group is being wronged.

Erdrich wrote this poem to highlight that even though Native Americans can find a

movie filled with racist stereotypes pointed towards their own people humorous, there will

always be a lingering feeling of hatred and misunderstanding society feels towards them. As said

in the text, how can we help but keep hearing his voice, the flip side of the soundtrack, still

playing (Erdrich 1141). Society will always be pointing an accusatory finger at Native

American culture due to their misunderstanding of their lifestyle and this needs to be ceased.

Though the Native Americans noticed the unreal representation of their society, the typical

uninformed person can easily mistake the movie portrayal for the truth. The last stanza shows the

lingering nature of racial stereotypes. This is shown by the startling realization by the characters

as they are leaving the movie that racism is not something they can simply escape. These people

are forced to live in a world in which they are misunderstood, causing them to struggle in society

for the rest of their lives.

Dear John Wayne is a poem that is distinct due to its significance in pointing out the view

of American Natives in popular culture. The film industry is largely responsible for these
misunderstandings. Though the poem was written over thirty years ago, many of these

stereotypes are still prominent today. Erdrich has written a piece that conveys an important

message that needs to be aware in society. Perhaps in thirty more years the racism and

stereotypes this poem is trying to prevent from growing will be solely a part of history.

Works Citied

Robertson, Dwanna L. "Invisibility In The Color-Blind Era." American Indian Quarterly

39.2 (2015): 113-153. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

 Steinfeldt, Jesse A, and Matthew Clint Steinfeldt. "Multicultural Training Intervention to

Address American Indian Stereotypes." Counselor Education & Supervision 51.1 (2012): 17-32.

Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

Baym, Nina, Wayne Franklin, Philip F. Gura, Arnold Krupat, Robert S. Levine, Jeanne

Campbell Reesman, Mary Loeffelholz, Jerome Klinkowitz, and Patricia B. Wallace. The Norton

Anthology of American Literature. Literature since 1945. N.p.: n.p., 2007. Print.