The Searchers: Representation of Natives

Hunter Bardin

ENGL 280

Professor Wisniewski 

September 25, 2020

    The Searchers directed by John Ford is a western movie that follows many of the same tropes that are common in the genre. These range from the loner cowboy that washes back into town to the common racist representation of Native Americans. While this film was spectacular in some other aspects, like its cinematography, the representation of Natives did not evolve like the rest of the film. While it may have been common during the time, doesn't mean it was right and lead to improper information to spread about Native Americans and their culture.

    The film portrays the Natives as a group of savages that care nothing more than to kill the white folk that are near their land. It shows them as brutal by showing their usage of scalping and kidnapping of white girls. The movie also portrays them like they are unevolved versions of the white man and constantly looks down upon them like when Martin accidentally got a Native wife. There is also a scene where Ethan, the main character, shoots out the eyes of a dead native because in their culture it means their spirit is doomed to wander the world for all of eternity. It is common in many cultures to not disrespect the dead, even in western cultures, yet Ethan doesn't care because he doesn't see the natives as equals. Ethan even almost kills his own niece because she chose to stay with the native culture when they first find her.

    Another way the film portrays the Native Americans poorly is the casting of a white man to play an important native role. In the film they cast Henry Brandon as Scar, the main rival of Ethan throughout the film. During the time this was a common practice because it was thought that a person of color could not act the part out as well. Ethan and Scar do act well as each other's opposites. They are both men that seek action as more important than words and in the end it is shown that Ethan is not so different as he scalps Scar after he was killed. Jeffrey Hunter, who played Martin, is another example of casting a role of a native to a white man. While he was only technically an eighth Cherokee they still bring out some stereotypes into his character like illiteracy and buffoon like characteristics. 

    At the time representation of natives still had a long ways to go before it was gotten right and even so westerns as a whole aren't a genre that is seen much often nowadays. While it was partially a matter of the time period's view on Native Americans, the representation is poor and doesn't present them as actual people and more like animals. In the end, The Searchers was just playing itself out like many of the other common westerns at the time with the Native bad guy.