November is Native American Heritage Month. While this is a month for celebrating the numerous cultures and contributions of Native people across the Americas, it is also a month for non-Indigenous people to reflect critically on their thoughts, actions, and participation in systems that continue to harm Indigenous peoples to this day, centuries after the beginning of the colonization of the Americas.

This month (and every month!), we encourage you to think specifically about how you perceive Indigenous communities and their relationship to the natural environment. By dismantling stereotypes you may not know you carry–or you may not recognize as harmful–you can make your initial steps towards repairing the damages done by colonization and begin uplifting Indigenous voices.

This blog post will focus on the stereotype many people subconsciously have towards Indigenous peoples’ relationship to the environment and society. Originating first as the “Noble Savage” stereotype which emerged during early colonization, it has evolved into what is known as the “Ecological Indian” stereotype prevalent today.

While this blog will encourage you to break down preconceived notions of how Indigenous peoples are connected to the natural environment, it is important to keep in mind that Indigenous communities often do indeed have intimate knowledge of their landscapes, formed from centuries of living there. This intimate understanding, which includes the landscape’s geology, biology, climate, and spirituality, is referred to by Indigenous scholars as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) or Indigenous Knowledge. It is possible, and necessary, to dismantle harmful stereotypes while still respecting Traditional Ecological Knowledge.

The “Noble Savage”

From the earliest days of the European colonization of the Americas, the “Noble Savage” stereotype (sometimes referred to as the “Noble Indian” stereotype) has shaped Western perceptions of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. European Americans perceived Indigenous peoples as ‘part of nature,’ and their way of life as gentle and free, or ‘Noble’. They were seen as highly skilled at surviving in nature, and are still viewed this way. Consider the Thanksgiving Myth that is taught in American classrooms--Native Americans selflessly sharing their agricultural knowledge to the helpless European settlers (see this article and another one of our blog posts, Decolonizing Few for Change, for more information on the Thanksgiving Myth and how Few for Change is working to dismantle racism in our own work).

This view on Indigenous societies was unlike how settlers regarded White society, which they viewed as distinct from nature. Partially stemming from interpretations of the Bible where humanity is given dominion over nature, nature was viewed as not simply separate from, but the opposite of, civilization. This ‘nature vs. civilization’ ideology is still present, however subconsciously, in many Western mindsets to this day. Many people of these mindsets do not consider themselves, nor the cities and towns in which they live, to be as much a part of nature as is a forest or a herd of wild animals.

While being perceived as ‘gentle,’ ‘free,’ and ‘highly skilled’ may seem positive, these perceptions are incredibly damaging to Indigenous histories. Because European Americans saw Indigenous peoples as part of nature, and nature incompatible with civilized society, the belief that Indigenous peoples were uncivilized was widely held (this constitutes the ‘savagery’ implied in the name ‘Noble Savage’). The Noble Savage stereotype, therefore, was used to justify considering Indigenous peoples as subhuman. Since Indigenous peoples were viewed as a subhuman part of nature, the land on which Indigenous peoples lived was considered pristine and untouched by man, no more than a vast landscape waiting for European society to “conquer” (read: steal while committing genocide against Indigenous peoples). Thousands of years of Indigenous history, notably the significant ways in which Indigenous people manipulated the natural environment, were erased. The Noble Indian stereotype directly influenced the vigor with which European settlers defiled and stole Indigenous land.

The “Ecological Indian”

The Noble Savage stereotype has not yet dissipated from Western mindsets - instead, it has evolved into a stereotype scholars refer to as the ‘Ecological Indian.’ The Ecological Indians are the ‘first environmentalists,’ who live ‘correctly’ in comparison to Western society. The Ecological Indian ‘gets’ the environment in a way that others don’t.

A stark example of this trope is the 1971 Keep America Beautiful television ad ‘The Crying Indian’, well known by those born in the 1970s or earlier. In the commercial, a Native American man (portrayed by ‘Iron Eyes Cody,’ an Italian-American actor who falsely claimed to be Indigenous) cries as he witnesses how American society has littered, mistreated, and otherwise destroyed what once were lush green landscapes. While this commercial and other similar campaigns deploying the Ecological Indian stereotype inspired an entire generation to stop littering, they also perpetuated this harmful perception of Indigenous people.

The Ecological Indian stereotype has been used to shift blame for environmental destruction away from settler-colonizers. If non-Indigenous people are incapable of understanding the environment like Indigenous people do, how could they possibly be to blame for causing damage to it? They simply don’t know any better! On the flip side, the Ecological Indian puts on Indigenous peoples the burden of an impossible standard: never impacting the environment. When Indigenous peoples are seen as guardians of all things “natural,” anything an Indigenous community does that impacts the environment is harshly criticized.

Ramón Pineda, President of the Few for Change Advisory Board, shared his frustrations about this double standard with us, and explained how these stereotypes intersect with other societal issues in the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé, while describing his work as an agriculturist:

“Of course I am conscious that we need to conserve the environment. But how do you conserve when you are hungry? And you need to work? … People need to eat, so they have to deforest, and for the minister to say they can’t is not addressing the problem … People have to cut down the forest due to lack of resources.”

Despite valuing the natural environment and understanding the need for conservation, Ramón laments the fact that protecting the forest will always come second to ensuring his community’s health and livelihoods. Those who criticize him and other Ngäbe may not understand this difficult, yet necessary, tradeoff. On the other hand, Indigenous individuals who do not have intimate knowledge of their local environments are also judged harshly--despite colonization and forced assimilation discouraging the use of Indigenous Knowledge. Finally, the Ecological Indian stereotype hinders Indigenous communities from modernizing with the rest of human society, as modernization is associated with civilization, which, as described above, is seen as incompatible with the environment. The Ecological Indian trope is used as an excuse to withhold resources, infrastructure, and other benefits that might advance wellbeing in Indigenous communities like Ramon’s. In short, it is a tool of oppression.

Indigenous Stereotypes Abroad

While the information shared in this blog post was cultivated by Indigenous scholars based in North America (see sources below marked with an asterisk), we see through Ramón’s experiences that these stereotypes are prevalent and equally as damaging in Latin America as well. In fact, you are likely to find similar “positive” stereotypes causing harm to Indigenous communities all throughout the world. This is why, if you are a settler on stolen land anywhere on Earth, you should put time aside to consider how you perceive the Indigenous communities around you. As non-Indigenous people continue to analyze their internal biases about Indigenous peoples, reshape their perspectives, and take action, Indigenous communities worldwide will face less discrimination and harm.

Few for Change is an organization started by a majority-White group of US Citizens that operates in an Indigenous Comarca. Given this, we strive to address the harmful aspects of our own work, reflect on our own implicit biases, and change the way we operate to form a more equitable, community-led and Indigenous-led organization. We will continue to explore these topics in our work and on our blog. Stay tuned for how the Junta Directiva (Indigenous Panamanian Advisory Board) has decided to utilize monies in the Community Resilience Fund, as well as an upcoming blog post about how stereotypes and biases have impacted FFC's students and Junta Directiva members.

This blog would not have been possible without utilizing the incredible work performed by Indigenous scholars. As always, we encourage you to consider specific Indigenous communities close to your home (Whose land do you live on? Resource: Native Land Map), and to learn directly from Indigenous scholars themselves. Social media is a great starting place for being informed about Indigenous views on current events and to see how stereotypes affect Indigenous communities today. Find an Indigenous scholar from a community near you who shares their work and thoughts online, and give them a follow!

Need help finding Indigenous scholars and accounts to follow? See the end of this post for suggested accounts.

Sources:
The Ecological Indian: Myth and History by Shepard Krech III (1999)

Crying Indian - Keep America Beautiful (1971) - Full commercial on YouTube

*The Problem With The Ecological Indian Stereotype (Gilio-Whitaker)

*Shepard Krech’s The Ecological Indian: One Indian’s Perspective (TallBear)

*Traditional Ecological Knowledge - Chapter 2: Native Science and Sustaining Indigenous Communities by Gregory Cajete (2018)

*Traditional Ecological Knowledge - Chapter 4: What do Indigenous Knowledges do for Indigenous Peoples? by Kyle Whyte (2018)

* = This is an Indigenous scholar

Indigenous Accounts on Social Media:

Twitter:

@ndncollective

@_IllumiNatives