For over a hundred years, Westerns, dramas and even documentaries have shaped the public’s perception of Native people. The wise elder (Little Big Man); the drunk (Tom Sawyer); the Indian princess (Pocahontas); the loyal sidekick (Tonto)—these images have become engrained in the consciousness of every North American. Neil Diamond brilliantly tackled the issue in his documentary Reel Injun, with a narrative focus towards the male characters portrayed in Hollywood films. But the same can be said for female characters. This episode takes a look at Indigenous female characters that influenced how we see ourselves today. Whether it be the sexy Indian who falls in love with the cowboy, the sexy untameable savage, or the more modern sexy victim of an abusive partner, Native American women are often perceived as being sexually available. How has that impacted our own personal relationships with femininity?

Standards of beauty – now, there’s a truly subjective issue! While it’s an easy enough task today to consult fashion archives from recent years, the challenge becomes far more complex to try and chart as elusive a topic as shifting concepts of beauty among indigenous peoples, especially as they applied to a distant past when oral tradition was the primary form of history. Add to that the need to approach such an elusive subject with numerous different Aboriginal nations, each with its own, often-complex history, customs, tradition – and therefore, inevitably, standards of beauty. It’s a safe bet that some grey areas may well remain, even under the most arduous scrutiny. Yet, these quibbles aside, the subject remains an interesting one which undoubtedly deserves attention, if only to debunk some myths that have lingered on for far too long! Keywords: race, indigenous, ethnicity.