Native Recognition

Native Recognition: Indigenous Cinema and the Western offers a new perspective on the relationship between the Western film genre and Native American filmmaking. Joanna Hearne argues that Indigenous image-making has played a central role in the history of American cinema, with Native peoples involved as performers, directors, writers, consultants, crews, and audiences. The book brings together little-known productions from the silent era to contemporary films, using international archival research and close visual analysis to expand our understanding of Native presence in cinema. By examining the ways in which Indigenous filmmakers have used visual media to engage with social justice and political sovereignty issues, Hearne sheds new light on a significant but often overlooked chapter in American cinematic history. Through its diverse range of case studies, Native Recognition challenges dominant narratives about the Western genre and its representation of Native Americans, revealing instead the complex and multifaceted ways in which Indigenous peoples have shaped and been shaped by American cinema.