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The image of an Indian in European culture
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Romantic concepts of Indians spread in European culture after the United States, and later countries of Latin America, gained independence. Since then a collective image of an Indian began to form – an unruffled, tall, tanned man with “aquiline” nose sitting on a horse, wearing a splendid headdress made of feathers with a tomahawk or a smoking pipe in his hand. This picture is based on an image of a Valleys region Indian that was formed in the end of the 19th century when cowboy Buffalo Bill formed a troupe constituted by Indians and cowboys and traveled over many American and European cities with theatrical performances. “Actors” acted scenes from the life of the Wild West depicting mostly military conflicts between Indians and white people. In different periods famous chiefs of Sioux Indians acted in Buffalo Bill’s troupe – Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, American Horse, etc. From Buffalo Bill’s performances the image of a Valley region went into books and films, and then into mass perception.
Another variation of the same image emerged as a result of idealization of the Iroquois people of the North-East of America, which was encouraged by novels by Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) and the works of one of the founders of ethnography Lewis Henri Morgan (1818-1888).
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