Question #2

i strongly feel that the origins of these stereotypes came from the old western time frame . as settlers moved around the country and encountered these new and different people. some camp fire stories were told by the old cowboys on what they had to do to get the land they live on and what not. these stereotypes were just reiterated in western film. these stereotypes ,to me, taint history a bit and it makes me question some of the stories and accounts of what really happened around that time frame. its so easy for an individual to exaggerate and an event that involved 30 people can quickly turn to 300 people and a war. the American identity will not change to everyone, i mean we do live in a decent country so the American identity would change depending on who you speak to. as for the role of the western movies in history, i believe they were made as a defense mechanism to simply make it seem as the settlers had a justified reason to act as they did towards theses people and some were made to shed light on the problems and perception of the native Americans.