Hollywood lied about Native Americans for decades. The Natives who lived it finally talk back.
Imagining Indians is a 1992 documentary film produced and directed by Native American filmmaker, Victor Masayesva, Jr.. The documentary attempts to reveal the misrepresentation of Indigenous Native American culture and tradition in Classical Hollywood films by interviews with different Indigenous Native American actors and extras from various tribes throughout the United States. With an all-Indian crew, Victor Masayesva visited tribal communities in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, Washington and the Amazon to produce this film. Masayesva says, "Coming from a village which became embroiled in the filming of Darkwind, a Hollywood production on the Hopi Reservation, I felt a keen responsibility as a community member, not an individual, to address these impositions on our tribal lives. Even as our communities say no, outsiders are responding to this as a challenge instead of respecting our feelings... I have come to believe that the sacred aspects of our existence which encourages the continuity and vitality of Native peoples are being manipulated by an aesthetic in which money is the most important qualification. This contradicts the values intrinsic to what's sacred and may destroy our substance. I am concerned about a tribal and community future which is reflected in my film and I hope this challenges the viewer to overcome glamorized Hollywood views of the Native American, which obscures the difficult demands of walking the spiritual road of our ancestors."
Direction
Masayesva's community-accountable approach—no outsiders, no exploitation.
Production
All-Native crew documenting Native voices, radical for 1992.
Writing
Personal stories that dismantle a century of cinematic stereotype.
Creator
Victor Masayesva Jr.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Masayesva's Hopi perspective rejects individual auteurism for collective responsibility—a direct challenge to Western documentary conventions.
The Amazon segments connect Hollywood's Native stereotypes to global Indigenous exploitation, making this unexpectedly international in scope.
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