While reading Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson revealed that he thought of Native Americans as inherently higher on the racial hierarchy than black people. Jefferson’s thoughts reflect upon the fascination with the “noble savage” and the manner in which many American colonists saw Native Americans to represent freedom and as a symbol that distinguished themselves from what they saw as the oppressive Britain. Something I found very disturbing was the way that American colonists manipulated images of Native Americans to use as political propaganda; after a controversy, papers even “whitened Indian figures that had initially had dark skin and clothed bodies that had been naked when they first appeared in London publications.” This raises an interesting questions: did the American colonists have genuine appreciation for Native Americans, or were they simply using them to further their political agenda? In addition, if the symbol of Native Americans could be easily manipulated by the British, why did the American colonists use the natives as a political symbol? Why did white Americans choose to “play Indian” when they believed that they were “savages?” How is it that the glorification of Native Americans and the treatment of them as “savages” coexisted?

The romanticization of certain aspects of Native Americans but a general apathy about the actual problems they face is a trend that continues today. Similarly, the few Native Americans that are represented in popular culture are often stereotyped or appropriated.