Native Culture in the Media

The Lion Turtle from Avatar: The Last Airbender

I had a standard childhood. I played with dolls, had some close friends, ate too much mac and cheese, which I still do, and of course: watched an unholy amount of television. I did other things, of course, but looking back I realize that a lot of it was to heighten my imagination and understanding of the world. Books, movies, writing— anything that could help me escape from the real world. I thought the prime example of that was a TV show called Avatar: The Last Airbender. One important scene in the entire 3 season TV series was the meeting with the lion turtle— a seemingly all knowing being providing wisdom, guidance, and spiritual powers to help guide the protagonist to defeat the “evil” in a peaceful way— a way to demonstrate that there must always be balance (a “good” and “evil”) in the world.

Sound familiar?

The turtle from “The World on the Turtle’s Back”

This plot line of an all-knowing large turtle being was created in the Iroquois’ creation story, “The World on the Turtle’s Back”. The turtle in the story is large, helpful, and eventually forms what we now know as the Earth. On this turtle’s back, good and evil is created, and it becomes a necessity that both coexist with each other, although good always prevails.

Not only is it blatantly obvious that my childhood TV show drew inspiration from the Iroquois tribe, but it also demonstrates that despite the United States’ seeming disregard for Native American culture, we still manage to perputate it in our everyday lives. Even children become exposed to “new” and “innovative” ideas like the lion turtle, without truly knowing that it is a real belief of real people. This is a prime example of exploiting Native culture— take out the “fun” aspects of the group of people, make them seem “quirky” and “peaceful”, and in reality give barely enough food to eat, poor education, and a damaging stereotype of Natives being alcoholics, abusive, and/or strangely attached to nature.

What is the root for this system in the United States? Taking what we want and throwing out the rest? Ignoring real issues and glamorizing bits and pieces? Perhaps this is the foundation of the country— the “New World” was viewed as adventurous, a new beginning, freedom, and whatever else. When in reality, life was difficult, and many people died in the harsh winters or even on the boat during months long voyage. But the ideal of a new world seemed nice, and presenting things nicely seems to be more important than being truly nice.