Redface is the wearing of makeup to darken or redden skin tone, or feathers, warpaint, etc. by non-Natives to impersonate aNative American,Indigenous Latin American orIndigenous Canadian person, or to in some other way perpetuatestereotypes of Indigenous peoples of Canada and the United States. It is analogous to the wearing ofBlackface.[1] In the early twentieth century, it was often white performers, who wore blackface or redface when portrayingPlains Indians in Hollywood Westerns.[2] In the early days of television sitcoms, "non-Native sitcom characters donned headdresses, carried tomahawks, spoke broken English, playedSquanto at Thanksgiving gatherings, received 'Indian' names, danced wildly, and exhibited other examples ofrepresentations of redface".[3]
Redface has been used to describe non-Native adoption of Indigenous cultures, no matter how sympathetic, such as the painters in theTaos Society of Artists during the early 20th Century portraying themselves in their own works wearing Indigenous clothing.[4]
Often associated with the behavior of sports fans of teams withNative American names or mascots,[5] "redface" has also been used to describe "Indian" Halloween costumes that are seen as offensive by Native people, or imitations of sacredheaddresses worn as fashion accessories.[6]
In 2011,Harmony Korine directed the short art film Snowballs for the fashion brandProenza Schouler. The film featuresRachel Korine and an unnamed actor wearing "elaborate Native American headdresses and layers of skirts, capes, pants, and tops from Proenza's fall collection."[7][8]
Westerns were a popular film genre from the 1930s to the early 1960s. A common plot involved conflict between Native Americans and the cavalry, settlers, or both. Native Americans were usually portrayed by non-Natives in redface.
Espera Oscar de Corti, an Italian-American, had a decades-long career portraying Native Americans asIron Eyes Cody.
Beginning in the late 1960s, westerns attempted to depict a more realistic and balanced view of theOld West in movies such asLittle Big Man. However, the casting of non-NativeJohnny Depp asTonto in Disney's 2013 revival ofThe Lone Ranger was labelled as "redface".[9]
TheJames Fenimore Cooper novelThe Last of the Mohicans was filmed many times. Not until1992 were Native Americans cast in all the major roles in the story ofUncas son ofChingachgook who was the last "Mohican" until he was killed byMagua, aHuron chief. The actualMohicans continue to live in theHudson River Valley.
| Film date | Chingachgook | Magua | Uncas | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Theodore Lorch | Wallace Beery | Alan Roscoe | American |
| 1920 | Béla Lugosi | Kurt Rottenburg | German | |
| 1932 | Hobart Bosworth | Bob Kortman | Frank Coghlan Jr. | American Serial |
| 1936 | Robert Barrat | Bruce Cabot | Phillip Reed | American |
| 1947 | Buster Crabbe | Rick Vallin | American, retitled "Last of the Redskins" | |
| 1965 | José Marco | José Manuel Martín | Daniel Martín | A Spanish/Italian production done in the style of aSpaghetti Western, the character Magua is renamed "Cunning Fox" |
| 1965 | Mike Brendel | Ricardo Rodríguez | Daniel Martín | German: Der letzte Mohikaner |
| 1977 | Ned Romero | Robert Tessier | Don Shanks | Romero was ofChitimacha ancestry |