When I was growing up in my community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast, television was our window to the outside world. Sometimes this window provided a different image of the real world. As a boy I watched a lot of movies and regular television shows. I saw programs that portrayed Native people in a less than positive way.

There were many television shows and popular movies that had the cowboy and Indian theme. Most of the time the Indian was portrayed as a dumb savage. It is unfortunate that Hollywood had to spread this stereotype as it has led to many people having a strange view of First Nation people. This image of Native people has spread to other cultures around the world.

When I visited Thailand a few years ago I met many Thai people who were impressed with the fact that I was a Native Canadian. I had to explain to them who I was and where I was from. I could not speak their language and they did not know a lot of English so I spent much time trying to convince them that I was not Japanese, Chinese, Filipino or any other Asian nationality. After some experience at trying to communicate who I was, I adopted a visual way to do this. I explained that I was Native Canadian by doing a war whoop, drawing back an imaginary bow and launching an arrow. Obviously, Thai people had been watching Hollywood Westerns that featured cowboys and Indians. Most people caught on very quickly when I demonstrated this Hollywood image and they referred to me as Indian-den. To my utter amazement they expressed a great awe and in almost every instance they treated me with a very bizarre respect. Often the Thai would step back with surprise and then move back towards me to touch me. A couple of times people asked if they could have some of my power. As my trip through Thailand unfolded I discovered that there exists a festival in the country that features images of the classical Hollywood style Indian Chief with full headdress. Thai people explained to me that this image symbolized power and strength.

Once I discovered this phenomena I must admit that I used it to my advantage from time to time to get a good deal on a hotel and great service in restaurants.

I have also had feedback from Europeans that I have met on my travels. I once met a German fellow named Heinz and another time a Polish man named Roman who explained to me that Native Americans are very highly regarded in European countries. However, I also learned that their image of we First Nation people was a glamorized Hollywood style Indian. As a matter of fact, Roman explained to me that there is a deep seated love and interest in Native North Americans mostly due to the work of the writer Karl May. This German writer began producing books about Native North Americans in the 1920s. Generations of German children have been reading these books faithfully and they have grown up picturing we First Nation people through the eyes of Karl May. May strangely enough had never been to North America or seen a Native North American until he was quite old and long after he had published his popular series of books, which featured a main Indian character called Winnetou.

I have always been happy to find Europeans and especially German people so interested in my people. At the same time I am a bit disappointed that their image of who we are was mostly contrived out of fantasy. However,

I enjoy meeting people and making an effort to educate them on who we First Nation people really are.

I find it difficult sometimes to convince other cultures of the reality of who First Nation people really are. We are like everyone else, we go to school, we work at all kinds of jobs, we raise families, we drive cars and we shop at grocery stores. Often people don’t want to hear this, they want to hear stories of the exotic Hollywood Indian

or Karl May’s Indian. However, people seem satisfied to learn that many of my people are still close to the land and follow a way of life that lives in balance with nature.