[1] This inaccurate portrayal has continued in popular animation, with characters that conform to European standards of beauty,[2] with the most famous misrepresentation being that of Pocahontas.
The phrase "Indian princess", when used in this way, is often considered to be a derogatory term, a type of racial slur, and is deemed offensive by Native Americans.
[1] One exception to this rule is that at some Native American powwows and other types of pageants, some competition titles and awards for girls or young women might include the name "Princess".
[6] In paintings and engravings, North America was personified by the symbol of the Indian princess, who wore a feathered headdress, gripped a bow and arrow, and was often depicted in pursuit of freedom.
[7] This appropriated symbol of an Indigenous woman relied not only on ideas of freedom, power, and wildness but, paradoxically, loyalty to the white man.
[6] In Calvin's Case (1608) and in myriad "Acts of Subjection", following waves of epidemics and settler colonialism, English coronations performed by Native Americans wed royal allegiance with previous ritual delegations (or gifted as in Dish With One Spoon wampum wreaths) of authority to indigenous mediators by indigenous counsel, principally for the allocation of resources and, during the seventeenth century, jus gentium negotiations.
[8] These themes can be seen in modern media renditions of the Indian princess; for example, in portrayals of Pocahontas, who has been defined by her noble savage connection to nature and her debunked rescue of John Smith.
[6] Though the image of the "grand and liberated" Indian princess was commonly used to epitomize America; other icons and accounts depicting and denigrating Native and indigenous women as savages and squaws [sic] were still publicized and accepted.
While roles vary depending on geographical region and culture, historically, women have cleared fields, planted and harvested crops, hunted and fished, and providing a great deal of the food for their communities.
[12] Native women of higher rank, such as the daughters of chiefs or other community leaders, were at times pressured to marry white settlers in order to form alliances.
The depiction of Native American women in media is important because it may be the only insight the mainstream audience has to the lifestyle of a culture that is generally hidden from the public.
John M. Coward asserts that their relationship is based on a power dynamic that shows the colonizers as heroes to a group of "savages" because the colonists had helped them transition from barbarism to a "refined" society.
Coward claims that Indian women who then follow this standard and show signs of a charming feminine beauty will become the woman that men lust after.
This emphasizes the “otherness” of Native American women who will be denigrated as squaws if they don't adopt these European beauty standards.
In an early version of the manuscript, Tiger Lily plays out a rape fantasy by asking Peter Pan what would happen if he attacked her in the woods to which the other Indians replied that “she him’s squaw”.
[18] While many of the female characters appear to desire the affections of Peter Pan,[17] Wendy, the older sister in the Darling family, is presented as a pure, motherly, and talkative figure, often associated with the color white.
[23] Critical reception of her character has panned her overly sexualized portrayal,[24] especially as the real Pocahontas was "a child of ten years old" during the events fictionalized by Disney.
"[27][28][29] The fictional Pocahontas is portrayed as being different from the rest of her Powhatan tribe,[30] particularly as it relates to her relationship with John Smith, the European character she falls in love with.
[31] During The Boston Tea Party, colonists dressed up as Indians by wearing feathers, blankets, and drawing on their faces with black soot.
Many non-Indigenous people believe that dressing up as an Indian princess is innocent, inoffensive, and not only harmless but a fun and personally empowering activity.
Carolyn Sorisio argues that by using the English term “princess” to refer to herself, she claimed a type of power that the press was able to recognize and attribute to her and the Paiute nation.
[40] Sorisio argues that Winnemucca's inaccurate costuming suggests compliance with non-Native desires, as expressed in the Indian princess stereotype.
[42]In 1940 Ella Deloria, a Yankton Sioux scholar, produced a pageant named The Life Story of a People for the Native Americans of Robeson Country and surrounding areas.
[43] Deloria's pageantry began with the assimilation and accommodation of Euramerican institutions but later developed into an exploration of “Indian identities under siege”[43] where Native American people performed themselves and acted out their stories in her pageants.
American Indian scholars agree that pageantry was able to reclaim the historical tellings of history that had thus been juxtaposed by media's representation of the past.
Feminist writers like Wendy Kozol make note of beauty pageant winners who exemplify Native American tradition within the Euro-American cultural context.
Anita Ahenakew, 1981 Saskatchewan Indian Princess is identified by her community as being a multiple, medal winning Judoka, a practitioner of Judo, also breaking the stereotype.
The issues surrounding her crowning focused on how she should represent the Calgary Stampede and perform her role as Queen, specifically what kind of clothing she should wear (her traditional regalia or cowgirl gear).