History Main / InjunCountry

* The ending of ''Film/{{Stroszek}}'' takes place on a reservation.

* The Saint of Killers' backstory in ''{{Preacher}}'' involves him rescuing a young woman from InjunCountry. When she tells him about the horrible things they did, he tells her bluntly that they learned it from the whites. While in reality Native American tribes were no strangers to brutality, they did learn scalping from Europeans during the French and Indian War.

* BloodMeridian by CormacMcCarthy (recently of NoCountryForOldMen fame) deconstructs this trope with what might be thought of as a ''meta'' revisionist historical InjunCountry, where, not to put too fine a point on it, all humans of all colours and cultures are essentially between one and zero steps removed from the dishonourable, brutal naked savage stereotype. Very adroitly {{deconstructed}} by the author in order to make a case for BlueAndOrangeMorality.[[note]]Noted for its historical accuracy. Food for thought.[[/note]]

* one of the ''AufWeidersehenPet'' series has a back-story involving an Indian tribe buying the Middlesborough Transporter Bridge and re-erecting it in the desert as an attraction for their casino. Of course, our heroes get the job ... ''ItMakesSenseInContext''
* ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'' had an episode where the family went to a casino; Malcolm got in trouble for card-counting for his father.
* ''TheXFiles'' episode "Shapes" is set on an Indian reservation whose elders complain about people turning away from their old beliefs. An Indian Reservation in Montana [[CaliforniaDoubling that looks a lot more like the west coast of British Columbia]]. Thankfully, the native people shown avert both the NobleSavage and Casino Indian stereotypes.

* As cited above, ''{{Wonderfalls}}'' takes place near InjunCountry. One episode takes place on a reservation. All of the natives shown are portrayed as normal everyday people, though the protagonist tries to poke one into becoming more of a stereotypical magical shaman.

* ''FTroop'' was almost ahead of its time on this trope, portraying the Hekawi tribe as a harmless group of schemers who are solely interested in making business deals with white settlers. Much of the characterization of the tribe is actually based around Yiddish comedy, to the point that the show teases the myth that they're [[AmbiguouslyJewish the lost 13th tribe of Israel]].

* Basically wherever the Wendigo werewolf tribe hangs out in ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' (especially the ''Wild West'' setting). The more militant ones are still mightily pissed off at the European werewolves who moved in with roughly the same beliefs as the normal humans regarding the New World (they also [[SealedEvilInACan released the Eater of Souls]] by accident, but water under the bridge, eh?).

* ''{{VideoGame/Prey}}'' stars a ''badass'' Indian protagonist who doesn't believe in his tribe's teachings, but with the help of a near-death experience and a spirit journey to his grandfather gains the ability to escape his worldly body and cheat death.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' featured the Great Plains flavor of InjunCountry, complete with teepees, feathered headdresses, and a tribe of nature-loving NobleSavage buffalo who come into conflict with the local town of WildWest ponies.

* Jim Jarmusch's ''Film/DeadMan'' is a thoroughly modern take on Injun Country, portraying the madness of white industrialism encroaching into the American Frontier. The main character's train passes the tipis and bison of the Great Plains to arrive somewhere in the American Northwest. The hero is never in any danger from Indians, and in the end, he arrives at a Makah village, which looks very different from the stereotypical tipi camp.

An emerging variation can also be seen in present-day works set on modern indian reservations, TheRez, often shown as an awkward mix of lavish casinos and abject poverty. The contrast has become fodder for comedy and satire, and also leading to new character types, such as opportunistic Indian hucksters dazzling gullible visitors with fake rituals and spurious wisdom.

An emerging variation can also be seen in present-day works with TheRez, often shown as an awkward mix of lavish casinos and abject poverty. The contrast has become fodder for comedy and satire, and also leading to new character types, such as opportunistic Indian hucksters dazzling gullible visitors with fake rituals and spurious wisdom.

* You guessed it. ''{{Deadlands}}''. No matter what setting, there are "Indians" around. In the original Weird Western setting, Native Americans have carved not one, but two sovereign nations out of American soil. By the time ''Deadlands: Hell on Earth'' rolls around, the "Coyote Confederation" is a defunct wasteland, while the "Sioux Nations" remains one of the few pleasant places anywhere on the planet. ''Deadlands: Lost Colony'', as a SpaceWestern, uses the native sentient beings of planet Banshee as [[FantasyCounterpartCulture ersatz Indians.]]

An emerging variation can also be seen in works set in the present day with TheRez, often shown as an awkward mix of lavish casinos and abject poverty. The contrast has become fodder for comedy and satire, and also leading to new character types, such as opportunistic Indian hucksters dazzling gullible visitors with fake rituals and spurious wisdom.

Today's portrayals of Injun Country have changed due to ValuesDissonance. While the landscape remains the same, frequently such revisionist works will depicted the natives as earthy {{Noble Savage}}s or {{Magical Native American}}s who lived in an [[{{Arcadia}} Edenic utopia]] before the White Man's arrival tore it all down. Though the Indians usually remained a threat to the heroes, they also often acknowledge the injustices of the settlers.

Today's portrayals of Injun Country has changed due to ValuesDissonance. While the landscape remains the same, frequently such revisionist works will depicted the natives as earthy {{Noble Savage}}s or {{Magical Native American}}s who lived in an [[{{Arcadia}} Edenic utopia]] before the White Man's arrival tore it all down. Though the Indians usually remained a threat to the heroes, they also often acknowledge the injustices of the settlers.

This is a {{Setting}} that broadly covers the locations where American Indians (also Red Indians, Native Americans, Amerinds, or [[CanadaEh First Nations]]) are usually be found.

Unlike other settings, there is no common physical aspect to this trope, as RealLife American Indians are a diverse group that have lived in places ranging from lush forests to arid deserts. Instead, Injun Country as used in media is a state of mind -- a place where the normal rules of the Civilized World do not apply, broached only by those daring enough to venture into the unknown.

Unlike other settings, there is no common physical aspect to this trope, as RealLife American Indians are a diverse group that have lived in places ranging from lush forests to arid deserts. Instead, Injun Country as used in media is a state of mind -- a place where the normal rules of the Civilized World do not apply, reached only by those who dared to venture into the unknown.

An emerging variation can also be seen in works set in the present day with TheRez, an awkward mix of lavish casinos and abject poverty. The contrast has become fodder for comedy and satire, and also leading to new character types, such as opportunistic Indian hucksters dazzling gullible visitors with fake rituals and spurious wisdom.

An emerging variation can also be seen in works set in the present day, with the Indiana living on TheRez, an awkward mix of lavish casinos and abject poverty. The contrast has become fodder for comedy and satire, and also leading to new character types, such as opportunistic Indian hucksters dazzling gullible visitors with fake rituals and spurious wisdom.

American Indians (also Red Indians, Native Americans, Amerinds, or [[CanadaEh First Nations]]) discovered America by walking across a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beringia gigantic land bridge]] from Russia into Alaska. [[TheGreatestHistoryNeverTold For a few thousand years they just took up space]] until Europeans rode massive wooden buckets across the ocean and crashed into the eastern shore. After a friendly "getting to know you" dinner party, the killing started, and lines were drawn between the Civilized World and Injun Country.

Injun Country is a staple of TheWestern, where American expansion brought white settlers into conflict with Indians in TheWildWest. Injuns of Injun Country all belong to a remarkably monolithic culture that spans all of North America. Their society is usually based on tribes of the Great Plains, with colorful details appropriated from other tribes at the author's whim. They are typically nomads who live in portable tipis or wigwams, hunt bison, wear war paint, and stick feathers in their hair. Standard issue outfits include BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins. The chief always wears a giant headdress of feathers. They invariably greet other people with a gruff "How." Some of them [[TontoTalk speak broken English and pepper their phrases with peculiar terms and metaphors.]] When they have a "pow-wow," all the elders sit "Indian style" around a big bonfire and "smoke-um peace pipes." They are an [[BornInTheSaddle extremely equestrian culture]], even though horses would not be reintroduced to the Americas until European colonization. Their leather moccasins allow them to sneak up on just about anyone except another Indian. They often wield bows and carry tomahawks, but they might also have rifles. Indian attacks in Injun Country range from brainless {{Zerg Rush}}es to special-ops night raids, though an average "brave" is rarely a match for even the greenest [[TheGunslinger gunslinger]]. If Injuns ''do'' catch you, expect to be "scalped."

The characterization of Injun Country has changed over the years. In early Westerns, Indians were little more than [[TheSavageIndian naked savages]] who terrorized the settlers. Even before Hollywood, tales and memoirs of Indians abducting white women were popular as tabloid entertainment. Sympathetic Indian characters were almost always collaborators with whites. White heroes sometimes had an [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy honorable brave]] who worked as a SideKick for them. A "[[MixedAncestry Half-Breed]]" could go either way, either as a civilized man who knew some Indian tricks, or a vicious bastard epitomizing the worst of both cultures. However, an IndianMaiden was almost always an slender, attractive, raven-haired beauty who is lusted over by any red-blooded, white-skinned frontiersman.

The "revisionist western" eventually supplanted the classic variety. Injun Country changed to a more ambivalent place. The injustice of the American government was more often acknowledged, though Indians usually remained a threat to the heroes. Indians became more wise, [[CryingIndian solemn, and tragic]]. Antagonistic Indians were more often [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy proud and honorable warriors]] embittered by white society rather than bloodthirsty savages. Fighting between white settlers and Indians became less popular as the primary conflict in stories, and Indians sometimes stood as neutral parties.

In more modern times, Injun Country has come almost [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory 180 degrees from its origins]]. Indians are now {{Noble Savage}}s who lived in an [[{{Arcadia}} Edenic utopia]] before the serpent of Manifest Destiny tore it all down. An earthy people, Indians respect nature, use "all of the bison," and hunt only what they need to survive. Whereas once their religions were treated as crude superstition, it has now become a source of [[MagicalNativeAmerican ancient wisdom]]. They have "no system of ownership" and can't understand how whites can claim dominion over land and territory. They are clean, innocent, and noble, while white society is greedy, dirty, and corrupt. Essentially they have become the romanticized icons of "green living" and new age spiritualism.

Nowadays even ''that'' is [[ZigZaggingTrope going out of style]]. [[TheRez Present-day Injun Country]] is filled with casinos, because Indian reservations are some of the few places in America where gambling is allowed. The contrast between these towers of capitalism and stereotypical Indian culture has become the fodder for comedy and satire. An increasingly popular trope is the cagey, opportunistic Indian huckster. He is often seen either leveraging white guilt over past atrocities to gain an advantage or dazzling gullible whites with fake rituals and spurious wisdom for cash.

Often overlaps with SettlingTheFrontier and HollywoodNatives. Compare BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins, TontoTalk, TheSavageIndian, and MagicalNativeAmerican.

Often overlaps with SettlingTheFrontier. A subtrope of HollywoodNatives. Compare BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins, TontoTalk, TheSavageIndian, and MagicalNativeAmerican.

Often overlaps with SettlingTheFrontier. Compare BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins, TontoTalk, TheSavageIndian, and MagicalNativeAmerican.

* Hilariously lampooned in ''CannibalTheMusical'', where Alfred Packer and his party pass through a Ute settlement. All of the Native Americans are played by ''Japanese'' actors. There's even a scene showing the tribal warriors practicing their katas. The chief points out all the stereotypical aspects of their camp and dress to try to convince the whites that they're genuine.

In more modern times, Injun Country has come almost [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory 180 degrees from its origins]]. Indians are now {{Noble Savage}}s who lived in an [[{{Arcadia}} Edenic utopia]] before the serpent of Manifest Destiny tore it all down. An earthy people, Indians respect nature, use "all of the bison," and hunt only what they need to survive. Whereas once their religions were treated as crude superstition, it has now become a source of [[MagicalNativeAmerican ancient wisdom]]. They have "no system of ownership" and can't understand how whites can claim dominion over land and territory. They are clean, innocent, and noble, while white society is greedy, dirty, and corrupt. Essentially they have become the icons of "green living" and new age spiritualism, romanticized into some sort of race of magical elves who once walked the earth.

* ''Deadwood'' features a {{Reconstruction}} of their original role in Westerns - the Sioux are largely just the faceless Threat From Without, and are seen committing random raids and murders. At one point, Bullock gets into a mano-a-mano with a ProudWarriorRaceGuy who thought shooting him would be too easy.

Injun Country is a staple of TheWestern, where American expansion brought white settlers into conflict with Indians in TheWildWest. Injuns of Injun Country all belong to a remarkably monolithic culture that spans all of North America. Their society is usually based on tribes of the Great Plains, with colorful details appropriated from other tribes at the author's whim. They are typically nomads who live in portable tipis or wigwams, hunt bison, wear war paint, and stick feathers in their hair. Standard issue outfits include BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins. The chief always wears a giant headdress of feathers. They invariably greet other people with a gruff "How." Some of them [[TontoTalk speak broken English and pepper their phrases with peculiar terms and metaphors.]] When they have a "pow-wow," all the elders sit "Indian style" around a big bonfire and "smoke-um peace pipes." They are an extremely equestrian culture, even though horses would not be reintroduced to the Americas until European colonization. Their leather moccasins allow them to sneak up on just about anyone except another Indian. They often wield bows and carry tomahawks, but they might also have rifles. Indian attacks in Injun Country range from brainless {{Zerg Rush}}es to special-ops night raids, though an average "brave" is rarely a match for even the greenest [[TheGunslinger gunslinger]]. If Injuns ''do'' catch you, expect to be "scalped."

The characterization of Injun Country has changed over the years. In early Westerns, Indians were little more than [[TheSavageIndian naked savages]] who terrorized the settlers. Even before Hollywood, tales and memoirs of Indians abducting white women were popular as tabloid entertainment. Sympathetic Indian characters were almost always collaborators with whites. White heroes sometimes had an [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy honorable brave]] who worked as a SideKick for the heroes. A "[[MixedAncestry Half-Breed]]" could go either way, either as a civilized man who knew some Indian tricks, or he could be a vicious bastard epitomizing the worst of both cultures. However, an IndianMaiden was almost always an slender, attractive, raven-haired beauty who is lusted over by any red-blooded, white-skinned frontiersman.

In more modern times, Injun Country has come almost [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory 180 degrees from its origins]]. Indians are now {{Noble Savage}}s who lived in an Edenic utopia before the serpent of Manifest Destiny tore it all down. An earthy people, Indians respect nature, use "all of the bison," and hunt only what they need to survive. Whereas once their religions were treated as crude superstition, it has now become a source of [[MagicalNativeAmerican ancient wisdom]]. They have "no system of ownership" and can't understand how whites can claim dominion over land and territory. They are clean, innocent, and noble, while white society is greedy, dirty, and corrupt. Essentially they have become the icons of "green living" and new age spiritualism, romanticized into some sort of race of magical elves who once walked the earth.

Nowadays even ''that'' is [[ZigZaggingTrope going out of style]]. [[TheRez Present-day Injun Country]] is filled with casinos, because Indian reservations are some of the few places in America where gambling is allowed. The contrast between these towers of capitalism and stereotypical Indian culture has become the fodder for comedy and satire. An increasingly popular trope is the cagey, opportunistic Indian huckster. He is often seen either leveraging white guilt over past atrocities to gain an advantage or dazzling gullible whites with fake rituals and spurious wisdom for cash.

* ''[[DisneyAnimatedCanon Pocahontas]]'' is part of the modern wave of portraying an idealized version of Indian society. This isn't as bad as it could have been, since other than the title charcacter they are ''exactly'' as quick to violence as the colonists, as in they both launch their sneak attacks on the other at the same time.

American Indians (also Red Indians, Native Americans, Amerinds, or [[CanadaEh First Nations]]) discovered America by walking across a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beringia gigantic land bridge]] from Russia into Alaska. For a few thousand years they just took up space until Europeans rode massive wooden buckets across the ocean and crashed into the eastern shore. After a friendly "getting to know you" dinner party, the killing started, and lines were drawn between the Civilized World and Injun Country.

* ''AroundTheWorldIn80Days'' uses the first characterizatio: On their way to New York our heroes' train is ambushed by a considerable number of Sioux. This is likely because Verne preferred to run with popular -if unflattering- stereotypes, possibly as satire.

* ''Turok'' is a time-travelling Native American who hunts the most dangerous game--no, not [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame that one]]--dinosaurs.

* As cited above, ''{{Wonderfalls}}'' takes place near InjunCountry. One episode takes place on a reservation.

In more modern times, Injun Country has come almost [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory 180 degrees from its origins]]. Indians are now {{Noble Savage}}s who lived in an Edenic utopia before the serpent of Manifest Destiny tore it all down. An earthy people, Indians respect nature, use "all of the bison," and hunt only what they need to survive. Whereas once their religions were treated as crude superstition, it has now become a source of [[MagicalNativeAmerican ancient wisdom]]. They have "no system of ownership" and can't understand how whites can claim dominion over land and territory. They are clean, innocent, and noble, while white society is greedy, dirty, and corrupt. Essentially they have become the icons of "green living" and new age spiritualism.

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* ''The Rez Sisters'' and ''Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing'' by Cree playwright Tomson Highway; also his novel ''Kiss of the Fur Queen''.
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Injun Country is a staple of TheWestern, where American expansion brought white settlers into conflict with Indians in TheWildWest. Injuns of Injun Country all belong to a remarkably monolithic culture that spans all of North America. Their society is usually based on tribes of the Great Plains, with colorful details appropriated from other tribes at the author's whim. They are typically nomads who live in portable tipis or wigwams, hunt bison, wear war paint, and stick feathers in their hair. Standard issue outfits include BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins. The chief always wears a giant headdress of feathers. They invariably greet other people with a gruff "How." Some of them speak broken English and pepper their phrases with peculiar terms and metaphors. When they have a "pow-wow," all the elders sit "Indian style" around a big bonfire and "smoke-um peace pipes." They are an extremely equestrian culture, even though horses would not be reintroduced to the Americas until European colonization. Their leather moccasins allow them to sneak up on just about anyone except another Indian. They often wield bows and carry tomahawks, but they might also have rifles. Indian attacks in Injun Country range from brainless {{Zerg Rush}}es to special-ops night raids, though an average "brave" is rarely a match for even the greenest [[TheGunslinger gunslinger]]. If Injuns ''do'' catch you, expect to be "scalped."

Often overlaps with SettlingTheFrontier.