History Main / InjunCountry

The characterization of Injun Country has changed over the years. It began as a staple of TheWestern and tabloid entertainment, where American expansion brought white settlers into conflict with natives in TheWildWest. In these works, the Native Americans were depicted as HollywoodNatives or [[TheSavageIndian bloodthirsty savages]], with a "primitive" lifestyle and the ever-present threat of a scalping. Sympathetic Native characters were almost always [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy honorable brave]] collaborators with whites, while "[[MixedAncestry Half-Breed]]" characters could go either way

[[folder:AnimeAndManga]]

[[folder:Comicbooks]]

[[folder:Videogames]]

Unlike other settings, there is no common physical aspect to this trope, as RealLife Native American are a diverse group that have lived in a variety of places, such as the lush forests of the Appalachian Highlands, the arid deserts of the Great Plains, and the Intermontane Plateaus of the west. 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.

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 Natives usually remained a threat to the heroes, they also acknowledge the injustices of the settlers.

* The Canadian film ''Film/Blackrobe'' is set in a refreshingly unromanticized (''and'' undemonized) perception of what's now Ontario and Quebec. No Colours Of The Wind, no squaw gettum firewood: just Huron guys dying of smallpox, Iroquois guys [[ImAHumanitarian eating Algonquin guys]], and French guys talking about a [[Literature/TheBible Jewish guy]] who was crucified but [[DisneyDeath came back]].

* The Canadian film ''Film/Blackobe'' is set in a refreshingly unromanticized (''and'' undemonized) perception of what's now Ontario and Quebec. No Colours Of The Wind, no squaw gettum firewood: just Huron guys dying of smallpox, Iroquois guys [[ImAHumanitarian eating Algonquin guys]], and French guys talking about a [[Literature/TheBible Jewish guy]] who was crucified but [[DisneyDeath came back]].
* The films ''Film/SmokeSignals'' and ''Film/TheBusinessOfFancyDancing'' are insider views of present-day Indian reservations; and examine the issues that modern Native Americans face. Both films were written, and the latter directed, by Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene author, screenwriter, and poet.

* In ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'', Pawnee was founded in Injun Country. Many of the [[DeliberateValuesDissonance flagrantly politically incorrect murals]] in city hall depict the brutal confrontations between the settlers and the Indians. In one episode, Leslie gets in trouble with the local tribe by trying to hold a fair on tribal land. The tribal chief scares her with the threat of an Indian curse while privately laughing about how white people always fall for that kind of nonsense.

* ''ComicBook/Jeremiah'': In a twist, the surviving Native American tribes managed to create functioning nation-states with their own military to police and sometimes conduct raids against white nearby settlements.

* In ''Film/FortMassacre'', Sgt. [=McGurney=] has to lead his men through 100 miles of Apache territory to reach the safety of Fort Crane.

* The Canadian film ''Black Robe'' is set in a refreshingly unromanticized (''and'' undemonized) perception of what's now Ontario and Quebec. No Colours Of The Wind, no squaw gettum firewood: just Huron guys dying of smallpox, Iroquois guys [[ImAHumanitarian eating Algonquin guys]], and French guys talking about a [[Literature/TheBible Jewish guy]] who was crucified but [[DisneyDeath came back]].
* The films ''Film/SmokeSignals'' and ''TheBusinessOfFancyDancing'' are insider views of present-day Indian reservations; and examine the issues that modern Native Americans face. Both films were written, and the latter directed, by Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene author, screenwriter, and poet.

* The works of 19th century writer Creator/KarlMay are the uber-example of this trope for anyone who learned to read in German as a kid. Despite never having been to the then still Wild West himself[[note]] presumably because he spent several years in prison for fraud[[/note]], he wrote vivid first-person accounts of "his" encounters with NobleSavage Apache Literature/{{Winnetou}}.
* The trope was to a large extent first codified in the works of [[Literature/TheLeatherstockingTales James Fenimore Cooper]] which stress how much the Indians - both [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality "heroic" and "villainous" ones]] are attuned to their environment. Although his writings may [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny not be to the tastes of many modern readers]], they were [[FairForItsDay very progressive for the time]] and earned Cooper a lot of hate e. g. from politicians who then set in motion the displacement of Native Americans from their home. The popularity of Creator/MarkTwain's attempt at literary patricide, [[http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/indians/offense.html "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses"]], did not help.

* ''Literature/BloodMeridian'' by Creator/CormacMcCarthy (recently of ''Literature/NoCountryForOldMen'' fame) deconstructs this trope with what might be thought of as a ''meta'' revisionist historical Injun Country, 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]]

* ''Literature/BloodMeridian'' by Creator/CormacMcCarthy (recently of NoCountryForOldMen fame) deconstructs this trope with what might be thought of as a ''meta'' revisionist historical Injun Country, 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]]

* The movies based on the stories of Creator/KarlMay (see under literature) were little better in that regard. Being [[CaliforniaDoubling shot in Croatia]] did little to help. The DefaWesterns inspired by the West-German Karl May movies at least tried to portray real historic characters and events, but were not shot anywhere close to the real US either, for obvious reasons.[[note]] The DEFA being an East German company during the cold war and all[[/note]]

* ''Disney/PeterPan'' portrays Injun Country as dangerous, but ultimately the Indians are more sympathetic than the dastardly white pirates. The Indians have both teepees and totem poles, but they're in a MagicalLand to the begin with.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTailFievelGoesWest'', Tiger the cat gets randomly kidnapped by Native American mice when he wanders into their territory, and they prepare to roast him alive. But, when they see his resemblance to a nearby mountain, they start to worship him as a god.

* In the film ''Film/ThreeTenToYuma'', the party passes through Injun Country and gets attacked at night by some fairly stereotypical braves, who are barely visible in the darkness.

This is a {{Setting}} that broadly covers the locations where Native Americans (also [[CanadaEh First Nations]]) can be found.

* In ''Anime/Acca13TerritoryInspectionDept'', Rokkusu District has shades of this. The landscape appears southwestern, and the district's Acca branch uniforms look more like [[http://imgur.com/a/Lu1iY some]] [[http://imgur.com/a/kv3xP form]] of native dress than like regular police uniforms. As for how this relates to the rest of Dowa Kingdom, well... [[MST3KMantra that isn't really explained]].

-->-- Jaye, ''{{Wonderfalls}}''

* The trope was to a large extent first codified in the works of [[Literature/TheLeatherstockingTales James Fenimore Cooper]] which stress how much the Indians - both [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality "heroic" and "villainous" ones]] are attuned to their environment. Although his writings may [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny not be to the tastes of many modern readers]], they were [[FairForItsDay very progressive for the time]] and earned Cooper a lot of hate e. g. from politicians who then set in motion the displacement of Native Americans from their home. The popularity of MarkTwain's attempt at literary patricide, [[http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/indians/offense.html "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses"]], did not help.