Many film scholars trace the beginning of the Hollywood Indian Western genre to 1939, when
John Ford released *Stagecoach,* and also, *Drums Along the Mohawk.* Today, that particular
genre seems to be dead, and the recent film about Native Americans and the West, *Meek´s
Cutoff* (2010), confirms this supposition.
For this blog entry, write an obituary of the ¨Hollywood Indian Western 1939-2010¨ (min. 200
words) using the conventional tropes of the obituary, including, perhaps, origins, achievements,
setbacks, and cause of death. In order to receive credit for the assignment, the way in which
you see Meek’s Cutoff confirming the death of the traditional Hollywood Indian Western must
be mentioned. That is, you have to say something about the film in the context of the history of
the Hollywood Indian Western. Using the reading by Aleiss is one resource here, as are earlier
course reading on the Western by Buscombe or O’Connor.
I suggested above only a few features of the obituary genre and some possibilities for
presenting your ideas (another possibility would be, for example, to take the voice of a person
speaking at a funeral). So, going beyond what I have indicated, feel free to be creative, though
do support all claims with evidence.
