by Jack Nilan            EMail : jacknilan@yahoo.com

  1. Last of the Mohicans (1992)
  2. Atanarjuat : The Fast Runner (2001)
  3. Dances with Wolves (1990)
  4. Black Robe (1991)
  5. Saints & Strangers (2015)
  6. Dreamkeeper (2003)
  7. Maina (2013)
  8. Fort Apache (1948)
  9. Cabaza de Vaca (1991)
  10. The New World (1995)
  11. Little Big Man (1970)
  12. Ulzana's Raid (1972)
  13. Apocalypto (2006)
  14. Windwalker (1980)
  15. Geronimo (1993)
  16. Hostiles (2017)
  17. The Silent Enemy (1930)
  18. The Searchers (1956)
  19. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
  20. The Revenant (2015)
  21. A Man Called Horse (1970)
  22. Nanook of the North (1922)
  23. Geronimo : American Legend (1993)
  24. Arrowhead (1953)
  25. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
  26. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007)
  27. In the Land of the War Canoes (1914)
  28. Hondo (1953)
  29. The Last Hunt (1956)
  30. Rio Grande (1950)
  31. She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949)
  32. Broken Arrow (1950)
  33. The Daughter of Dawn (1920)
  34. Tomahawk (1951)
  35. Run of the Arrow (1957)
  36. Son of the Morning Star (1991)
  37. Stagecoach (1939)
  38. The Plainsman (1936)
  39. I Will Fight No More Forever (1975)
  40. Last of the Mohicans (1936)
  41. Apache (1954)
  42. Devil's Doorway (1950)
  43. Song of Hiawatha (1997)
  44. Canyon Passage (1946)
  45. The Savage Innocents (1960)
  46. Ishi : The Last of His Tribe (1992)
  47. Drum Beat (1954)
  48. Into the West (2005)
  49. The Lone Ranger (2013)
  50. Seminole (1953)
  51. Woman Walks Ahead (2017)
  52. Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
  53. Northwest Passage (1940)
  54. The Savage (1952)
  55. The Vanishing American (1925)
  56. The Great Sioux Uprising (1953)
  57. Last of the Dogmen (1995)
  58. Meek's Cutoff (2010)
  59. Eskimo (1933)
  60. Soldier Blue (1970)
  61. They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
  62. The Charge at Feather River (1953)
  63. Geronimo (1962)
  64. The Battle of Elderbush Gulch (1913)
  65. Pillars of the Sky (1956)
  66. Trooper Hook (1957)
  67. Distant Drums (1951)
  68. Across the Wide Missouri (1951)
  69. Susannah of the Mounties (1939)
  70. The Big Sky (1952)
  71. Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976)
  72. Column South (1953)
  73. Eagle's Wing (1979)
  74. Yellowstone Kelly (1959)
  75. Buffalo Bill (1944)
  76. The Stalking Moon (1968)
  77. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
  78. Seven Cities of Gold (1955)
  79. The Last Frontier (1955)
  80. The Missing (2003)
  81. Comanche Territory (1950)
  82. The Unforgiven (1960)
  83. Comanche (1956)
  84. Squanto : A Warrior's Tale (1994)
  85. Tecumseh : The Last Warrior (1995)
  86. War Paint (1953)
  87. A Distant Trumpet (1964)
  88. Comanche Moon (2008)
  89. Pawnee (1957)
  90. The Glory Guys (1965)
  91. Kings of the Sun (1963)
  92. The Squaw Man (1931)
  93. Battles of Chief Pontiac (1952)
  94. Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)
  95. How the West Was Won (1962)
  96. Wind River (2000)
  97. Indian Paint (1965)
  98. Fort Vengeance (1953)
  99. Stolen Women, Captured Hearts (1997)
  100. White Feather (1955)
  101. The Battle at Apache Pass (1952)
  102. Taza : Son of Cochise (1954)
  103. Winterhawk (1975)
  104. Buffalo Soldiers (1997)
  105. They Rode West (1954)
  106. The Light in the Forest (1958)
  107. Flaming Star (1960)
  108. The Indian Fighter (1955)
  109. Miracle in the Wilderness (1991)
  110. Black Fox (1995)
  111. Chief Crazy Horse (1955)
  112. War Drums (1957)
  113. Navajo Joe (1966)
  114. The Sons of the Great Bear (1966)
  115. Sacred Ground (1983)
  116. Conquest of Cochise (1953)
  117. Chuka (1967)
  118. Saskatchewan (1954)
  119. The Far Horizons (1955)
  120. Pony Soldier (1952)
  121. Valley of the Sun (1942)
  122. Winnetou (1962)
  123. Only the Valiant (1951)
  124. A Thunder of Drums (1961)
  125. 40 Guns to Apache Pass (1967)
  126. War Arrow (1953)
  127. Ride Out for Revenge (1957)
  128. The Tall Men (1955)
  129. Pathfinder (2007)
  130. Sante Fe Passage (1955)
  131. Grayeagle (1977)
  132. Brave Warrior (1952)
  133. The Deerslayer (1957)
  134. Mohawk (1956)
  135. Sitting Bull (1954)
  136. Mohawk (2017)
  137. The Mountain Men (1980)
  138. 100 Rifles (1969)
  139. The White Squaw (1956)




This web site is attempting to list some of the best movies ever made about American Indians in the pre-assimilation era. The movies listed here focuses on Native Americans living in their traditional ways. I consider this era to be up to around the time of Wounded Knee in 1890.

     In considering which movies to include I have considered how big a role Indians had in the movie's plot, how well the movie showed the Native Americans lifestyle, how the Indians were portrayed and how good the movie was. The biggest factor for me was how good the movie was.

     Some of the movies, such as in Ulzana's Raid, will have Native American portrayals that some may consider to be negative. Others, like Dances with Wolves, will have a view that some may consider too idealistic. Hopefully, all the movies included in this list will have some redeeming values in viewing native Americans, and the views prevalent towards them in the times the movies were made.

     History is written by the winners but that doesn't mean that we have to go along with the traditional Hollywood view of Native Americans. There have been some strong portrayals of Indians in the movies. I think a case can be made for several movie representations of Native Americans, who can be viewed as patriots, fighting against an alien invading force. Magua in Last of the Mohicans (1992), Scar in The Searchers, Captain Jack in Drum Beat, Toriano in Arrowhead, Ulzana in Ulzana's Raid, Massai in Apache and Geronimo are just a few portrayals that can be considered positive when examined from a Native point of view.

     I realize that the term "best" is very subjective when it comes to discussing movies. What one person considers the best movie ever made, someone else may consider one of the worst. Some people consider The Searchers to have one of the most negative portrayals ever of Native Americans, while others consider it to be one of the most positive. Movies about Native Americans reflect the changing attitudes of American society towards Native American history and of the American treatment of them. Was Magua a hero or was he a villain? It really all just depends on your point of view.







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Jack Nilan                   The Best Native American Movies                  2006 - 2015


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