In old Western movies,
the roles are rigid: characters on horseback are either cowboys or
Indians. But these stereotypes, like most, are limiting and untrue.
In reality, many Indians are cowboys, as the book, Riders
of the West, demonstrates.
Photographer Linda MacCannell and writer Peter
Iverson set the record straight by following the Indian rodeo
circuit from Arizona, throughout the Rocky Mountain West and into
southwestern Canada. MacCannell, whose grandparents grew up on the
Navajo Reservation, illustrates the importance of rodeo to Indian
culture with portraits of bored and anxious bull riders, rodeo
clowns in their full regalia of face paint and knee-pads, and young
mutton busters rocketing into the ring.
“This is
photography unplugged. There are no digital enhancements, no soft
focus lenses, no traveling stage props,” she writes. “It was just
me – with my 85 pounds of photographic gear – pulling into the
rodeo grounds, looking forward to an afternoon of rodeo action and
some conversations.”
The dramatic
photographs are interspersed with text by Iverson, a professor of
history at the University of Arizona. Through the five essays the
reader learns about the history and significance of horses in
tribal culture, including the tale of how the Lakota named the
horse sanka wakan, or holy dog. Though Iverson’s
style is academic, he spices it up with vivid interviews of bull
riders, champion calf ropers and saddle bronco riders. At its core,
Riders of the West is optimistic. It depicts how
rodeo helps Indian youth create a legacy of hope and pride,
transcending the severe poverty and rampant alcoholism that often
await them beyond the arena,.
Riders
of the West, Peter Iverson and Linda MacCannell.
University of Washington Press, 1999. Paperback: $24.95. 120
pages.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Indians are cowboys.
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