ABSTRACT

From cigar-store icon to cowboy's sidekick, the Native American male has played a wide variety of roles in popular culture. Few actualities in any category of culture spring forth spontaneously. The image of the Native American male as sexy has grown out of earlier archetypes. The examples of Native American male sexuality in this study all derive their attraction from the basic elements of these archetypes. Some are the heroes of popular romantic novels, often called supermarket fiction, of which a favorite subgenre has been dubbed "Indian romances," since the principal male character is almost invariably of Native heritage. Native American men are most often portrayed as sexual in "good" ways. The issue of male commitment to love relationships is a sore point in American culture. The physical attraction of American Indian men as they are depicted in popular culture is a complicated bit of imaging.