ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Dr. Quinn's portrayal of the Cheyenne characters and how that portrayal is received by some White and Indian viewers. In late 1868, the year in which Dr. Quinn is set, his band was attacked by George Armstrong Custer's forces, and Black Kettle and about one hundred other Cheyenne were killed. The producers of Dr. Quinn clearly intend to present a sympathetic, positive picture of American Indians, drawing heavily on Dances with Wolves. Indian viewers did offer readings of Dr. Quinn that were genuinely "resistant," that is, rather than being angered and dismayed by the perceived negative imagery, they were able to turn it around and derive pleasure from it. The other series is Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, another CBS production. As an Ojibwa participant described it, Dr. Quinn is indeed a fantasy, with a lot of appealing qualities.
