ABSTRACT
A guiding notion of the collection of images drawn from the ethnographic corpus seems to be the 'Inductive Indian' that is, if it walks like, talks like, and looks like an Indian, it must be so. In terms of the political defence of Indians, cultural distinctiveness as displayed partially, but significantly through images has had an important role, not least because of the confirmation it provides of the precariousness of the Indians' position. On the other hand, the way in which Indians present or express themselves stylistically often deviates from the conditions imposed by cliche. From another quarter, the fact that Indians might present themselves stylistically in ways that deviate from the cliche is often used by the state as evidence of the active disavowal of Indian distinctiveness as revealed, for instance, but by no means unusually, during the widely reported legal proceedings against Paulo Payakan.
