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Native Americans were first described as "heathens" or "savages". Since the 18th century they have also been called "redskins". It appears that some North American tribes began to call themselves by this name around the same time. The characterization also stems from the antique doctrine of the four humors, in which red represents the choleric temperament. In the 19th century, Europeans also began to call native Americans "redskins".
Today, Germans still know "redskins" primarily from adventure stories. James Fenimore Cooper, the German writer Karl May, and countless other authors have created their literary figures with the attributes "noble" and "bloodthirsty". "Noble savages" like Chingachgook or Winnetou have always had their antithesis in the bloodthirsty "Indian". An ambivalent world has grown out of this literary confrontation between good and evil. Today, television and movie actors let us indulge in the romanticism of the Wild West. They become idols and blood brothers into whose "red" skin one would sometimes like to slip.
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Feather headdress, Cheyenne 1911, eagle feathers on a hat brim Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Preu§ischer Kulturbesitz, Museum fŸr Všlkerkunde, Slg. Lenders
Since Christopher Columbus, Europe has received contradictory pictures of "Indians": paradise-like innocence versus horrible cannibalism. These pictures have been continually repeated in books, paintings, prints, and photographs. In this way they have become firm stereotypes. This skull is part of an anatomical collection started in the 18th century. The attribution of "cannibal" was a common clichŽ until well into the 19th century.
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"Cannibal from Texas" 19th century, skull of a native American from Texas Halle an der Saale, Anatomische Sammlungen des Instituts fŸr Anatomie und Zellbiologie der Martin-Luther-UniversitŠt Halle-Wittenberg
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