Oklahoma and American Indian Imagery

Abstract

In the late 1980s and early 1990s marketing firms conducted an in-depth examination of the general public's image of Oklahoma as part of their efforts to make the state a profitable tourist destination. This study found that people lack a clear impression of Oklahoma, that many have a negative perception of the state, and that American Indians are the most positive characteristic of thinking about Oklahoma. Seeking to understand these results, this dissertation explores the historical development of images associated with Oklahoma and those of American Indians in the state. Perceptions recorded in articles, stories, and editorials drawn from national magazines provide my basic data. I supplement them with ideas from novels and movies. The presentation, grounded in the appropriate scholarly literature, is both chronological and thematic. Each chapter focuses on impressions and attitudes about Oklahoma or American Indians in the state in different periods. My extended study confirms the findings of the imagery surveys conducted in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Thinking about Oklahoma has continually shifted from event to event, with dominant meanings overlapping and none lasting for a long time. However, within this ambiguous imagery, negative viewpoints have prevailed in three different periods. The first was during the land runs of the early 1890s, the second in the 1920s and 1930s because of social and political turmoil, and the third--resulting from the widespread belief that Oklahoma was the center of the 1930s Dust Bowl--since the 1970s. Positive attitudes about Indian peoples in the state reflect a growing appreciation of culture diversity in American culture and date to the middle twentieth century.