Junior Bridget Chemberlin said she has grown up with a background that many people misunderstand. Coming from the Mohawk tribe of the Iroquois Alliance, Chemberlin said she has experienced many instances when peers have tried to pin her to various American Indian stereotypes upon hearing of her heritage.

Chemberlin said, “Growing up, there was just kind of the idea that you couldn’t be mainstream while also identifying with indigenous heritage. I would say the biggest misconception is that people get this idea that you’re wrong to claim identity with that part of your heritage if you don’t fit into their stereotypes.”

Chemberlin recalled an instance in which two of her classmates were discussing Native Americans and immediately asked her if she belonged to a violent tribe when she mentioned her heritage.

To change some of the misunderstandings many have towards Native Americans, she said, Chemberlin has tried to bring the Native American perspective into her history classes.

“It’s not really presented by the textbooks or other materials that we’re using to learn because there’s not a very large population; there aren’t as many Native American history scholars,” Chemberlin said.

One of the ways Chemberlin said she learns more about her heritage is through reading Sherman Alexie’s books. Alexie is a Native American and Chemberlin said his works have really influenced her.

Chemberlin said, “They’ve made me feel more able to identify with Native American culture while living removed from it because Alexie’s work displays the intricacies of maintaining tradition while assimilating into global society.”

U.S. History teacher Kenneth Browner said he agrees U.S. history brushes over the Native American perspective and textbooks teach history from an entirely Eurocentric point of view.

“Even though they were the original natives of this country, (they) did not win the fight for the territory and so they don’t get to write the story,” Browner said. “All the battles that have occurred are told from the perspective of the Europeans or the settlers at that point and Native American stories are far and few between.”

Both Browner and Chemberlin said Native Americans are often stereotyped as barbaric or violent whenever they are mentioned throughout history.

“There’s the ideology that Native Americans are just kind of uneducated addicts who were once just barbarous warriors,” Chemberlin said.

Chemberlin said most of the representation Native Americans receive is either an outdated view or stereotypes that view Native Americans as violent drunks.

She said, “Modern day Native Americans get little representation in the media, and most of the representation they get is in historical movies or books, so I feel like there’s a very outdated perspective on what it means to be American Indian.”

These perceptions were verified by scholars from several universities, who conducted a study in 2015 about representation of Native Americans in the media. This study highlights that most media representation of Native Americans depicts them as historical figures, and that if they’re shown in a modern light, they’re usually seen as uncivilized substance abusers.

To combat this, Chemberlin and Browner both said dismissing the established stereotypes and hearing what Native Americans have to say would allow for a more accurate representation.

Browner said, “It’s really just media reaching out and getting their story and hearing what they have to say instead of saying, ‘Well, you know, this is what happened in history’ and just going with that. There are two sides to every story and we just don’t have their version.”

Chemberlin said she will continue to learn about her heritage in order to understand her background a little better.

She said, “I honestly feel that (being Native American) just means staying connected to my heritage and trying to learn about it because other people won’t take the time to do that.”