Date of Graduation

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

History

Advisor/Mentor

Gage, Justin

Committee Member

Hammond, Kelly

Second Committee Member

Corrigan, Lisa

Third Committee Member

Odabaei, Milad

Abstract

Newspaper coverage of Native Americans during the nineteenth century had an “artistic bias,” or a tendency to emphasize action, danger, and treachery as a part of the “Indian formula.” This meant that vast amounts of journalistic zeal was spent on instances of conflict and tension between tribes, within tribes, between tribes and white settlers, or between tribes and the U.S. military, while times of peace and instances of cooperation received miniscule amounts of attention. This was largely motivated by a desire to justify American western expansion and the need to “civilize” Native groups. This “Indian formula” was also applied in the coverage of the Sword Bearer Incident of 1887, a rebellion by a group of young Crow (or Apsáalooke) warriors led by Sword Bearer (or Wraps Up His Tail), on the Crow Reservation. Newspapers used their coverage of the Sword Bearer Incident to pursue their own agendas by using different approaches, criticizing governmental policy, reporting inaccurate information, and perpetuating negative biases and stereotypes about Native Americans.

Keywords

Native American History; Indigenous History; Newspapers; United States of America; Montana; Crow

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