Vanishing Indian

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The Vanishing Indian or Vanishing Indian Myth is a stereotype regarding the depiction of Indigenous people, generally in the Americas, although the concept is found elsewhere as well, that they either are extinct or are destined to go extinct.

A common expression in everyday speech is a form of "you can't be Indian, Indians are extinct".^[1] Another form is in the discussion of disappearance as inevitable, beginning this narrative in the early days of colonization.^[2] It is a common theme in the arts and media as well, that dates back to early colonial times.^[3][2] The vanishing Indian became a popular trope in American novels by the 1820s, exemplified famously by Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, as well as lesser-known works like Logan, a Family History by John Neal.^[4]

A paper genocide occurs when members of a group are removed from all records, thereby validating the belief that the group is extinct and causing harm to further generations.^[5][6]

• Reel Injun
• Playing Indian
• Stereotypes of Indigenous peoples of Canada and the United States
• Blood Quantum
• Urban Indian
• Aboriginal Tasmanians
• Paper genocide
• Tribal disenrollment
• Indian termination policy

• O'Brien, Jean M. (2010). Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians out of Existence in New England. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816665785.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stereotypes of indigenous peoples of the Americas and Stereotypical Plains Indians.

• "Reclaiming Native Truth: A Project to Dispel America's Myths and Misconceptions".
• "The Myth of the Vanishing Indian: Art in the White House Collection". The White House Historical Association.