(p1) hey, im a white artist planning a fantasy/sci fi oneshot comic that'll be around 10-15 pages (this is important bc i wont have much space ill have to flesh out characters & backstories). i have read the entire magical native american tag and im concerned abt falling into that trope-i have a "shapeshifter" character who im basing off nahua peoples (i did research on shapeshifting lore & found the nahual, which i thought was fitting) however, she doesnt have magic or like an extra strong
connection to nature, she has a mask built with technology and was designated as a “guardian” of her city. the only other character who is being drawn in the story is a black woman who IS close to nature and knowledgeable about flora/fauna bc she is loves it and studies it. im worried this isn’t enough of a subversion/aversion of the trope, though, and i would appreciate a critique/advice. thanks for all the work you do on this blog by the way!!
Magical Native American (Nahua): Portraying Culture vs. Trope
This is another case of “the stereotype has roots in cultural practices”, which means you might superficially appear to be falling into a trope but if you want to respect the full depth of culture you have to use it.
Some Indigenous cultures do indeed have shapeshifting as part of their practices. This isn’t made up, and is often fairly important within the religion (on either side of good or evil). As a result, depending on the Indigenous practices you use, you can indeed have Native shapeshifters that aren’t just Magical Native. Cutting it out because you want to avoid the trope isn’t the way to go, because sometimes, yes, stereotypes do have roots in history. See: Stereotyped vs Nuanced Characters
The key is to make sure it’s cultural. Instead of just taking any old beliefs about how shapeshifting works, the role of shapeshifters, and the concept of “Natives are so advanced"— you take their actual full contextual practice and build that into your character. This means you legitimately create a Nahua shapeshifter with all of the little quirks and trappings that would identify the culture to a savvy reader.
So, you will need sensitivity readers from the Nahua, because unfortunately research you find online is often appropriated/has been twisted around to fit the concept of Magical Native within new age circles. The fact you don’t have her powers be extra strong is a good sign, but I would make sure you’re not cutting out cultural practice by having her be indifferent to nature— again, this is something that is often part of the legal definition of being Indigenous, so having an Indigenous person be indifferent about their home rings false. (We just treat environmentalism a little bit differently— we won’t necessarily pack up camp to make it look like we were never there, because nature is meant to be lived in, not kept "uncorrupted”)
Indigenous cultures have animal powers. Indigenous cultures have nature powers. The difference between Magical Native and an Indigenous person living their culture is the Magical Native is white people’s ideas about what those practices involve, and an Indigenous person living their culture is based upon an actual set of practices that are as close to reality as possible. So long as you keep that in mind, you’ll be fine.
~Mod Lesya
