Magical Native American: Difference between revisions

[[File:4nightwolf_19104nightwolf 1910.jpg|link=Mortal Kombat|frame|[[Braids, Beads, and Buckskins|Stereotypical face paint]]? Check. [[Braids, Beads, and Buckskins|Feather in hair]]? Check. The [[Energy Bow|ability to manifest a bow and arrow made of pure spirit energy]]? Check!]]

A subtrope of [[Ethnic Magician]]. Native Americans, (or a race meant to be an [[Expy]] of them) that possess powers because of their ethnicity. Often this involves stating that their power comes from innate spirituality or [[In Harmony Withwith Nature|closeness to nature]] that "civilized" races don't have. Usually involves influence over nature, animals, or other spirit powers. Quite often, the Native in question will be dressed very "traditionally" even in modern settings.

If the Native American magic comes from beyond the grave, see [[Indian Burial Ground]].

This is often a form of [[Positive Discrimination]]. Works often use this trope to promote a "positive" image of Native Americans rather than accurately portraying their culture or developing them as characters. Like [[Noble Savage]], this trope can have obvious [[Unfortunate Implications]]. It furthers stereotypes of Native Americans and gives them a mysterious "otherness" quality.

== Anime and Manga ==

* Laughing Bull doles out sage wisdom on ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', making him a...[[Magical Native American|Magical Native Martian]]? Laughing Bull qualifies on the grounds that his people are from Earth originally. Actually, just about any indigenous people sufficiently [[Closer to Earth]] can fit this trope.

* In ''[[Midori no Hibi]]'' the Native American medicine man is the only one of the spiritual experts called in for Midori's "illness" to actually have some idea of what's going on.

* Devo the Cursed In ''[[Jo JoJoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure]]'', who is an assasain that kills people via "cursing" them (He uses his Stand, [[Captain Ersatz|Ebony]] Devil, who looks like the deranged love child of Chucky and the Suni Fetish Doll, (which is triggered by wounds directed to Devo) to kill the victims.

** Amusingly, Thomas Fireheart is a ''literal'' [[Magical Native American]], being a shape-shifting were-puma and protector of his tribe. However, he's also got a mercenary streak and is firmly on the darker side of morally gray. He later turns out to be the only person in the whole [[The Multiverse|multiverse]] who can hurt the Beyonder (besides God), but then a [[Retcon]] fixed all that. Also, [[Cool Old Guy| his unnamed uncle]], a typical Native American shaman - and often [[Straight Man]] to his nephew.

** Australian Aborigines in the Marvel U are similarly portrayed. A 'magical bullroarer' and the ability to teleport through Dream Time are the powers of two completely separate characters -- Talismancharacters—Talisman (no relation to Elizabeth Twoyoungmen, above) and Gateway.

* [[Captain America (comics)]] becomes one of these in [[Alternate History|A What If?]], and {{spoiler|1608}}.

* She-Hulk's Native American boyfriend Wyatt Wyngfoot of course turns out to have a rich magical heritage. Initially just Human Torch's [[Muggle]] friend, he had no magic powers. He claimed to be good with dogs but couldn't handle [[Big Friendly Dog|Lockjaw.]] On the other hand, this trope was brutally averted by Scalphunter and Harpoon, two members of the Marauders, opponents of the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]. Neither one did anything magical, one being a technology-builder and the other being able to charge things with explosive energy, and like the rest of the Marauders were [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]]s.

* Parodied in ''[[Fables (Comic Book)|Jack of Fables]]'' with Raven, Jack's guide/sidekick. Raven isn't particularly good at his job (he at first mistakenly attached himself to Jack's double John), loathes [[Jerkass|Jack]], and only helps him reluctantly, because ''his'' spirit guide threatens to peck out his eyes if he doesn't.

* Played with in the initial ''[[Lucifer (Comic Bookcomics)|Lucifer]]'' miniseries, with the teenaged Rachel Begai. Half-Dineh (Navajo) and the granddaughter of a shaman, she's far from serene or wise. Indeed, she comes across as whiny, hostile and reckless, only accompanying Lucifer on a quest through the Dineh "four worlds" in hopes of getting back her brother whom she'd inadvertently killed. Nevertheless, thanks to her shamanic heritage she does possess a considerable degree of intuition which comes in handy on the quest ( {{spoiler|for Lucifer, not for her}}). Later in the series proper, Rachel, now in her twenties, reappears as a straighter example of the trope, having become her grandfather's apprentice and also matured a good deal.

* The [[Freedom Fighters (Comic Bookcomics)|Freedom Fighters]] have Black Condor in the John Trujillo version. He's a Native American man who received his powers from an ancient spider-goddess.

* Manitou Raven and his wife Dawn, the ''[[Justice League of America]]'''s magical advisors when Joe Kelly was writing the book. As if the wholehearted embracing of ''every single'' [[Magical Native American]] stereotype wasn't enough, Kelly gave them [[Super FriendsSuperfriends|Apache Chief]]'s magic word.

* The [[Disney Animated Canon]] is a double dose of this trope, with ''[[Pocahontas]]'' and ''[[Brother Bear]]''. ''Pocahontas'' is particularly [[Egregious]] because they took a ''historical figure'' and gave her cute animal friends and a spirit guide. Pocahontas has fairly blatant magic, too: she becomes able to translate between her native tongue and English instantly upon meeting John Smith, as a gift from her Talking Tree spirit guide. She is also ridiculously [[Friend to All Living Things|friendly to ]]''[[Friend to All Living Things|all ]]''[[Friend to All Living Things|animals]]: for instance, she can track a mother bear to her den and play with her cubs right in front of mama, [[Mama Bear|which is ]]''[[Mama Bear|not ]]''[[Mama Bear|behavior that is recommended to anyone ]]''[[Mama Bear|not ]]''[[Mama Bear|a super-powered shaman]]. She also has enough charisma to convert John Smith to her ways within hours of meeting him. In reality it seems to have gone quite the other way. Pocohantas converted to Christianity, changed her name to Rebecca, and married settler John Rolfe. Seems she went White-man in a big way.

* A humorous example is the "weird naked Indian" from ''[[WaynesWayne's World]] 2''. That was a parody of a more straightforward example: the almost naked NA from Jim Morrison's visions in Oliver Stone's ''The Doors''.

* Subversion: ''[[Black Robe]]'' gives an extremely educated and unromanticized view of the differences between Algonquin, Huron, and Christian religious beliefs. The natives neither come off as [[Closer to Earth]] or a [[Cargo Cult]], although Mestigoit the Algonquin shaman is unabashedly hilarious.

* Subverted in the plot of the [[MST3KMystery Science Theater 3000]]-mocked film ''[[Puma Man]]''. An Aztec gives the hero a magic belt that gives him all the powers of a puma, including flying. Subverted because the actual Native American is a [[Badass Normal]] and the "magic" is alien super-technology. Despite having the belt and super-powers, the hero stays only one notch above utter coward, while his Aztec sidekick does all the work of actually defeating the bad guy.

* The two main characters of ''[[DeadmanDead Man (Filmfilm)|DeadmanDead Man]]'' play around with this a bit. The first, Nobody, is a Native American but there really isn't that much mystical about him other than the fact that he's an Indian who hasn't been westernized (despite spending time in England). William Blake on the other hand is a fairly normal white guy until he's shot. He becomes more and more mystical seeming as the bullet works its way closer and closer to his heart, or at least Nobody's view of him does. The trope is played fairly straight in that Nobody believes his companion to be THAT [[William Blake]], somehow returned to the world in an almost messianic capacity (in the original meaning, at least): "you were a poet and a painter, and now you are a killer of white men!" Then he makes it his personal mission to help Blake in his journey to the spirit world--"the place where William Blake is from."

* Old Lodge Skins in ''[[Little Big Man (Film)|Little Big Man]]''. "Sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't."

* Done in a deleted scene in Swing Vote, which may be why it was deleted... but it actually was a fairly touching scene that added another dimension to a character mostly portrayed in a negative light, as the character meets his spirit animal (an elephant, of course) and has an epiphany.

{{quote| '''Aborigine''': Got outta that tree alright, eh?<br />

'''Mick Dundee''': Now how could you possibly know about that already? <br />

'''Aborigine''': My people have ways of talking that ''no'' white man can understand! <br />

{''ringing''}<br />

** The film also dodges [[Political Correctness Gone Mad]] by having the main character, a federal agent assigned to investigate a murder at Pine Ridge Reservation (and the hero of the piece, mind you) be contemptuous of and sarcastic toward Sioux traditions at first - [[Boomerang Bigot|even though he is of part-Sioux ancestry himself, which is something he usually doesn't discuss]]. By the end of the film, said federal agent also fits the trope, to an extent.

* Parodied beautifully with deputy Wounded Bird from ''[[Rango]]'', no matter how much Rango would like to think it's being played straight.

{{quote| '''Rango''': ''(as Wounded Bird scatters feathers in the wind)'' I see you're communicating with the spirits.<br />

* Subverted somewhat, in the works of Tomson Highway, including The Rez Sisters--whoSisters—who play bingo.

* In the [[Whateley Universe]], there are two literal [[Magical Native American]] characters: Heyoka, a Lakota 'two-spirit' who can communicate with spirits and astral project, but can't keep from physically shifting into the form of spirits that Heyoka merges with; and Charlie Lodgeman, once the superhero Totem but now 'merely' a supervisor at the [[Super-Hero School]] Whateley Academy, who actually possesses the spirit of The First Shaman. As a subversion, there's also a superpowered mutant native American at the school who isn't magical: Skinwalker has the power to possess people and take over their bodies, but isn't a shaman.

** Ever since ''[[Little Big Man (Film)|Little Big Man]]'', the winkte (what Heyoka actually is with her changing from male to female) and heyoka (someone who does everything backward) are different [[Character Class|Character Classes]]es. Whatever the case, being either is considered a mixed blessing.

* Whiskey Jack in [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[American Gods (Literature)|American Gods]]''. Though he actually ''is'' magical, being a culture hero from Native American mythology, most of the time he acts like an average Joe. Subverted with Samantha Black Crow. She's part Cherokee, and one of the few characters who is ''not'' magical in any way.

* Two Bears/O'olish Amaneh from ''[[The Word and The Void]]'' novels by [[Terry Brooks]]. While he is wise and magical, he isn't above violence and in fact is a dangerous killer for the [[Lawful Good]] force in the universe, as well as being a [[Shell-Shocked Veteran|shell shocked]] [[Vietnam War|Vietnam vet]]. He's also heavily implied to be some manner of supernatural being in the form of a [[Magical Native American]]- note that as of his last appearance he's been alive for centuries, always appears ''exactly'' where and when he's needed, and actually ''scares'' [[Big Bad|Findo Gask]], who is [[The Stoic]] in addition to being arguably the most powerful demon on earth.

* [[Tad Williams]] likes to use this trope, although it's not as heavy handed as in some other examples. Binabik, Simon's friend in ''[[Memory, SorrowandSorrow, and Thorn]]'', is one of the [[All Trolls Are Different|troll-like]] Qanuc, rides a wolf, fights with a blowgun, and solves a lot of problems with his traditional knowledge. Similarly, !Xabbu, Renie's [[Love Interest]] in ''[[Otherland]]'', is an African Bushman who was raised partly in the Bush and partly in a modern setting. His natural sensitivity to his surroundings comes in very useful once they become trapped in the Grail Network - this would be ironic considering it's really a vastly sophisticated ''simulation'', but it turns out that the [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|operating system]] knows about this trope and is deliberately feeding him extra information.

* ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' has Joseph Listens-to-Wind, also known as Injun Joe, genuine Illinois medicine man, senior member of the White Council and, by extension, one of the most powerful wizards in the world. He's described as having a great sense of empathy for animals and even has a pet raccoon. He's also [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|well over two (possibly three) centuries old]], so he's a [[Magical Native American]] who remembers the better part of their history with the White Man. All in all, Listens-To-Wind is probably the least strained and most [[Badass]] version of this trope. Ever.

{{quote| "Don't plan to bind or banish you, old ghost. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Just gonna kick your ass up between your ears.]]" }}

* The ''[[Little House On the Prairie (Literature)|Little House Onon the Prairie]]'' books are particularly guilty of this because they're supposed to be true stories about Laura Ingalls Wilder's life, but some of the parts about Indians are completely made up. For example, ''The Long Winter'' has a scene in which an Indian comes into the town and predicts the titular winter (through his magical weather knowledge), saying something like "heap big snow come, many moons." The snowy winter actually happened--thehappened—the Indian scene didn't.

* ''[[Twilight (Literaturenovel)|Twilight]]'' character Jacob Black and his fellow Quileute werewolves are all an example of this. They're apparently not true werewolves, but rather "spirit wolves," which comes from a traditional Quileute origin story about shape-shifters. Unlike vampirism, spirit-wolf-ism is hereditary.

* In ''[[Avalon: Web of Magic]]'', Adriane's Native American grandmother dispenses mystical advice and fortune cookie sayings almost every time she appears, while a Native American rock monument is a literal gateway into the magical spirit world.

* Anything relating to the natives with whom Walker interacts on ''[[Walker, Texas Ranger]]''. Or Walker himself, what with his Cherokee precognition and ability to communicate with and command wild animals by staring them down.

* Chakotay of ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' was a [[Magical Native American]] [[In Space]]. Complete with a mystical tattoo and vision quests that seemed to do the trick when the [[Applied Phlebotinum|navigational deflected transponder]] [[Techno Babble|isolinear emmitter]] broke down. One episode revealed that aliens had long ago visited Earth and inspired the creation of the culture and traditions of Chakotay's tribe.

** Then there was the [[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation|TNG]] episode "Journey's End", in which Wesley meets Lakanta, a member of a tribe that actually came from the Americas to the planet Dorvan V and settled there in soon-to-be-again Cardassian space. Near the end of the episode, the man {{spoiler|freezes time and reveals himself to be The Traveler, whom he'd met in "Where No One Has Gone Before"}}. (This tribe, by the way, was intended to be the origin of the aforementioned Chakotay, according to the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (in turn, according to ''Memory Alpha'', the Star Trek wiki).)

* ''[[War of the Worlds (TV series)|War of the Worlds]]'' featured an episode set on a Native American reservation, complete with shaman, who uses magical powers (assisted by what may be an alien artifact) to destroy an alien ship. He also manages, depending on your interpretation of the final scene, to play into a much older and more offensive stereotype about Native Americans as dishonest traders, as he gives Blackwood the alien crystal he had used in his "magic", but then later reveals to his son that he'd actually substituted a different crystal for no clear reason. (The scene is not entirely clear on this point; it may actually be that he had several identical crystals).

* The latest season of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' has an African bushman with the power to "spirit walk." The powers don't come directly from shamanism, but they're still pretty much yoked to the shamanic motif. He also has the weird ability to [[Sympathetic Magic|extend his power to his headphones]] so when {{spoiler|Matt puts them on, he sees the future too.}} He also is making Matt {{spoiler|get a totem}}, a turtle.

* ''[[Malcolm in Thethe Middle]]'' had the brother Francis stuck in Alaska with no purpose in his life. He turns to a totem pole that his buddies stole to give him a vision and guidance to his life. He is unable to do so when the original owner turns up and reclaims the pole. Francis begs him to reveal the magic of the totem. The guy chides him for assuming he's a [[Magical Native American]], points out that he's a proud Methodist and has only one word for snow: snow!

** Francis himself eventually married (or at least cohabited with) a young Native American (or possibly Aleut) woman named Piyama. With the exception that Francis's [[Racist Grandma|segregationstsegregationist grandmother]] objected to this union ([[Hypocritical Humor|never mind that she had herself attempted to]] [[Gold Digger|marry a Chinese man for his money]]), Piyama's ancestry didn't generally come up in the adventures. In fact, Piyama was not a Magical Native American at all: not stoic, not "mystical," all too-human....in fact very much a [[Yandere|possessive, domineering, ill-tempered, vaguely psychotic bitch]]!

* The main character of the short-lived FOX show ''[[New Amsterdam]]'' was made immortal by a Native American shaman after taking a bullet meant for her.

* Mulder gets brought back to life by a Native American ritual after getting gassed in a boxcar full of dead alien hybrids on ''[[The X -Files]]'', and later on fights a reanimated South American Shaman. The plot thread with the alien boxcar is subverted a bit, however, when Skinner has the idea to work with some Navajo World War II vets who were in the Codetalker program to "store" an account of what happened. Making it not a case of Native American Magic saving the day, but language.

** Another X-Files episode has a monsterousmonstrous wolf attacking ranches. Molder suspects that a Native American is shape shifting but it turns out to be a subversion.

* Averted with the character of Edgar K.B. Montrose on ''[[The Red Green Show]]'', played by Aboriginal actor Graham Greene. Edgar is portrayed as obsessed with explosives, despite not having a license and permits and getting all his training by watching a lot of old Roadrunner cartoons, and is more or less as stupid as the rest of the lodge members on the show.

* In the ''[[Smallville]]'' episode "Skinwalker", the Native American character Kyla can turn into a wolf.

* Jamie "Great Wolf" Webster became one of these in the second season of ''[[WMAC Masters (TV)|WMAC Masters]]'' (during the first he just had a Native American gimmick), he began having visions of the future and doing ceremonies outside the arena, and was even able to foresee the Dragon Star being stolen in the final (even though in his vision the thief {{spoiler|Tsunami}} saved it).

* Subverted somewhat in an episode of ''[[Bones]]''. The investigative team is being introduced to a case by a small-town sheriff who mentions the remains were found by a native American who will be assisting in the investigation. When someone asks if he's a "Indian tracker" the sheriff remarks sarcastically that since the man is a park ranger and found the remains in the course of his normal duties he "didn't have to use any of his Indian powers." Later on that same sheriff asks the ranger if an apparent Indian ritual site is legitimate, to which he replies, "What am I, a shaman?"

* More or less averted in the revival of ''[[Auf Wiedersehen, Pet]]'', where the native Americans don't have any real powers beside total lack of vertigo, and a plot-significant knowledge of local herbs.

* In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' Thanksgiving episode ''Pangs'', Buffy faces a Native American vengeance spirit who can shapeshift, and summon ghostly Native American warriors.

** Arguably this is an [[Averted Trope|aversion]] / [[Subverted Trope|subversion]] / [[Deconstruction]]. Magic is hardly limited to Native Americans in [[The Verse|the Buffyverse]], and this trope is sort of examined--Willowexamined—Willow feels sympathetic to the spirit since it's avenging legitimate wrongs, while everyone else points out that, you know, it's still a ''murderous vengeance spirit'' that kills people and [[Squick|gave Xander magical syphilis]]. They wind up destroying it at the end.

* The episode of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' called "Bugs" featured a curse of "Death By Bug-Inflicted Murder" on the builders/residents of a housing community unwittingly built on an [[Indian Burial Ground]].

* Pretty much every role that [[wikipedia:Tom Jackson chr(28)actorchr(29actor)|Tom Jackson]] has ever played.

* ''[[Power Rangers ZEOZeo]]'' has Tommy's brother David Trueheart. [[Memetic Mutation|What kind of lame name is David Trueheart, anyway?]] The whole plot is this.

* An episode of ''[[The Sentinel (TV series)|The Sentinel]]'' has a shaman of a Peruvian native tribe show up in Cascade. There's also the fact that "Sentinels" seem to have feline spiritual companions and an ancient temple in the jungle that boosts their abilities [[Up to Eleven]]. Unfortunately, it also burns them out.

== Tabletop [[RPTabletop GsGames]] ==

* In ''[[Deadlands]]'', Native Americans and those who have been welcomed into their tribes are the only characters eligible for Guardian Spirits or leaning rituals and favors from the spirits, at least in the American West. (Oddly enough, Native Americans who had been raised by white people could not learn these things unless they became a tribe's blood brother later in life, which makes it sound like your "[[Magical Native American]]"-ness can be revoked; as it's a function of religion, not [[In the Blood|birthright]], this is probably intentional.)

* In the [[Old World of Darkness (Tabletop Game)|Old World of Darkness]] game ''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse (Tabletop Game)|Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]'', the Garou follow a tribal structure, with two of the tribes, the Uktena (exploratory mystics) and the Wendigo (warriors who still weren't over colonization) being Native American. Then again, the game also had tribes of urban primitives, Amazons, Irish warrior-poets, and Egyptian travelers, so it was a bit of a grab bag. Also, werewolves gained their particular form of magic, Gifts, by making deals with spirits.

* ''Werewolf'' wasn't the only game in the Old World of Darkness to work the Native American motifs. ''[[Mage: The Ascension (Tabletop Game)|Mage: The Ascension]]'' had the Dreamspeakers, a mystical Tradition made up of shamans of all types (Aborigines, Native Americans, African bushmen, even modern technoshamans) who showed a mastery over the spirit world. ''[[Changeling: The Dreaming (Tabletop Game)|Changeling: The Dreaming]]'' had the Nunnehi, changelings who took after Native American myths the same way the Kithain took after European (and African) myths, and whose relationship with the Kithain ranged from "friendly, but keep your distance" to "fucking white man."

* The tribes and spiritual motifs continue in the successor game, ''[[Werewolf: The Forsaken (Tabletop Game)|Werewolf: The Forsaken]]'', but the Native American themes are downplayed. Furthermore, the werewolves in this game aren't so much protectors ''of'' the spirit world as they are protectors of humanity ''from'' a rapacious spirit world.

* In ''[[Witch CraftWitchcraft]]'', the Native Americans had just as many coven equivalents as everyone else. The reason the Natives didn't use their magical superpowers to stop the White Man was because the Combine nullified their advantages somehow.

* Mother Raven (from the Superhero RPG ''[[Silver Age Sentinels]])'': isMother a shamanRaven (and one of the setting's major heroines) is a shaman who received her powers from the actual [[Native American Mythology|Raven]].

* "I AM [[Turok (Video Gameseries)|Turok]]!" His magical power, of course, was the ability to carry enough firepower to kill half the planet.

* Chief Thunder from ''[[Killer Instinct (Video Game)|Killer Instinct]]''.

* The Baskars of the ''[[Wild ArmsARMs]]'' series have more than a bit of this, being [[Closer to Earth|in harmony with nature]], very capable with the setting's [[Functional Magic]] and [[Magitek]], and given to a distinctly Native American [[Braids, Beads, and Buckskins|visual theme]]. A partial subversion comes in the fact that they aren't really an ethnic group, more of a [[Space Amish|religious commune]] which anyone may join.

** And [[Wild ArmsARMs 3 (Video Game)|Gallows]] is an outright subversion; he's Baskar and has both the look and the magical powers of the trope, but his personality--anpersonality—an idiot lecher who doesn't want to fulfill his responsibilities, even outright running from them--defiesthem—defies it. He defies the [[Squishy Wizard]] trope to a "T", as well.

{{quote| '''Layne:''' I've seen you trip over your own feet on level sidewalk. Mystical Indian you ain't. }}

* The Clan of the Hawk attempted to invoke this with William Ghostraven in [[The Wandering Ones]], which was why he left.

{{quote| '''William:''' "The only use the "Clan of the Hawk" had for me was to play "Wise Native Dude." Always asking me about this ceremony or that craft. In the before time, I worked in a freakin' Casino! I just wanted to scream!"}}

* ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'' had an episode where Bart is shown his somewhat unpleasant future (as a drunken, washed-up rock star living with Ralph Wiggum) by the head of a Native American casino after he tries to sneak into the casino in The Great Gabbo's dummy case.

* John Redcorn of ''[[King of the Hill]]'' moves between being a subversion of or playing with this trope. He has a leitmotif of being introduced with spiritual noise and blowing leaves even on [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|mundane occasions]], has for years been nailing Dale's wife (with Joseph as proof of that, despite Dale's claim that Joseph's brown skin is from a Jamaican grandmother Dale allegedly has), and some of his spiritual talk comes across as simply B.S. as part of his profession as a masseur/faith healer. His job is mostly a front for bedding women; when Hank goes in for treatment, it's revealed that make-out music and mood lighting automatically activate in his "treatment room". However, some episodes do portray him as genuinely spiritual and advocating for his tribe, more in line with the traditional [[Magical Native American]].

* ''Challenge of the [[Super FriendsSuperfriends]]'' had Apache Chief, whose magic phrase (which causes him to grow to 50 feet tall) is quoted at the top of this page. One episode says that this is the Apache word for "giant man" (it isn't).

* The toy-based animated series ''[[Bravestarr (Animation)|Bravestarr]]'', which had a titular character based on this trope... Just, like said, in space. Magical Native Spacemerican. He was the on-duty marshal of a mining colony on the planet "New Texas", making liberal use of animal powers bestowed on him by spirits. His mentor's name was "Shaman"...

* Parodied in an episode of ''[[South Park (Animation)|South Park]]'' where Indians are about to buy out South Park to build a casino, and Stan has to become a ''Magical Middle Class White Guy''. Complete with [[Vision Quest]].

* See the ''[[Family Guy (Animation)|Family Guy]]'' episode where Lois loses the car to corrupt Native American casino owners. They realize they are being jerks, give the car back and wonder what the hell is wrong with them. The fact they are very rich is a comfort.

** Another episode, "PTV," has a cameo from the above-mentioned Apache Chief, whom Peter summons to install his satellite dish. Having done so, Apache Chief dejectedly says that was the high point of his day and goes off to gamble.

* The Native Martians in ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'' play the part, as they can summon sandstorms by making some strange noise. Aside from hypnotoad, and a few [[Energy Beings]] they seem to be the only race in the Futurama verse capable of something resembling magic.

* Hawk in ''[[Tenko and Thethe Guardians of Thethe Magic]]'' is ''literally'' this; bonus points because he has the stereotypical connection to nature.

* Gray Owl in the 1997 animated series ''The New Adventures of [[Zorro]]'' is Zorro's [[Mentor]] in spirituality and magic. A very similar character called White Owl appears in the 2005 novel ''Zorro'' by Isabel Allende, where she's Diego's grandmother. In ''[[Zorro: Generation Z]]'', another (unnamed) version of the character is a six-year-old girl who gives Zorro cryptic advice, but who he later recognises in [[Dead All Along|a portrait of his dead grandmother when she was young]].

* Hilariously subverted in one episode of [[Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (Animation)|The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest]], that ironically deals with Magical Native Americans. Jonny and co meet one old man who turns out to be completely ordinary person, who only knows Jonny's name because it's written on the dog's collar, and he only guessed that the enemy has a helicopter because he saw one recently, as opposed identifying the trail a helicopter would leave behind after taking off. Despite this, both he and his wife are sufficiently amused by the idea that they start acting as stereotypical native Americans for the rest of the episode, from referring to themselves as Indians, to calling Lorenzo 'white man', culminating in them honoring an old native tradition at the end of the episode.

* The Sun Warriors <ref>who share ancient Firebending wisdom with Aang and Zuko</ref> and the Foggy Swamp Waterbenders <ref>who have a special connection with the earth, and whose home is an ancient [[Genius Loci]] that shows people visions</ref> from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. The regular Water Tribes might count, as they're Inuit counterparts and many have waterbending powers, but their powers and wisdom aren't treated any differently from that of the Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation. The one special thing they ''do'' have is the Spirit Oasis, where the moon and ocean spirits live, but that's based off the Chinese yin-yang. And even then, there are subversions: the Sun Warriors have a very stoic, Aztec-style culture, but the Foggy Swamp Waterbenders come off as a mix of Vietnamese river tribes and Southern yokels.

* In ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]'', Elisa Maza's father is this, but he's not very fond of the idea. He eventually ends up accepting it though. Of course his magical nature pretty much comes down to sharing some sort of bond with the Coyote, other than that he's a pretty ordinary old man.

* On ''[[Young Justice (Animationanimation)|Young Justice]]'' [[Blue Beetle|Jaime]] talks to his friend's grandfather, who seems to be this. [[Played for Laughs]]: [[Adaptive Armor|the Scarab]] calls him "unbalanced" and, when the grandfather says something insightful, declares that he "knows too much" and [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath|must be destroyed]].

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