The Native American Burial Ground Trope

Why does it seem like most scary stories are based on Native American burial grounds? There are an abundance of films and television show episodes wherein the building or land that appears to be haunted was built on a Native American burial ground.

[Image from Family Guy’s episode Petergeist]

To start us off, I would like to point to the beloved adult-themed animated series, Family Guy. There is one particular episode in which Native American burial grounds are heavily featured; Petergeist (S4 E26). This episode depicts Peter wanting to install a multiplex movie theater in his backyard. When he begins digging, he discovers a Native American burial ground and a skull that he deems “Chief Diamond Phillips.” Crazy things begin to happen: a haunted TV, things moving on their own in the house, and a portal to the spirit world opening. In order to restore their house back to normal, they must return the skull.

[Image from Stephen King’s 1980 The Shining film]

The Stephen King novel Pet Sematary, which has been given multiple film adaptations, is also based on a disrupted — and cursed-Native American burial ground. In this movie, the plot revolves around a family’s dead cat that was buried on the grounds, which brings him back to life. This leads to the idea of burying the family’s young child, Gage, on the same piece of land their cat was buried on. Since the cat was resurrected, the boy should be too. Naturally, he is; however, there’s something strange about him now. He is violent for a toddler, which leads to him murdering their neighbor. Gage even kills his own mother. His father kills him and the cat that was resurrected. He carries the mother’s body to the burial grounds and buries her there as well. He is convinced by a spirit of the burial ground, expecting that she will return to a normal life rather than returning as a violent, murderous, corpse. Yet another Stephen King novel, The Shining, and its film adaptation of the same name are based in a hotel which is built on an ancient Native American burial ground. This causes a number of paranormal things to happen. The film is about a family, Jack, Wendy, and their son Danny, that moves into a hotel as winter caretakers so the father, Jack, can work on his writing. Room 237 of the hotel is to be avoided, but Danny goes into the room anyways and shows up injured, making his mom, believe his father had beat him. There is a ghost in room 237, who had posed as a human and kissed Jack and then turned into a rotting corpse and chased him away. Jack begins to go crazy, which is caused by the burial grounds on which the hotel is built. The film’s central conflict is resolved by Hallorann, the hotel’s chef, taking Danny and his mother away from the hotel.

There are other popular stereotypes against Native Americans such as a children’s game, “Cowboys and Indians,” wherein the Native Americans are the threat and the cowboys are the heroes. Another stereotype for which Native Americans are feared is their traditions, which made some people believe they are magical shapeshifters. The Native American burial ground theory is just another stereotype. Now, why are Native American burial grounds used in Film? The idea of using this trope in films and shows is to give movie producers an easy, overused, and stale plot point that does not require a lot of thinking to create a scary atmosphere. It seems to be an excuse for not actually having to work to create something both frightening and original.

“Petergeist.” Family Guy Wiki. Accessed October 8, 2019. https://familyguy.fandom.com/wiki/Petergeist.

“Pet Sematary.” Stephen King Wiki. Accessed October 8, 2019. https://stephenking.fandom.com/wiki/Pet_Sematary.

“The Shining.” Stephen King Wiki. Accessed October 8, 2019. https://stephenking.fandom.com/wiki/The_Shining.