印第安人形象频繁出现在马克·吐温文学作品、书信和演讲中,凸显吐温对印第安人态度的矛盾性。东方主义批评已经成为研究吐温对印第安人态度的主流批评话语,但它却难于涵盖吐温对印第安人的人道主义关怀,同时也限制吐温作品诗学意义的表达。把握殖民话语与人道主义之间张力的动态变化是解读吐温作品中印第安人意义的关键。 Indians frequently appear in Mark Twain’s literature, letters and speeches, highlighting Twain’s ambivalence toward Indians. Orientalist criticism has become the mainstream criticism of Twain’s attitude toward Indians. However, it is difficult to cover Twain’s humanitarian concern for Indians, and at the same time it limits the expression of the poetic meaning of Twain’s works. To grasp the dynamic changes in tensions between colonial discourse and humanitarianism is the key to interpreting the meaning of Indians in Twain’s works.