Paiutes walk out of screening

Documentary about Utah tribes doesn't please everyoneThere was a mixed reaction at the Paiute Tribal Building to the special screening of the 30-minute documentary "We Shall Remain: The Paiute." A quarter of the 150-member audience got up and left before the Wednesday screening was complete.

"I was listening to some of the elders and because it didn't cover all the Paiute Bands, like the Koosharem and Kanosh, they got up and walked out saying it wasn't worth seeing," said Jeanine Borchardt, newly elected Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah chairwoman. "It showed a smidge of the Indian Peaks Band but since not all of the Bands were highlighted, some were disappointed. As for me, I liked it."

In conjunction with the Public Broadcasting Service "American Experience" series, KUED featured five Utah tribes in five half-hour documentaries as companion pieces that will air beginning Monday. In addition to the Paiute, the Ute, Navajo, Goshute and Northwestern Shoshone will be presented by tribal members telling about their diverse cultures.

Sally Shaum produced, wrote and directed the Paiute story and was only given 10 days to shoot the feature. She was aware of the constraints in interviewing members of the different Paiute bands and said she'd do things differently if she had it all over to do again.And:What viewers can expect in the Southern Paiute segment is the depiction of a peaceful people who were foragers and horticulturists residing beneath the red cliffs of Southern Utah.

The once independent Paiute Tribe would be forced to deal with challenges, such as the Ute Indians and Spanish trading parties capturing and selling Paiute slaves. Mormon settlers claimed the Paiute's lands, and epidemics of disease killed more than 90 percent of some Paiute groups, the documentary said.But the walkout wasn't as bad as it sounds, according to one person who was there.BlueSun wrote:

I was there during the screening and the writer of this article should have made it clear that the Paiutes that walked out had done so "after" the screening of The Paiutes not during. The part they all walked out on was when they started showing the behind the scenes and the making of the movie segments of We Shall Remain and not the part on the Paiute People. I was sitting in the back and there was no such walk out and this Jennifer is making it look like The Paiute People are so negative. She could have worded the title a little more positive and not go by a small handful that had a complaint. The majority did like it and it's the writer's responsibility to bring out the best in a story and not the worst.Comment:  It's the writer's responsibility to bring out the truth, of course--not the best or the worst in a story.

For more on the subject, see First Look at We Shall Remain and Preview of We Shall Remain.