In the pilot episode of Vegas (airdate: 9/25/12), Gil Birmingham plays a Native tracker. His role is to identify motorcycle tracks and say whether they happened before or after a rainfall.
Birmingham's character has only a few lines and doesn't say or do much. He wears cowboy-style clothes like the the other ranch-based characters, and doesn't talk "Indian style" (with a ponderous accent). The only Native reference he makes is to his grandfather's collecting a plant for medicine.
Birmingham isn't listed in the show's credits on IMDB, so I assume he was a one-time guest star. Still, it's a good portrayal. Natives need more everyday portrayals like this--even if it's unlikely anyone would've consulted an Indian in 1960.
'California Indian,' shot on local locations, to have Lake County premiere Aug. 26In “California Indian,” Nick Thomas, a Pomo Indian and a successful Los Angeles radio host, is forced back to the reservation to help his brother Chi (Gil Birmingham), and tribal leader Rich Knight (Gary Farmer) lead the Tule Lake Rancheria out of danger from a seedy casino investor (Mark Boone Jr.), ultimately claiming sovereignty of their Native American rights, according to the film's synopsis.
The California Indian Web site, www.californiaindian.com, explains, “The struggles inherent on reservations today are depicted in this day-in-the-life drama based on true characters and events. The film dispels current stereotypes and myths about modern Native American culture while showcasing the depths of the heritage that thrives today.”
The film–which also marks Ramos' directorial debut–was shot on location in Lake County, especially in and around Lakeport.
The film's Web site said Pomo tribal members, who had no prior acting experience, were cast in many of the roles in the film, which allowed for greater authenticity of the portrayal of the tribe.Comment: IMDB says this movie was released in 2009. This may just be its local premiere.
Below: "Chi (Gil Birmingham), Rich (Gary Farmer) and Nick (Timothy Ramos) at the marina, having devised a counter strategy to protect the tribe using their sovereign rights in the movie California Indian." (Courtesy photo)
Twilight’s Gil Birmingham Joins Crooked Arrows CastGil Birmingham, known for his role as Billy Black in the Twilight Saga films, will join Superman Returns Brandon Routh in the film Crooked Arrows, a story about a Native American high School Lacrosse team forced to compete against a better equipped and trained local prep school team. Birmingham will play the tribal chairman and father of the entrepreneurial son played by Routh.
The film centers on Joe Logan (Routh), a 30-year-old mixed-blood Native American, who wants to modernize the reservation but must first prove himself to his father (Birmingham), a traditionalist tribal chairman, by rediscovering his spirit. Joe postpones his casino-building dreams to coach the fledging Native American lacrosse team against the prep school in which he used to star. As a result, Joe inspires the Native American youth and teaches them the true meaning of tribal pride. The sport of Lacrosse dates back to the northeastern Native American tribes in the 1100s.
“The intense relationship between the father and son and the conflict between modern ways and tradition is what appealed to me most in Crooked Arrows,” said Birmingham, who is part Comanche. “Wrapped in a movie about a sports competition is the human element of a man and his son trying to find their way in a sometimes confusing world.”Comment: How old is Birmingham...his mid-40s? And Routh is 32? The math on that doesn't quite add up.
Since Routh's character is "mixed blood," I wonder who will play his white mother.
Is Birmingham going to cut his long locks for the role? Most tribal chairmen have short hair just like politicians and business executives everywhere. Voters want practicality, not flamboyance, and short hair signals that.
NAIIA Ceremony Coming to Hard Rock Albuquerque on April 29On Friday, April 29, the 2011 North American Indigenous Image Awards event will rock the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on the Isleta Pueblo Reservation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This second edition of the event, which first occurred in 2009, will honor the best indigenous performers from the United States and Canada. This year’s award categories include Film, TV, Music, Magazine, Comedy and Calendar.
Presenters this year will include Gil Birmingham and Chaske Spencer, both of whom are nominated for Best Actor awards for their work in Twilight films. Other notable presenters are casting director Rene Haynes and five-time Nammy Award winner Micki Free.
The other Best Actor award nominees are Gary Farmer for Good Neighbors, Zahn McClarnon for Medium and Noah Watts for Search for the World’s Best Indian Taco. Nominated for the Best Actress award are Kaniehtiio Horn for Mohawk Girls, Crystle Lightning for Search for the World’s Best Indian Taco and Georgina Lightning for Older Than America.
Other award categories will honor names and work familiar to all who follow the indigenous arts and entertainment scene. Musicians include Victoria Blackie, Gabriel Ayala, Chase Manhattan, the Jir Project Band, and Leanne Goose, all of whom will be in town to play Stage 49 at the Gathering of Nations Powwow.Barking Water, written and directed by Sterlin Harjo, Older Than America, written and directed by Georgina Lightning, and Pearl, produced by David Rennke and the Chickasaw Nation, will vie for the Outstanding Feature Film award, while The Last Explorer,Reel Injun, and Two Spirits are the films nominated for Outstanding Documentary.Comment: For more on the subject, see 2009 NAIIA Nominees and Indigenous Image Awards.
Below: "Runway Beauty Calendar Models, NAIIA 2009 Calendar of the Year nominees." (Mihio Manus)
"The film plays like a classic Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western crossed with a Nickelodeon kid's comedy with a little Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas thrown in as well. As a Western, the movie has everything from high noon gun battles to bitter fights over water rights to the stereotypical stoic Indian who once again seems incapable of speaking in complete sentences."
That last part refers to the character Wounded Bird.In the film, Wounded Bird plays a bit part as the token town Indian. He's quiet, mystical, and knows exactly how to track in the wilderness, just like the classic Hollywood Indian.
That being said, he is the source of some comic relief with his one-liners and ends up being a clearly heroic figure in the end. Then again, the bad pun where Rango refers to Wounded Bird's "ingenuity" only to say "no pun intended" put a bad taste in my mouth.
The official film website over at http://www.rangomovie.com includes this description of Wounded Bird:
"A solid creature of the Crow Nation. Wounded Bird draws his inspiration from Native American Indian principles of harmony and quiet observation. His tracking skills are legendary and he's big in Finland for some reason."
I disagree. Wounded Bird draws his inspiration directly from the scores of Indian depictions in countless Hollywood Westerns. Rango is filled with every other Western cliche--saloon brawls, corrupt mayors, spineless townfolk, a mysterious stranger--so why not the quiet mystical stereotypical Indian! It wouldn't be a true homage without one!
Personally, I'm a fan of subverting tired cliches and stereotypes to challenge our expectations and get those cerebral juices flowing. Rango does just that when the Beans character (voiced by Isla Fisher) subverts the traditional female role to become a gun-slinging, posse riding hero in her own right.
Rango (2011 film)Rango is an upcoming computer-animated comedy film, directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Graham King. It features the voices of actors Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Bill Nighy, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Harry Dean Stanton, Ray Winstone, Ned Beatty, and Timothy Olyphant.Rango (2011)A chameleon that aspires to be a swashbuckling hero finds himself in a Western town plagued by bandits and is forced to literally play the role in order to protect it.Gil Birmingham's Photos--Rango Movie Premiere
Comment: Gil Birmingham voices Wounded Bird (a Chihuahuan raven).
Comment: The cast looks strong. I don't know about the story. Stories about families that come together over a sick relative are sometimes good, sometimes not.
From a press release:Red Nation Celebration announces film & tribute award winners for the 7th annual Red Nation Film Festival--The Authentic Voice of American Indian Indigenous Cinema. The awards were presented at the Red Nation Film and Tribute Award Ceremony, Tuesday Nov. 9th, at the CBS Studio Center in Studio City, CA.
Red Nation tapped New Mexico sculptor artist Phillip Mangas Haozous, son of the late Apache sculptor artist Allan Houser, to create and design “The Red Nation Statuette” Phillip Mangas Haozous created the design in three dimensions--and the world-renowned statuette was born.
Outstanding performances and film awards on closing night including:
By Paige DickersonGil Birmingham, who plays the fictional Quileute tribal chief Billy Black in the "Twilight" saga, will visit LaPush for Quileute Days and meet the real-life tribal council.
Quileute Days will celebrate tribal culture from Friday through Sunday, featuring a salmon bake, traditional dancing, a fireworks display, stick games, poker and bingo, as well as events based on the four-novel series about vampires and teen love.And:On Saturday, Birmingham will join in the festival parade at noon, hold a 3 p.m. autograph session--a $20 contribution is required--and will make a 4 p.m. guest appearance at the Talent Showcase.
In addition to the Quileute Days events, Birmingham also will meet with the real tribal council, including tribal Chairwoman Anna Rose Counsell-Geyer.Comment: For more on the subject, see 2010 Quileute Days and Birmingham, Spencer in Shouting Secrets.
By Rachel FlorianoTwilight actor Gil Birmingham has been cast opposite fellow Twilight cast member Chaske Spencer and General Hospital’s Tyler Christopher in the Korinna Sehringer film “Shouting Secrets.”
Gil will play Cal, the father of Wesley (played by Chaske Spencer). Wesley is a successful young writer in Los Angeles who is called back to his Native American upbringing after ten years in order to visit his sick mother. Tyler will play Tushka, a half-breed Indian who, when his mother falls ill, is forced to look at his failure to breach the confines of reservation life.Comment: Uh, Birmingham is 43 and Spencer is 35. They could play brothers, but father and son? That may look a little odd.
Spencer is old enough to play the father of Taylor Lautner, 18, his fellow Twilight werewolf. Filmmakers should try to do more age-appropriate casting.
Last week's episode of The Mentalist, Aingavite Baa (airdate: 4/8/10), featured Gil Birmingham and Wes Studi in a Native plot. You can check out the full recap, but here's the story:
Three murder victims and a fourth victim with amnesia lead the investigators to a crime on an Indian reservation.
One of the murder victims is Leonard Railton, a troubled young Shoshone man. He's been living on the Storm River Reservation with his people to straighten out his life.
The investigators talk to his parole office, Dolores Brinton, who's also from this reservation. They head to the rez where they meet Joseph Silverwing (Wes Studi), a tribal leader, and Markham Willis (Gil Birmingham), a businessman who runs a store.
Aingavite Baa is a curious case in the annals of TV Indians. As we'll see, the setup is good, the execution is bad, and the overall tone is ugly. There are no serious cultural mistakes or stereotypes, yet the result is negative.
The good
The fictional Storm River Reservation is in Northern California somewhere, perhaps in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I believe some Shoshone people live there. This is a good way to do Indian tribes in fiction. You invent a tribe but give it a name that sounds real. You place it in a specific location (within driving distance of Sacramento, although the show could've been more precise). And you attach a real culture (Shoshone) to it. Without offending any existing tribes (one hopes), you've created a tribe that clearly resembles a real tribe.
The show addresses the conflict between state and tribal police jurisdictions with this tense exchange:BRINTON: Will the tribal police be with you?
LISBON: They're aware of the investigation. We'll keep them in the loop.
BRINTON: I should go with you.
LISBON: That's not necessary.
BRINTON: As far as some of them are concerned, you're foreigners. Foreigners with badges. You won't get anything. I'll get my coat.
JANE: Excellent. Well, we've got ourselves a Native guide.This reflects a commonplace conflict between state and tribal authorities. Often the states are as dismissive as Lisbon is here.
In some states I believe the state police can't go onto reservations to investigate crimes. In California, because of Public Law 280, I believe they can. Since the bodies were found off the rez, the responsibility rightly belongs to the state, not the tribe.
The Storm River setting feels suitably down-home. The vibe is pickup trucks and country clothes. The buildings we see include a recreation center (pool hall), meeting room, and general store.
Native actors obviously play the two main characters, Silverwing and Willis. Rosa Arredondo plays Dolores Brinton; I presume she's Latino. Railton, who's seen only in photos, looks Latino. The boys who get screen time in the rec center could be Indian, Latino, white, or some mix. Mylo Ironbear is uncredited as a tribal elder.
The extras in the rec center and meeting room look like they could be Indian (see photos). They're not on screen long enough to be sure, but at least they're not the Hollywood pretty people you see in most TV settings. They're as ordinary as real people usually are.
Patrick Jane tries on a chief's headdress in the store. That's okay, since tourist shops usually sell Plains Indian kitsch. When Jane asks about the headdress, Willis correctly says it's not Shoshone.
But then he says it's Laguna. I guess an artist in the Laguna Pueblo of New Mexico could've made a Plains headdress, but this is an odd note. Why not pick a Plains tribe instead?
The memorial service for Railton takes place in a modest meeting room with folding chairs. Silverwing doesn't offer any mystical talk about spirits or ancestors. He doesn't say anything religious; he talks about how Railton was trying to change. This is consistent with the fact that a small California reservation might have a mix of traditional and Christian beliefs.
There's no talk of the things you usually hear about Indians in TV shows--e.g., gaming, corruption, or poverty. The show treats these people as no different from any other small rural community.
The characters' names are suitably mundane. Only Silverwing has an "Indian name." In California a lot of Indians have Latino names, but these names are okay. At least they don't fall into the clichéd wolf/bear/eagle/hawk category.
According to one website, "The name of the episode means Red Water (Aingavite--Red, Baa--Water) in Shoshone language (Native American tribe)." As it turns out, that's a fitting title, and it's a nice touch.
Of course, I hope the producers got this from a Shoshone speaker and not just a dictionary somewhere. In many languages you can't put two words together and form a legitimate phrase. For instance, in Spanish, "red water" is agua roja, not rojo agua.
Also, I don't think aingavite baa comes up in the episode. And only one website had a translation for the phrase. So it's kind of a wasted effort.
The bad [**spoiler alert**]
Jane deduces from two clues--a baby's rash and dying marijuana plants--that someone has been dumping toxic waste in a mountain lake.
Really? The waste caused those two effects but no others? No other people, animals, or plants got sick? And none of the agencies responsible for monitoring the water and the environment noticed?
It turns out the dumpers hired Willis and Railton to dump the waste. Railton got cold feet and contacted a journalist (the amnesia victim). To cover up the crime, Willis killed Railton and two witnesses and thought he killed the journalist.
From the dumpers' standpoint, the plan is stupid. There's a reason most waste dumps and landfills are in the desert, not the mountains. Easy access via roads, sparsely populated, not a lot of rain or snow, no water supply to contaminate, etc.
The dumpers are driving trucks through the mountains at night. They're relying on an unscrupulous Indian and his young assistant. The canisters are flimsy enough to start leaking.
This is the opposite of a foolproof plan. It could go wrong in so many ways that it's not funny. If you wanted a toxic-waste plan guaranteed to fail in a few months, this is it.
Willis's attempted coverup is also stupid. Once Railton contacts the journalist, it's a little late to kill them. What about their notes, computer files, e-mails, phone records, interviews, etc.? What if they've talked to scientists, the media, or government officials? You don't think they've already created a paper trail about the toxic-waste problem?
Willis shoots four people and kills three. He transports the bodies from the mountain lake to a barn somewhere in the suburbs. Why...to make them easier to find? Why not dump them in the lake with the toxic waste?
He's supposedly too rattled to notice one victim is alive. Really? He loaded the bodies into a truck, drove them out of the mountains, and hauled them into a barn, but didn't check them carefully?
A criminal mastermind would've chopped off their hands (and fingerprints) or incinerated the bodies, but not Willis. He's content to gift-wrap them for the police.
The ugly
Despite the apparent effort to create a reasonable set of Indians free of mistakes and stereotypes, the show's tone is negative. The show--particularly Patrick Jane, the audience stand-in--mocks or offends Indians several times.
Jane notes that parole officer Brinton has a bit of a New York accent. As if what...she isn't a real Indian? Perhaps she's a Shoshone Indian who was raised in New York City. Perhaps she's half Shoshone and half Jew, Italian, or Puerto Rican. So the hell what? Since when do you comment on the ethnicity of a fellow law enforcement official?
Jane makes the crack about a "Native guide" (above). When Silverwing gives them brief but truthful answers, Jane belittles Brinton's usefulness as an intermediary.
Jane interrupts the memorial service to ask if anyone knows the amnesia victim. He could've waited until it was almost done, but instead he turns it into a spectacle.
Perhaps worse, he questions Silverwing's honesty in front of his people. Before correcting himself, he implies Silverwing is a liar and a crook.
Jane has violated many social conventions before. But the people being violated are almost always the rich and powerful--i.e., stuffed shirts and elitists--or suspects with secrets. I don't recall his having offended a roomful of humble, honest people before.
There's a whiff of anti-Indian bias here. If the Indians were rich casino operators, or if two political factions were fighting for control, I could see a reason for Jane's attitude. But that isn't the case here. Jane appears to be prejudiced against Indians for no good reason.
Then we come to the penultimate scene of the show. Silverwing has protested because the investigators violated the memorial service. Madeleine Hightower, their superior officer, responds:HIGHTOWER: You solved the triple, right?
LISBON: Yeah.
HIGHTOWER: Nobody got hurt?
JANE: No!
HIGHTOWER: Then to hell with him. Got justice done.
HIGHTOWER: Keep up the good work.Really? The show treats the violation of an Indian ceremony as a joke? To hell with a tribal official with Wes Studi's quiet dignity?
Alas, Hightower's voice seems to be the producers' voice. "We did an episode about Indians, but who really cares about them? Someone forced us to take out all the mistakes and stereotypes, but we showed 'em what we really think."
In reality, this incident probably would make it into the newspapers. If pro-Indian politicians--and there are many--heard about it, they'd turn it into a cause celebre. If no one in the state police was fired, someone would be forced to apologize, at least.
Conclusion
Aingavite Baa started off well. It had the ingredients for a better-than-average Indian episode. The ending was weak, but that wasn't enough to sink the show.
The show failed because of its inexplicable contempt for Indians. Mistakes and stereotypes hurt the recent episode of Castle, but I never thought that show looked down on Indians. Despite the lack of mistakes and stereotypes, this one did.
Last week's episode of Castle, Wrapped Up in Death (airdate: 4/5/10), featured a Mesoamerican plot. Here's the story:Castle’s Life Is in Danger--from a Curse?--on ABC’s “Castle”
“Wrapped Up in Death”–The investigation into the shocking death of a museum curator, crushed by a falling gargoyle, takes a bizarre turn when Castle and Beckett learn that he isn’t the first member of a recent archeological expedition to die. It turns out there was a legend inscribed over the burial chamber the team unearthed warning that “all who gaze upon the face of the mummy are doomed.” Was the curator just the latest victim of “The Mummy’s Curse”? And if so, what does that mean for Castle, who snuck a peek at the mummy when no one was looking?Rob's review
The episode offered several moments of Native lore, most of them less than stellar. Among them:
The museum where the story takes place is unnamed, but it seems to be New York's American Museum of Natural History. This museum does have Cultures Halls: "a series of exhibition halls that explores the traditional cultures of Asia, Africa, North and South America, and the Pacific," so it might hold an exhibit on Maya mummies.
The mummy lies in a stone sarcophagus in a workroom. There are no sterile facilities or climate controls. A winch that anyone can operate lifts the lid off. Anyone can take some or all of the mummy, and a couple people do.
It's ridiculous to treat a valuable mummy, the centerpiece of a major exhibit, so cavalierly. Would a museum leave King Tut's mummy unprotected in a workroom? I don't think so.
After searching the Internet, I don't think Maya mummies exist. If they do exist, they're rare. Building an episode around something that's (practically) nonexistent is misleading. Our culture associates mummies with evil, so this feeds into the stereotype of the savage, bloodthirsty Mesoamericans.
The show mentions a couple archaeologists finding gold Maya treasures and returning them from Mexico. This is the "Indiana Jones" version of archaeology. Actually, archaeologists are scientists, not treasure hunters. A great discovery is more likely to be a new site, a mural, or a written record than a gold object.
The curse stereotype
The whole curse theme is obviously phony. I'm pretty sure archaeologists have never found an actual Maya curse.
Naturally, Castle and company don't believe the curse. But a series of accidents and deaths makes them wonder. Even if the episode uses the curse for comedy, it still reinforces the stereotype: Indians place curses on burial grounds. Black magic happens whenever their remains are disturbed.
The curse bolsters the evil Maya theme in a few ways:
1) Someone says the Maya king sacrificed so many people that his followers hid his body so his spirit wouldn't find them. Actually, I believe most Maya practiced their religion as fervently as their rulers did. If they didn't, they were free to walk away.
2) Castle shows a photograph of human skulls that supposedly comes from the Maya tomb. I believe the image is a version of this one.
So...nothing about the Maya's achievements. Just mummies, curses, human sacrifice, murders, and skulls. What would the typical viewer conclude from this? That the Maya had a sophisticated civilization? Or that they were bloodthirsty savages?
Guest star Gil Birmingham
Gil Birmingham plays a Maya Indian who's in town for some event. He has only two scenes: one when the police bring him in for questioning and another when they let him go.
In the first scene, he makes a nice little speech. He says the Maya still live and are seven million strong. They're the rightful owners of the Maya artifacts, not the Mexican government.
This is a good approximation of what a Zapatista-style activist might say. It's one of the few times we've heard a movie or TV show state this position--maybe the only time.
Someone on Facebook said, "Gil Birmingham's character wasn't exactly a hero." That's fine with me. I was afraid he was going to be a wise shaman type who imparts Maya wisdom with inscrutable aphorisms. This approach is better.
Birmingham's character's name is Cacaw Te. This looks like a genuine Maya name. More important, it's pronounced like "Chakotay"--an obvious reference to Star Trek: Voyager. Since Chakotay supposedly came from a Maya-like tribe in Central America, this reference is acceptably cute.
We might even read it as an attempt to "correct" Voyager by giving Chakotay a real Mesoamerican name. In other words, "Chakotay" might be the anglicized or bastardized version of the name "Cacaw Te."
After the initial setup, the rest of the episode gives us comedic hijinks over the curse while it unravels the murder. Fortunately, the mystery doesn't involve the supernatural. It evolves from drug smuggling to artifact smuggling to something more personal.
All in all, I'd say Wrapped Up in Death was a typical example of Indians in a TV show. Give it one point for Birmingham's role and take away two points for the stereotypical curse and the museum and mummy mistakes. It was better than The Librarian: Quest for the Spear, but that's not saying much.
They talk about the entertainment business and the power of pop culture to change perceptions about Indians worldwide. This panel continues for about half an hour.
RNFF honorees were presented at the Red is Green Carpet Gala A Night of Tribute Awards Ceremony on November 12, 2009 at Raleigh Studios. RNFF filmmakers’ awards were presented online January 28, 2010, at www.rednationfilmfestival.com. RNFF had five L.A. premieres, three Red is Green Carpet galas, 20th anniversary of George Harrison critically acclaimed Sundance Award-winning feature film “Pow Wow Highway” and a exclusive premiere of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”
Red Nation Film Festival is the largest and most prestigious celebration of the American Indian motion picture art form in Los Angeles and has positioned itself worldwide as the best venue for marketing American Indian & Indigenous Independent Films, including Native Women in Film & Television.
RNFF Award Winners:
Best Film The Twilight Saga: New Moon Director: Chris Weitz
Best Director The Ghost Riders Director: V. Blackhawk Aamodt
“Red Nation Activists Award”--Atossa Soltani, Director of Amazon Watch
“Red Nation Community Award”--Christine Padilla, Community Volunteer Lakota Nation
In attendance were: Edward James Olmos (actor); Josie Thomas, Head of Diversity, Senior VP (CBS Corporation); Jo Berlinger; director of Crude; Mitchell Anderson accepting on behalf of Atossa Soltani (Amazon Watch); RJ Joseph accepting on behalf of Leonard Peltier (activist); Christine Padilla (community volunteer); Disney ABC Television Group Frank B. Gonzalez; Chaske Spencer (actor/New Moon); Tinsel Korey (actor/New Moon); Alex Meraz (actor/New Moon); Rene Haynes (casting director); Zahn McClarnon (actor/Into The West); Gil Birmingham (actor/New Moon); Jackie Jacobs (Talent Group); Kimberly Norris Guerrero (Dreamkeeper); Elijah De Jesus (actor/Pearl); V. Blackhawk Aamodt (director/The Ghost Riders); Camille Manybeads Tso (director/In The Footsteps of Yellow Woman) to name a few.Joanelle Romero's Photos--On the Red is Green Carpet + Red Nation Film Festival
By Tammy ToddTwitter users are having fun discovering Native American talent thanks to the exciting New Moon spotlight of Native American characters. On the forefront is actor Gil Birmingham, Twilight'sBilly Black. He's amassed an amazing 69,000 plus followers and has created much buzz on Twitter with his many public appearances. He created excitement at the Native American music awards in October and with the reprising of his Billy Black character in New Moon which debuted late last month.
Birmingham who is from the Comanche tribe, tells Examiner.com's Twitter Entertainment Examiner that as Native Americans, "We are a people with a strong sense of history and our traditions, but we are more than just our history. We live and work all over the country, and are not all living or were raised on reservations. People all over the world are fascinated with the Native American way of life, but they think we dress in traditional regalia and chant all the time, lol. We don’t. While we hold our sacred traditions very high, we dress, talk, act and live like everyone else. I believe in the oneness of human beings, and that all are connected."Comment: For more on the subject, see Pix of Billy Black and the Wolf Pack and Quileute Werewolves in Twilight.
An album of photos showing the stars who turned out for the play's LA debut:
August: Osage County Tour Reaches Los AngelesFollowing its launch in Denver and subsequent stop in San Francisco, the touring company of the Tony Award-winning play August: Osage County opened at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre Sept. 9.Comment: The names include Blythe Danner, Nia Vardalos, Melissa Machester, Peter MacNicol, and Eva Marie Saint. Because of Kimberly Guerrero's role in the play, a lot of Native celebs showed up too, including Gil Birmingham, DeLanna Studi, and Tonantzin Carmelo.
