Jamming across Oklahoma since 2001, OIT influences span from heavy metal, 80’s rock, country, R & B to a blend of their own Native contemporary rock style, which includes several of their own tracks written by OIT bass player, Terrell Tanequodle.
May 23, 2007
Old Indian Trick
OIT Rocks Native Style at Red Earth Pow Wow After PartyOld Indian Trick [OIT] is one of the few all Native rock bands around the country with its present members from the Kiowa, Creek, Choctaw, Southern Cheyenne and Arapahoe Nations. OIT members are all thirty-seven years and older, all have families and careers going on outside their music commitments to the band. They rarely have time to practice but have been together so long, that knowing one another’s strengths has been the key in making the band last.
Jamming across Oklahoma since 2001, OIT influences span from heavy metal, 80’s rock, country, R & B to a blend of their own Native contemporary rock style, which includes several of their own tracks written by OIT bass player, Terrell Tanequodle.
Jamming across Oklahoma since 2001, OIT influences span from heavy metal, 80’s rock, country, R & B to a blend of their own Native contemporary rock style, which includes several of their own tracks written by OIT bass player, Terrell Tanequodle.
Review of Bury My Heart
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Bottom Line: Compelling storytelling that unearths truth and bold historic drama."Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," stunningly filmed and honestly told, is based on the 1971 book by Dee Alexander Brown, a nonfiction account of the final years of conflict between the U.S. and the American Indians it sought to displace by any means necessary.
Quinn, Beach and Schellenberg are flawless. Schellenberg, in particular, makes his expressive face a window into Sitting Bull's soul. Director Yves Simoneau brings a subtle eye to the story, imparting immense amounts of historical detail without making it feel like a lecture. He paints with colors that reflect the barren plains, the looming gray clouds and the bleak future of the Sioux. 
Bottom Line: Compelling storytelling that unearths truth and bold historic drama.
Quinn, Beach and Schellenberg are flawless. Schellenberg, in particular, makes his expressive face a window into Sitting Bull's soul. Director Yves Simoneau brings a subtle eye to the story, imparting immense amounts of historical detail without making it feel like a lecture. He paints with colors that reflect the barren plains, the looming gray clouds and the bleak future of the Sioux.
Composer of the Mohicans
Composer brings silent film to lifeAmerican Indian composer Brent Michael Davids took his fascination for the story "The Last of the Mohicans" to the next level by creating a score for the 1920 silent version of the film.
Davids, whose composing career spans 30 years, premiered his full score for the 1920 film "The Last of the Mohicans" at the opening event of the 4th annual Syracuse International Film Festival in Syracuse, N.Y., April 18. Davids, who plays the Native flute, joined the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra to perform his original soundtrack live at the event. 
Davids, whose composing career spans 30 years, premiered his full score for the 1920 film "The Last of the Mohicans" at the opening event of the 4th annual Syracuse International Film Festival in Syracuse, N.Y., April 18. Davids, who plays the Native flute, joined the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra to perform his original soundtrack live at the event.
May 22, 2007
Review of Cheyenne Autumn
Cheyenne AutumnCheyenne Autumn is a 1964 western starring Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, James Stewart, and Edward G. Robinson. The film was the last western to be directed by John Ford, who claimed it to be a sort of elegy for the Native Americans who had been abused by the American government and misinterpreted by many of the director's own films. John Ford Mounts Huge Frontier WesternThere is poetry in the graphic comprehension—in a scene of the Indians at dawn, wrapped in their Government blankets, their chiefs standing stalwart and strong; in scenes of the cavalry wheeling and thrashing in skirmishes with the tribe. And there is tragic and epic grandeur in the enactment of the whole exodus theme. "A big mess."A big mess; an epic Western that is burdensome and wooden and even though it gets the story right about the Indians and humanizes them in a sympathetic light it still fails to give them well-developed characters and further slights them by casting Latinos such as Sal Mineo, Gilbert Roland, Dolores Del Rio and Ricardo Montalban to portray them. Cheyenne Autumn B+As the scholar Place has noted, in the book, from which the story and film's title derive, the Indians' point of view is taken throughout, and the few white characters do not stand out as individuals. However, the Native Americans in Cheyenne Autumn are much like those of his earlier film, they stand for "something," rather than being flesh-and-blood individuals. Indeed, the Indians are not even presented as hostile individuals, just as a massive collective. Comment: Let's look at the portrayal of Indians in John Ford's Cheyenne Autumn:
The good
The movie acknowledges that the Cheyenne were promised food and medicine. They're suffering from smallpox, measles, and malaria.
The Indians speak some unidentified language, possibly Cheyenne. A few speak English.
The Cheyenne are dressed in Western clothes: shirts and pants for the men, long dresses for the women.
Only three braves are shown riding off without shirts but with feathers in headbands. (Since they're fiery young hotheads, this seems reasonable.)
A cowboy cuts off the scalp of a fallen Cheyenne.
Politicians in Washington DC want the Army to oversee the Dept. of the Interior so they can better exploit the Indians.
A plain full of bones shows what the white man did to the buffalo.
Newspapers invent or exaggerate the "Indian menace."
The bad
Ominous drumming and chanting fill the initial Cheyenne encampments.
Some Cheyenne smoke peace pipes.
Richard Widmark and Carroll Baker are on hand to express sympathy toward the Cheyenne--presumably because the Cheyenne themselves aren't sympathetic enough.
The Latinos playing the primary Cheyenne characters are unconvincing as Indians. (The Indian "extras" may well be played by Indians.)
The interlude with Jimmy Stewart as Wyatt Earp derails the whole film. Ford spends so much time here that he seems to lose interest in the main story. You get the feeling that this is the tale he really wanted to tell, but someone forced him to film the Cheyenne.
At one point a Cheyenne raises his hand and says "How."
The ugly
The opening shot of the movie shows tipis in Monument Valley (!), a spot where tipis have never stood except as a tourist attraction.
The movie takes place in and around Monument Valley. The narration tries to cover this by calling it "American Southwest." But the Cheyenne were encamped in Oklahoma, which isn't the Southwest and which looks nothing like southern Utah.
This is a prime example of locating Indians in the wilderness "out there." The effect is to make them seem remote and exotic. The real Cheyenne probably met lots of homesteaders when they trekked through Oklahoma and Nebraska, but here they're out of sight and out of mind.
This setting also commingles the Cheyenne with the real Indians of the Southwest, particularly the Navajo. The effect is to make all Indians seem the same. According to Ford's movies, they all lived, suffered, and died in some barren wasteland.
You have to pity them--and here I mean all Indians--and shake your head at their folly. Who would choose to live in a desert when America had so much prime real estate? Although we understand the Indians' attachment to the land intellectually, we don't feel this is a fit place for human habitation.
The stark, unearthly Monument Valley is just about the polar opposite of what we call civilization. So white men live in towns, homes, and forts while Indians live amid dirt, rocks, and cacti. In other words, white men are civilized and Indians aren't.
Conclusion
Cheyenne Autumn isn't a masterpiece, but it has many good attributes. It's worth seeing for what it says about the changing perception of Indians. Rob's rating: 7.5 of 10.
The good
The bad
The ugly
The movie takes place in and around Monument Valley. The narration tries to cover this by calling it "American Southwest." But the Cheyenne were encamped in Oklahoma, which isn't the Southwest and which looks nothing like southern Utah.
This is a prime example of locating Indians in the wilderness "out there." The effect is to make them seem remote and exotic. The real Cheyenne probably met lots of homesteaders when they trekked through Oklahoma and Nebraska, but here they're out of sight and out of mind.
This setting also commingles the Cheyenne with the real Indians of the Southwest, particularly the Navajo. The effect is to make all Indians seem the same. According to Ford's movies, they all lived, suffered, and died in some barren wasteland.
You have to pity them--and here I mean all Indians--and shake your head at their folly. Who would choose to live in a desert when America had so much prime real estate? Although we understand the Indians' attachment to the land intellectually, we don't feel this is a fit place for human habitation.
The stark, unearthly Monument Valley is just about the polar opposite of what we call civilization. So white men live in towns, homes, and forts while Indians live amid dirt, rocks, and cacti. In other words, white men are civilized and Indians aren't.
Conclusion
Cheyenne Autumn isn't a masterpiece, but it has many good attributes. It's worth seeing for what it says about the changing perception of Indians. Rob's rating: 7.5 of 10.
Review of LOIS LANE #110
Synopsis from the Unofficial Superman Index:Lois Lane honors a dying Indian mother’s last wish, and becomes foster mother to her baby, Little Moon, despite vocal opposition from both whites and Native Americans. Some choice comments from the Ye Olde Comick Booke Blogge:On the cover, an angry mob is hurling rocks at Lois Lane, who appears to be on her way to play the mascot at a Florida State football game. But these angry folks aren't just drunken Gators fans. Instead, they're... um... well, I'm not really sure which of the many angry groups from this story the mob is supposed to represent, but I'm guessing it's white people who don't think a Native American baby should be allowed to live in a two-bedroom walk-up brownstone in Metropolis because there's too great a risk of it growing up to kill General Custer and thus should have its head crushed by a flying brick. 
Lois goes to cover a Pueblo Indian rain dance outside Santa Fe. The Indians, however, aren't dancing, and the people who paid to see the event are getting unhappy.
As calmer heads prevail, Lois Lane learns the Indians are planning to all become suicide bombers and destroy a dam the construction workers are building. The Indians then explain the reasoning behind their plan by pretty much paraphrasing all the political points made in Little Big Man with Dustin Hoffman. The white man killed all the buffalo, put them on reservations, and so on. Superman eliminates the threat but an Indian woman is injured. She gives Lois her baby Little Moon, leading to:Lois takes a leave of absence from work to care for Little Moon, but her decision to care for the baby stirs up all kinds of controversy, pitting Native Americans against their natural enemy (other than construction workers), feminists.
Native American protesters face a frustrating catch-22. Most of the time, the topic of protest is something along the lines of "treat us with respect, we're not all caricatures with big feather headdresses," yet to be recognized, they have to wear their headdresses and full outfits to the protest.
As calmer heads prevail, Lois Lane learns the Indians are planning to all become suicide bombers and destroy a dam the construction workers are building. The Indians then explain the reasoning behind their plan by pretty much paraphrasing all the political points made in Little Big Man with Dustin Hoffman. The white man killed all the buffalo, put them on reservations, and so on.
Native American protesters face a frustrating catch-22. Most of the time, the topic of protest is something along the lines of "treat us with respect, we're not all caricatures with big feather headdresses," yet to be recognized, they have to wear their headdresses and full outfits to the protest.
Blogger doesn't know Chippewa
Blogger should learn lesson about Indian lifeThe 15 hours Port spent on the Turtle Mountain reservation gave him a lopsided view of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa. Port gathered a whole group of people into one bundle, tied a dirty, lazy knot around them and tossed them into the national spotlight. What Port missed: Among the tribe's Ph.D. holders are Tammy Jollie-Trottier, Leigh Jeanotte, Viola LaFontaine, Gerald “Carty” Monette, Loretta Delong, Shelly Peltier, Ramona Klein, Denise Lajimodierre, Angie Azure-LaRocque, W. Larry Belgarde, Duane Schindler, Jim Davis, Bill Gourneau, Heid Erdrich, Virginia Allery, Paul Dauphinais, Donna Brown, Lavonne Fox, Betsy Laverdure, Jeff Hamley, Joan LaFrance, Dwight Gourneau and Carol Davis.
Tribal members who are lawyers include Jerilyn DeCoteau, Roxanne LaVallie, Richard Monette, Jeff Davis, Bernice Delorme, Eugene Delorme, Monique Vondall and Jan Morley. Louise Erdrich and Duane Champaigne are nationally known writers; there also are six engineers and one architect.
There are more than 400 people working on the reservation who have bachelors degrees and about 200 with masters degrees, according to a survey taken by the Turtle Mountain Community College. 
Tribal members who are lawyers include Jerilyn DeCoteau, Roxanne LaVallie, Richard Monette, Jeff Davis, Bernice Delorme, Eugene Delorme, Monique Vondall and Jan Morley. Louise Erdrich and Duane Champaigne are nationally known writers; there also are six engineers and one architect.
There are more than 400 people working on the reservation who have bachelors degrees and about 200 with masters degrees, according to a survey taken by the Turtle Mountain Community College.
Review of Imprint
Imprint Makes an Impression
Supernatural Mystery Showcases Modern Natives
By Rob Schmidt 5/21/2007The setting was the Zanuck Theater on the Fox Studios lot in West Los Angeles. The scene was the premiere of an independent Native-themed thriller, Imprint. The mood was expectant.
Writer/director Michael Linn was present along with his whole clan. Other notables included producer Chris Eyre, Mark Reed of American Indians in Film and Television, and James Lujan of Intertribal Entertainment. Also present were 40 or 50 students from the Sherman Indian School in Riverside, who had raised the money to travel to the screening.
I settled in to watch the spooky show. Eighty-eight minutes and one reel change later, I was impressed. 
Supernatural Mystery Showcases Modern Natives
By Rob Schmidt 5/21/2007
Writer/director Michael Linn was present along with his whole clan. Other notables included producer Chris Eyre, Mark Reed of American Indians in Film and Television, and James Lujan of Intertribal Entertainment. Also present were 40 or 50 students from the Sherman Indian School in Riverside, who had raised the money to travel to the screening.
I settled in to watch the spooky show. Eighty-eight minutes and one reel change later, I was impressed.
Adam Beach on SVU tonight
'Screwed'--Guest Starring LudacrisLudacris guest stars on the shocking season finale of SVU!
[Chester] Lake returns to the SVU and works with Tutuola when Tutuola needs to handle some unresolved issues with Darius. 
[Chester] Lake returns to the SVU and works with Tutuola when Tutuola needs to handle some unresolved issues with Darius.
May 21, 2007
Turning Indian students into victims
End image of Native student victims, expert saysDeloria said he's heartened to meet hundreds of students who have goals of being doctors, microbiologists, engineers and entering professions he never heard of. And he said he knows they will do it.
“I'm so thrilled these kids have not been reached by that element that tried to make them feel or spend their lives as downtrodden victims. They're just charging right ahead and they're going to do something in their lives and do something for their communities,” he said. “They're not feeling sorry for themselves. They're not reliving the last time a village got burned.”
It's one reason he gets riled when professors promote the idea of multigenerational trauma.
“It basically enables an endless generation of Indian kids to use a boarding school that they never attended as an excuse for not taking responsibility for themselves,” he said.
“We can't afford to let that happen. There's so much academic enforcement perpetuating this, that you're really taking your life into your hands questioning it. It's just nuts. It's such a disservice to our own people, to our own kids.
“Yes, it was painful--but come on. We're not encouraging good mental health in our own people because we don't want to sacrifice our own victimhood.”
But he sees students who aren't wallowing in sorrow. They are saying: We've got work to do. We've got people to help.
“It's such an inspiration,” said Deloria. “It's such a different world. I tell you. I don't think I could compete with these kids. I'm glad I'm too damn old to have to try. They're smart. They're attractive. They're self-confident. Comment: I have to question Deloria's point here. Students who are smart and confident to make it to college are smart and confident enough to filter a professor's claims. Eighteen years of experience have shaped their sense of self-worth, so nothing short of another boarding-school trauma is likely to faze them.
But let's assume Deloria has a point. Professors are trying but failing to make Indian students feel bad about themselves. So what exactly is the problem? That today's professors are ineffectual or incompetent? That today's students have to listen to a few hours of victim-speak before they go on to their professional careers?
Unless things have changed since I was in college, I presume Deloria is talking about American Indian studies. Why are Indian students taking these classes if their goal is to be a doctor, scientist, or engineer? What do you expect to learn in a history class...biochemistry? If today's science and engineering teachers are spouting off about Sand Creek or Wounded Knee, that's a problem, but I doubt it's happening.
If Deloria wants to make his point, he should do it by telling us tales of smart, confident students whose professors turned them into victims and thwarted their budding careers. Then I'd believe this is a problem. Until then, no.
“I'm so thrilled these kids have not been reached by that element that tried to make them feel or spend their lives as downtrodden victims. They're just charging right ahead and they're going to do something in their lives and do something for their communities,” he said. “They're not feeling sorry for themselves. They're not reliving the last time a village got burned.”
It's one reason he gets riled when professors promote the idea of multigenerational trauma.
“It basically enables an endless generation of Indian kids to use a boarding school that they never attended as an excuse for not taking responsibility for themselves,” he said.
“We can't afford to let that happen. There's so much academic enforcement perpetuating this, that you're really taking your life into your hands questioning it. It's just nuts. It's such a disservice to our own people, to our own kids.
“Yes, it was painful--but come on. We're not encouraging good mental health in our own people because we don't want to sacrifice our own victimhood.”
But he sees students who aren't wallowing in sorrow. They are saying: We've got work to do. We've got people to help.
“It's such an inspiration,” said Deloria. “It's such a different world. I tell you. I don't think I could compete with these kids. I'm glad I'm too damn old to have to try. They're smart. They're attractive. They're self-confident.
But let's assume Deloria has a point. Professors are trying but failing to make Indian students feel bad about themselves. So what exactly is the problem? That today's professors are ineffectual or incompetent? That today's students have to listen to a few hours of victim-speak before they go on to their professional careers?
Unless things have changed since I was in college, I presume Deloria is talking about American Indian studies. Why are Indian students taking these classes if their goal is to be a doctor, scientist, or engineer? What do you expect to learn in a history class...biochemistry? If today's science and engineering teachers are spouting off about Sand Creek or Wounded Knee, that's a problem, but I doubt it's happening.
If Deloria wants to make his point, he should do it by telling us tales of smart, confident students whose professors turned them into victims and thwarted their budding careers. Then I'd believe this is a problem. Until then, no.
What motivates anti-Indian groups?
Treaty Rights and Responding to Anti-Indian ActivityAt least five major factors motivate anti-Indian groups. The first is the call for "equal rights for whites"--that the increased legal powers of the tribes infringes on the liberties of the individual white American taxpayer. The use of civil rights imagery can reach such extremes that whites are described as an oppressed people victimized by "Red Apartheid," and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is invoked in support of an agenda to roll back Indian rights.
The second factor is access to natural resources. These resources can be fish or game, land or water, but the case is the same: no citizens should have "special rights" to use the resources. (It is not mentioned that non-Indians also can retain property use rights over land they sell.) The case is made in anti-treaty pamphlets such as "Are We Giving America Back to the Indians?," "200 Million Custers," and the ironically titled book Don't Blame the Indians: Native Americans and the Mechanized Destruction of Fish and Wildlife by Massachusetts writer Ted Williams.
The third factor is the issue of economic dependency and sovereignty. In a rural reflection of the "Welfare Cadillac" myths used against urban African Americans, all reservation Indians are said to wallow in welfare, food stamps, free housing and medical care, affirmative action programs, and gargantuan federal cash payments--all tax-free, of course. (No one has to pay state sales tax on reservations, but otherwise Indians have had virtually identical tax obligations as non-Indians.) While any quick drive through a reservation will show the Third World conditions Indian peoples have to live under, anti-Indian groups maintain that these conditions arc caused by alcoholism and the breakdown of the Indian family, rather than the reverse. In the same breath, the groups denounce any tribal effort to build some economic self-sufficiency, through appropriate industries, small businesses, tourism campaigns, gaming, or the sale of natural resources. The message is clear and consistent: Indians should be kept under the poverty line, by any means possible.
The fourth factor is the attitude of cultural superiority. Cultural bias comes out in many ways: racist team logos and mascots, the excavation of mounds and burial sites, disrespect of sacred objects such as feathers and drums, and efforts to restrict Native languages and bilingual education. Any Indian objection to these practices more often than not provokes a strong counter-reaction. The very existence of a non-Western belief system, rooted in the middle of the most powerful Western nation, is seen by anti-Indian groups as a fundamental obstacle to overcome.
The fifth factor is simple racism. This includes not only vicious slurs and violent harassment of Indian people, but also the widespread belief that Indians are unfit to govern themselves. Williams describes Indian people as "children," as lazy recipients of outsiders' hand-outs In a right-wing context, this view can easily be translated into a myth that holds Indians as passive components in a conspiracy run by more intelligent non-Indians. 
The second factor is access to natural resources. These resources can be fish or game, land or water, but the case is the same: no citizens should have "special rights" to use the resources. (It is not mentioned that non-Indians also can retain property use rights over land they sell.) The case is made in anti-treaty pamphlets such as "Are We Giving America Back to the Indians?," "200 Million Custers," and the ironically titled book Don't Blame the Indians: Native Americans and the Mechanized Destruction of Fish and Wildlife by Massachusetts writer Ted Williams.
The third factor is the issue of economic dependency and sovereignty. In a rural reflection of the "Welfare Cadillac" myths used against urban African Americans, all reservation Indians are said to wallow in welfare, food stamps, free housing and medical care, affirmative action programs, and gargantuan federal cash payments--all tax-free, of course. (No one has to pay state sales tax on reservations, but otherwise Indians have had virtually identical tax obligations as non-Indians.) While any quick drive through a reservation will show the Third World conditions Indian peoples have to live under, anti-Indian groups maintain that these conditions arc caused by alcoholism and the breakdown of the Indian family, rather than the reverse. In the same breath, the groups denounce any tribal effort to build some economic self-sufficiency, through appropriate industries, small businesses, tourism campaigns, gaming, or the sale of natural resources. The message is clear and consistent: Indians should be kept under the poverty line, by any means possible.
The fourth factor is the attitude of cultural superiority. Cultural bias comes out in many ways: racist team logos and mascots, the excavation of mounds and burial sites, disrespect of sacred objects such as feathers and drums, and efforts to restrict Native languages and bilingual education. Any Indian objection to these practices more often than not provokes a strong counter-reaction. The very existence of a non-Western belief system, rooted in the middle of the most powerful Western nation, is seen by anti-Indian groups as a fundamental obstacle to overcome.
The fifth factor is simple racism. This includes not only vicious slurs and violent harassment of Indian people, but also the widespread belief that Indians are unfit to govern themselves. Williams describes Indian people as "children," as lazy recipients of outsiders' hand-outs In a right-wing context, this view can easily be translated into a myth that holds Indians as passive components in a conspiracy run by more intelligent non-Indians.
Beach not worried about typecasting
Proud of Heritage, SuccessYou know Adam Beach. From Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers." From John Woo's "Windtalkers." From "Smoke Signals." And soon from "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." So isn't he fearful of getting typed in Native American roles?
"No. I don't want to stay away from Indian roles. I want always to show Indians are a part of all stages of society. Like everyone else they're actors, doctors, lawyers, carpenters, hockey players. It is my responsibility to expose the fact that we are like everyone else. If not for me, maybe nobody would believe an Indian could make it to this level of success." Comment: Interesting implications in Cindy Adams's question. Can one be typecast playing a member of a particular race? Even if that race has millions of past and present members? Who have fulfilled every role in society from chief, warrior, and priest to butcher, baker, and candlestick maker?
Adams seems to imply that Indians fill only certain roles in society--e.g., historical figures and wise elders who spout spiritual platitudes. But that says more about Hollywood and Adams than it does about Native actors. Who's offering these actors nontraditional roles...anyone?
"No. I don't want to stay away from Indian roles. I want always to show Indians are a part of all stages of society. Like everyone else they're actors, doctors, lawyers, carpenters, hockey players. It is my responsibility to expose the fact that we are like everyone else. If not for me, maybe nobody would believe an Indian could make it to this level of success."
Adams seems to imply that Indians fill only certain roles in society--e.g., historical figures and wise elders who spout spiritual platitudes. But that says more about Hollywood and Adams than it does about Native actors. Who's offering these actors nontraditional roles...anyone?
Another documentary on wise Indians
Local filmmaker opens door to pastEd Breeding thinks it's time to draw on the wisdom of the past and the beauty of American wilderness and indigenous cultures to inspire change and healing.
Breeding has drawn on many of his own diverse talents—along with those of regional artists—to produce "Echoes From The Ancestors," which he describes as "a 30-minute film featuring quotes, voiceovers and music by Native Americans." Comment: Since I haven't seen Breeding's film, I can't comment on it directly. But it sounds like a lot of the documentaries I've seen. I'd say it's time to do something other than drawing on the wisdom and beauty of indigenous cultures to inspire change and healing. In other words, something that hasn't been done a hundred times before.
Using myself as one of many possible examples, I don't duplicate the efforts of those who have written about Native cultures before. Instead, I run a Stereotype of the Month contest on my website. I critique Native-themed products in this blog. I (try to) publish Native-themed comics. Whether you agree with these efforts or not, you must admit they're not the same old documentaries with ponderous voiceovers and flute music in the background.
Breeding has drawn on many of his own diverse talents—along with those of regional artists—to produce "Echoes From The Ancestors," which he describes as "a 30-minute film featuring quotes, voiceovers and music by Native Americans."
Using myself as one of many possible examples, I don't duplicate the efforts of those who have written about Native cultures before. Instead, I run a Stereotype of the Month contest on my website. I critique Native-themed products in this blog. I (try to) publish Native-themed comics. Whether you agree with these efforts or not, you must admit they're not the same old documentaries with ponderous voiceovers and flute music in the background.
Which massacre was worse?
Letter: Massacres of Indians worse than Va TechThe mass shooting at Virginia Tech was a terrible thing to happen, but I must disagree in calling it the worst shooting massacre in United States history. It is not the worst. I can think of at least three shooting massacres that can claim the title as the worst.
There is Sand Creek, Colo., in 1864 committed by Col. John Chivington and his Colorado Volunteers, He especially ordered the killing of the Indian children saying "nits make lice," Washita Oklahoma in 1868 committed by Lt. Col. G. A. Custer and the 7th Cavalry, Wounded Knee in 1890 committed by Nelson Miles and the remnants of the 7th US Cavalry, all of in which peaceful Indian women, children and sick and elderly were shot down in cold blood by the hundreds in the middle of winter.
But as usual Indians don't count, right? Comment: Follow the link for some interesting responses to this letter.
There is Sand Creek, Colo., in 1864 committed by Col. John Chivington and his Colorado Volunteers, He especially ordered the killing of the Indian children saying "nits make lice," Washita Oklahoma in 1868 committed by Lt. Col. G. A. Custer and the 7th Cavalry, Wounded Knee in 1890 committed by Nelson Miles and the remnants of the 7th US Cavalry, all of in which peaceful Indian women, children and sick and elderly were shot down in cold blood by the hundreds in the middle of winter.
But as usual Indians don't count, right?
Morongo pulls ad campaign
Assembly Hearing to Governor: Re-negotiate California Casino Deals[O]n Saturday, the Morongo Tribe abruptly pulled its $20 million campaign aimed at Assembly Democrats. Morongo’s spokesperson, former Republican Party Communications Director Patrick Dorinson, claimed the campaign had accomplished its goals, but the word in the Capitol was that the hugely expensive campaign was backfiring badly. In addition to its bold attempt at bullying the Assembly’s political leadership, numerous commentators had remarked how the Tribe’s expensive campaign had somehow failed to mention that it was promoting a casino expansion with 22,500 more slots for a tiny group of rich tribes. The Tribe even hired door knockers to generate calls to Assembly offices, but failed to tell voters about the giant casino expansions. Capitol staffers reported that when they asked unsuspecting callers, “So you’re supporting casino expansions for five wealthy tribes?” the conversations changed dramatically. 
May 20, 2007
CSA: Confederate States of America
CSA: The Confederate States of AmericaImagine we live in an alternate reality where the South won the Civil War. Now imagine you're watching a local TV station one evening as it airs a British-made documentary about American history. "CSA: The Confederate States of America" is that documentary, complete with commercials that reflect the culture of modern Confederate America.
With a satiric eye, Willmott uses "historians" and faked news footage to show the last 143 years of American history. We see Lincoln's exile to Canada, an early D.W. Griffith silent film depicting his capture, and clips from the 1955 thriller "I Married an Abolitionist" (abolitionists where the big boogeymen in the '50s, rather than Communists). A commercial advertises daily reruns of "Leave It to Beulah," about a sassy slave in a white household. Before the documentary begins, viewers are warned that, due to its controversial nature (it was made by anti-slavery Brits, after all), it may not be suitable "for children or servants."
Willmott's imagination about how history would have changed with a Southern victory is perceptive and sharp. The Confederacy actually did have plans to colonize Latin America, so Willmott uses that. The anti-Negro philosophies of the day, made law by the new Confederate States of America, evolve into anti-everything, putting the C.S.A. right in line with Hitler when he comes along.
Some of the faked stock footage and newsreels are remarkably well done, notably the aforementioned D.W. Griffith short, which is also raucously funny. But others are obviously low-budget and shoddily made, and few of the actors are convincing. One of the keys to success here is making this faux documentary and its accompanying TV commercials look legit, and much of the material just doesn't cut it. Irreverent rewrite of history is hilariousIt is in this vision of an America that never abolished slavery that "CSA" is most successful. The alternate history is more problematic, mostly due to its adherence to the existing timeline of historical events. The country still enters into a war with Japan on Dec. 7, 1941, although in this version America launches the sneak attack. John Kennedy, an abolition-preaching Republican, still defeats Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election, and is still assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Obviously, had such a cataclysmic upset as a Southern victory in the Civil War occurred, these events would not have occurred.
Less significant issues such as "Dixie" being the national anthem are nonetheless disconcerting. Since the song was written by a former slave, it would not exist had slavery not been abolished. More serious is the supposition that the genocide against the Indians would have been carried out by the Southern cavalry, when it was exclusively a result of western expansion by the North.
"CSA" is best when inventing, not amending, history. The idea that Canada, by welcoming runaway slaves and pro-abolitionist refugees, would have become the birthplace of rock 'n' roll while the culture of the United States would have been limited to government propaganda, is only one of many hilarious what-ifs offered by this often remarkable film. Comment: I'd say these reviews sum up the strengths and weakenesses of CSA accurately. But I don't agree with the comment about the Indians. If the South had won and taken control of the country, it would've expanded just as the North expanded. Southerners had no special tolerance for Indians that I'm aware of.
In fact, CSA makes a good case that the more religiously oriented South would've believed in Manifest Destiny even more fervently than the North did. In the movie, the South exercises this belief by invading and conquering Latin America. If you buy that, you must also buy that the CSA would've dominated America's Indians.
Other than the bit on the Indian Wars, CSA mentions Indians once more: when it shows two football teams named the Washington Indians and the New York Niggers. This is a brief but effective comment on the mascot issue. In the racist society of CSA, the team names and mascots are little different from ours. We don't mock blacks with mascots, but we still mock Indians.
It would be interesting to see a mockumentary of Jake Page's Apacheria, perhaps the best alternative history featuring American Indians. This movie would explore and elucidate many Anglo/Indian issues. Mr. Page, if you're reading this, let's talk.
Rob's rating of CSA: 7.5 of 10.
With a satiric eye, Willmott uses "historians" and faked news footage to show the last 143 years of American history. We see Lincoln's exile to Canada, an early D.W. Griffith silent film depicting his capture, and clips from the 1955 thriller "I Married an Abolitionist" (abolitionists where the big boogeymen in the '50s, rather than Communists). A commercial advertises daily reruns of "Leave It to Beulah," about a sassy slave in a white household. Before the documentary begins, viewers are warned that, due to its controversial nature (it was made by anti-slavery Brits, after all), it may not be suitable "for children or servants."
Willmott's imagination about how history would have changed with a Southern victory is perceptive and sharp. The Confederacy actually did have plans to colonize Latin America, so Willmott uses that. The anti-Negro philosophies of the day, made law by the new Confederate States of America, evolve into anti-everything, putting the C.S.A. right in line with Hitler when he comes along.
Some of the faked stock footage and newsreels are remarkably well done, notably the aforementioned D.W. Griffith short, which is also raucously funny. But others are obviously low-budget and shoddily made, and few of the actors are convincing. One of the keys to success here is making this faux documentary and its accompanying TV commercials look legit, and much of the material just doesn't cut it.
Less significant issues such as "Dixie" being the national anthem are nonetheless disconcerting. Since the song was written by a former slave, it would not exist had slavery not been abolished. More serious is the supposition that the genocide against the Indians would have been carried out by the Southern cavalry, when it was exclusively a result of western expansion by the North.
"CSA" is best when inventing, not amending, history. The idea that Canada, by welcoming runaway slaves and pro-abolitionist refugees, would have become the birthplace of rock 'n' roll while the culture of the United States would have been limited to government propaganda, is only one of many hilarious what-ifs offered by this often remarkable film.
In fact, CSA makes a good case that the more religiously oriented South would've believed in Manifest Destiny even more fervently than the North did. In the movie, the South exercises this belief by invading and conquering Latin America. If you buy that, you must also buy that the CSA would've dominated America's Indians.
Other than the bit on the Indian Wars, CSA mentions Indians once more: when it shows two football teams named the Washington Indians and the New York Niggers. This is a brief but effective comment on the mascot issue. In the racist society of CSA, the team names and mascots are little different from ours. We don't mock blacks with mascots, but we still mock Indians.
It would be interesting to see a mockumentary of Jake Page's Apacheria, perhaps the best alternative history featuring American Indians. This movie would explore and elucidate many Anglo/Indian issues. Mr. Page, if you're reading this, let's talk.
Rob's rating of CSA: 7.5 of 10.
Reviews of Now & Forever
A Love That Stands the Tests of Time and Cree WisdomIn "Now & Forever," a mystical love story directed by Bob Clark ("Porky's," "A Christmas Story"), John (Adam Beach), a young Cree Indian from a small town in Saskatchewan, has been in love with Angela (Mia Kirshner) since the two were children. But after her father, a Vietnam veteran, commits suicide, the troubled and restless Angela takes up instead with T. J. (Gabriel Olds), a callow youth who brags about their sex life to his friends.
When John rescues Angela from an assault at the hands of T. J.'s marauding gang, she flees their hometown in shame, determined to make her way as an actress. She leaves the heartbroken John with the gift of a leather-bound journal, in which he records thoughts like "I was wrenched out of her arms by the holocaust of my reality."
John's gift for solemn, unintentionally funny pronouncements may be inherited from his father, Ghost Fox (Gordon Tootoosis), the kind of movie Indian who uses contractions sparsely as he reassures his son that "this soil is sacred, full of stirring memories" and that "all will unfold as it should." For Angela and John this unfolding will involve fulfilling a magical bond fated to unite them forever. When Angela falls ill with a rare disease, John mysteriously reappears in her life to realize the prophecy.
Ms. Kirshner, who plays a similarly frail and damaged character on Showtime's "L Word," is a saucer-eyed beauty with an appealing screen presence, but she's not given much to do here except suffer prettily. Theresa Russell is terrific as Angela's slatternly but loving mother, but her character disappears abruptly midway through the movie. As T. J., Mr. Olds is so calculatingly evil, he may as well be twisting the ends of a waxed mustache, while the Indian characters are stiff and noble enough to be carved in wood and parked outside a tobacco shop. 'Now & Forever'Now & Forever's heart is in the right place, but its mouth is not; this earnest Canadian production from 2002 boasts one of the single most odious voice-over narrations in recent memory. It is read by Adam Beach, whose apathetic delivery suggests that he understood the innate crappiness of lines like "At that moment, my heart discovered new words for emptiness that my mind could never grasp." Beach's John waxes philosophomoric for Angela (Mia Kirshner), who stands up to one of his childhood bullies, endearing herself to him for all eternity ("I knew that joy and pain would now forever be my constant companions!"). In the film's final third, Angela and John reunite after a lengthy separation, and the stars, unencumbered by pretentious voice-over, develop a warm chemistry. But the screenplay keeps getting in their way. Now & ForeverNow & Forever was directed by Bob Clark, who remains best known for his '80s hits Porky's and A Christmas Story. In recent years, Clark has been making a living by helming family TV-movies and such embarrassing features as Baby Geniuses and its sequel Superbabies. It's understandable that he'd like to see Now & Forever reach a wider audience; after all, this is the first adult story he's been able to tackle in ages. Clark's direction is professional enough, as are the lead performances, but the movie is doomed from the get-go by Bill Boyle's mawkish, cliché-ridden screenplay. You can see every plot development coming a mile away and the final "twist" almost pushes the film into camp. And if the writer notices anything slightly distasteful about the central romance--a Native American man who is so devoted to serving this oblivious white woman that he thinks of nothing else--he doesn't acknowledge it. In fact, Boyle isn't particularly interested in John and his father as people; they are primarily on hand to spout all the trite spiritual platitudes about eternal love that are prerequisites for this kind of weepy melodrama. "I'm going to do dying well...there is no way that I'm going to do some cheesy movie-of-the-week," Angela says as her sickness worsens. Sorry, sweetheart--it's too late for that. Comment: These reviews pretty much nailed the problems with this film. John and his father qualify as your standard mystical Indians, with lots of New Age-y talk about spirits and souls. Rob's rating: 6.0 of 10.
P.S. I saw Clark's A Christmas Story last year. A holiday classic? I don't think so.
If you think A Christmas Story is a great movie, you may like Now & Forever. I suspect the inverse is also true.
Now & Forever Photo Gallery
When John rescues Angela from an assault at the hands of T. J.'s marauding gang, she flees their hometown in shame, determined to make her way as an actress. She leaves the heartbroken John with the gift of a leather-bound journal, in which he records thoughts like "I was wrenched out of her arms by the holocaust of my reality."
John's gift for solemn, unintentionally funny pronouncements may be inherited from his father, Ghost Fox (Gordon Tootoosis), the kind of movie Indian who uses contractions sparsely as he reassures his son that "this soil is sacred, full of stirring memories" and that "all will unfold as it should." For Angela and John this unfolding will involve fulfilling a magical bond fated to unite them forever. When Angela falls ill with a rare disease, John mysteriously reappears in her life to realize the prophecy.
Ms. Kirshner, who plays a similarly frail and damaged character on Showtime's "L Word," is a saucer-eyed beauty with an appealing screen presence, but she's not given much to do here except suffer prettily. Theresa Russell is terrific as Angela's slatternly but loving mother, but her character disappears abruptly midway through the movie. As T. J., Mr. Olds is so calculatingly evil, he may as well be twisting the ends of a waxed mustache, while the Indian characters are stiff and noble enough to be carved in wood and parked outside a tobacco shop.
P.S. I saw Clark's A Christmas Story last year. A holiday classic? I don't think so.
If you think A Christmas Story is a great movie, you may like Now & Forever. I suspect the inverse is also true.
Now & Forever Photo Gallery
Review of OMEGA FLIGHT #2
Omega Flight #2This is such a depressing book. Omega Flight really should be the last attempt to bring this team back to comics if this is the best Marvel could do. Michael Avon Oeming a writer whom I respect makes the book literary Prozac.
Sasquatch has been captured by the Wrecking Crew to be gruesomely tortured. Joy. U.S. Agent attacks a villain for attempting to wipe out her credit debt. Hussah. He's almost wiped out from existence until the second Spider-Woman saves his sorry butt. Yay.
When I put Omega Flight on my subscription list I was hoping for a book that would avoid the Civil War, but no. This Big Stupid Event is deep in its heart. If you have any doubt, Tin Fascist and his pet quisling Ms. Marvel make an appearance through a SHIELD vidlink. Oeming even throws in a few gratuitous flashbacks of the Civil War as Talisman criticizes American registration.
Whatever happened to fun? This book with murky artwork by Kolins and Reber isn't fun. Comment: I wouldn't be quite this harsh, but the series isn't getting better as it goes along. I agree that the art is murky and the story is uninspired so far. I'll probably give it one more issue to see what happens.
The interesting thing here is how Talisman steps forward as a main character and probable leader of the new Omega Flight. She does a mystical thing or two a la your typical Indian shaman. She cops an attitude a la Dani Moonstar; she even looks like Moonstar.
But the most noteworthy thing to me is the first extended look at her new costume. Talisman must be magical because I don't see how this costume would stay up otherwise. It's pure exploitation, making Talisman into a Native sex object like so many predecessors. There's no way a tribal shaman or a woman with Elizabeth's disdain for superheroics would wear such a revealing costume.
Her previous costume was also somewhat revealing, although it was more demure. But then she wasn't a tribal shaman or someone trying to live as a traditional Native. Now she is. Her costume should've gone in the other direction--becoming less revealing, not more.
Sasquatch has been captured by the Wrecking Crew to be gruesomely tortured. Joy. U.S. Agent attacks a villain for attempting to wipe out her credit debt. Hussah. He's almost wiped out from existence until the second Spider-Woman saves his sorry butt. Yay.
When I put Omega Flight on my subscription list I was hoping for a book that would avoid the Civil War, but no. This Big Stupid Event is deep in its heart. If you have any doubt, Tin Fascist and his pet quisling Ms. Marvel make an appearance through a SHIELD vidlink. Oeming even throws in a few gratuitous flashbacks of the Civil War as Talisman criticizes American registration.
Whatever happened to fun? This book with murky artwork by Kolins and Reber isn't fun.
The interesting thing here is how Talisman steps forward as a main character and probable leader of the new Omega Flight. She does a mystical thing or two a la your typical Indian shaman. She cops an attitude a la Dani Moonstar; she even looks like Moonstar.
But the most noteworthy thing to me is the first extended look at her new costume. Talisman must be magical because I don't see how this costume would stay up otherwise. It's pure exploitation, making Talisman into a Native sex object like so many predecessors. There's no way a tribal shaman or a woman with Elizabeth's disdain for superheroics would wear such a revealing costume.
Her previous costume was also somewhat revealing, although it was more demure. But then she wasn't a tribal shaman or someone trying to live as a traditional Native. Now she is. Her costume should've gone in the other direction--becoming less revealing, not more.
Giago notices casino benefits
The Key Word is R-E-S-P-E-C-TRespect is a word an Indian could never expect to hear in the towns bordering their reservations. But it is amazing the amount of respect that money can buy. Those ragtag Indians scraping by on little or nothing now have an abundance of cash in their pockets. Or at least some of them do. Those casino dollars now make the Indian people much sought after consumers. They can now buy new furniture; clothing, automobiles, appliances and they can now open bank accounts.
I recall that not too long ago when I owned a weekly newspaper one of my advertising sales people went into a local carpet store to solicit an ad for the paper. The haughty sales manager quipped, "Oh, I didn't know Indians had carpets in their tee pees."
From a lady who prepared taxes for the IRS my sales lady heard, "Well, I know that Indians don't pay taxes," and from a local new car dealership, "Your readers just don't have the credit to buy our new cars," and finally from the manager of an upscale department store, "I don't think your readers are the kind of people that would be comfortable in our store." As Rodney Dangerfield used to say, "No respect, I don't get no respect." Comment: Giago says his views on casinos have changed 180 degrees. But it's not clear he has any new information. It seems he finally noticed what gaming proponents have been saying for at least a decade. Namely, that gaming lets Indians join the economic mainstream.
I recall that not too long ago when I owned a weekly newspaper one of my advertising sales people went into a local carpet store to solicit an ad for the paper. The haughty sales manager quipped, "Oh, I didn't know Indians had carpets in their tee pees."
From a lady who prepared taxes for the IRS my sales lady heard, "Well, I know that Indians don't pay taxes," and from a local new car dealership, "Your readers just don't have the credit to buy our new cars," and finally from the manager of an upscale department store, "I don't think your readers are the kind of people that would be comfortable in our store." As Rodney Dangerfield used to say, "No respect, I don't get no respect."
O'odham myth inspires mazes
Following a path to serenityAs a child growing up on the Tohono O'odham Reservation, a young Jordan Francisco remembers the designs his grandmother taught him about the "Man in the Maze."
Linked to the story about a god who resides in a cave below the peak of Baboquivari Peak on the O'odham Reservation, the design in the "Man in the Maze" tells a story about the different stages in life, said Francisco, 41.
"Each line symbolizes a time in our life—birth, childhood, puberty, marriage and death—it's continuous," Francisco said. "He's a prominent figure for all of us in our journey of life."
The "Man in the Maze" is now being incorporated into labyrinth paths around the region, with one featured at the Morris K. Udall Center, and the posh Miraval Life in Balance Tucson Resort & Spa. 
Linked to the story about a god who resides in a cave below the peak of Baboquivari Peak on the O'odham Reservation, the design in the "Man in the Maze" tells a story about the different stages in life, said Francisco, 41.
"Each line symbolizes a time in our life—birth, childhood, puberty, marriage and death—it's continuous," Francisco said. "He's a prominent figure for all of us in our journey of life."
The "Man in the Maze" is now being incorporated into labyrinth paths around the region, with one featured at the Morris K. Udall Center, and the posh Miraval Life in Balance Tucson Resort & Spa.
Indians vs. progress
Are Indigenous People Hostile Towards Development?[I]t’s not as if indigenous people want to be setting up blockades here. And it’s not like they just can’t find something good on tv either… It’s because conventional ‘acceptable actions’ like going to court, petitioning the UN, and writing appeals to the Queen almost always end in a twisted, neutralizing way: Nothing ever changes, which means everything gets worse.
It’s not like there’s a choice either. If there was, these States would not be arresting and criminalizing innocent people in a blatant effort to make sure things continue, business as usual. 
It’s not like there’s a choice either. If there was, these States would not be arresting and criminalizing innocent people in a blatant effort to make sure things continue, business as usual.
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