Pathfinder resembles 300, Apocalypto

Some quotes from the movie's reviews:This could be seen as a movie trend toward bloody historical fiction in the wake of "300," except for the slight difference that none of this ever happened. Then again, it's doubtful real Spartans had abs like the guys in "300," so who cares about history anyway? (Detroit News)

Since "300" set the gold standard for slow-motion, sword-wielding violence last month, "Pathfinder" must be shooting for silver or bronze or, well, you get the idea.

Although the picture looks great--in the same way that films like "300" look great--nicely framed shots of arrows piercing eyeballs and blood splattering the ground--it's difficult to get past the fact that not much happens during the 100-minute run. (Zanesville Times Recorder)

The oft-delayed actioner "Pathfinder" is like the dumbed down offspring of "300" and "Apocalypto."

And neither of those films fell anywhere near the genius category. (Washington Times)

Torture scenes (spears plunged into eyes and other organs, people whipped ferociously and hanged from trees) are reminiscent of Mel Gibson's Mayan epic, Apocalypto. (USA Today)

IT would be too easy to describe PATHFINDER (15) as simply a Viking version of Apocalypto. It would also be hugely unfair...to Apocalypto.

Whether the over-the-top blood-letting of Mel Gibson's Mayan adventure was to your taste or not, it is unquestionably a better movie.

Where Apocalypto felt vital and fresh, Pathfinder seems sluggish and obvious and unoriginal. (Muswell Hill Journal)

Think of it as "Apocalypto" with a northern twist.

As to whether the Vikings could beat the Persians from "300," well, you'll have to wait for the video game. (Daily Herald)

Like Apocalypto, Pathfinder is another pseudo-historical walk on the wild side, this time featuring a vaguely plausible (but completely unsubstantiated) encounter between ninth-century Vikings and Native Americans.

It’s very much like Apocalypto in that it boils down to one character playing cat-and-mouse through the forest with a band of barbarians, although eventually the nasty Norsemen take hostage Starfire (Moon Bloodgood, Eight Below), Ghost’s girlfriend, but at least she’s not useless shrieking baggage.

What I don’t like is that director Marcus Nispel (crafter of music videos for Janet Jackson, Amy Grant and others) has chosen a murky, grey-toned palette for his cinematography, as pervasive as the bronze-hued scheme for 300 and which, most of the time, just makes it hard to identify characters (although it helps obscure some pretty bad digital effects). (Columbia Free Times)Comment:  I'm glad several reviewers noticed the resemblance between Pathfinder and 300 or Apocalypto. This resemblance was obvious from the Pathfinder trailer. Anyone who can "read" trailers would've noticed it.

In fact, the Columbia Free Times nailed it: Pathfinder has the plot of Apocalypto and the style of 300. So did the Washington Times, describing it as a cross between 300 and Apocalypto. Which is just what I said.

Youngblood ignores Yeagley

Mel Gibson Denounces Yeagley

Youngblood answers his critics:Youngblood says he is unequivocally Comanche by blood and is baffled by Yeagley's claims. "I don't know him. I've never seen him. I've never talked to him. I've never crossed paths with him," said Youngblood. The accusations of fraud first appeared on Yeagley's website, BadEagle.com, and subsequently in articles in the Los Angeles Times and Back Stage.

The actor and former dancer with the Native American Dance Theatre said he will officially enroll in the Comanche Nation, which requires federal documents proving an individual is at least one-eighth Comanche Indian. "It's just taking the time. It's a long process. It's very drawn out. [But] it's not like I can't," he said.And ignores Yeagley:As advised by Gibson, his mentor, Youngblood said he will continue to ignore Yeagley and his supporters. "[Gibson] said, 'People like that will never be happy. Jealousy eats at you, and all they have is driven by hate.' "

"I'm not going to say anything to [Yeagley]. I'm going to let him talk," Youngblood added. "Instead of doing something productive, he wastes his time behind a computer talking bad about people....I'm not going to waste my time with that."Al Carroll analyzes Gibson's comments:When a man like Mel Gibson, raised by a "fundamentalist Catholic" who asserts the Holocaust was a hoax and the Catholic Church is too liberal and too modern, calls Yeagley a hateful man, that should tell us all just how extreme Yeagley's political and religious fundamentalism is.

When the maker of a notoriously inaccurate and stereotyped movie (Apocalypto, in case there's any doubt) denounces Yeagley as driven by jealousy and unhappiness with his own life, then maybe Yeagley should take the advice of this more famous bigot to heart.

SCALPED's totem pole and tomahawk

A correspondent comments on SCALPED's totem pole:What???? Isn't that like a story set in Russia with the Effiel Tower featured in it? I live in totem pole country. We understand totem poles. No totem poles outside the Pacific Northwest unless they were a sacred gift from a Pac. NW tribe or some artist really needed the money--well, there are the pathetic attempts at totem poles, but never the real thing--and we can tell at a glance from looking at them all day every day.

Linde Knighton--a Native living in Seattle.Comment:  It's obviously a non-Indian's attempt to draw a totem pole. It looks phony.

In the comic it's lying against a barn, discarded. I wouldn't be surprised if that violates a Northwest Indian taboo or custom.

And of course there's absolutely no reason for the pole to be in South Dakota in the first place.



And I love the image below from the cover of SCALPED #5. Forget the stereotypical alcohol for a moment. A tomahawk?! If Vertigo's people are intentionally trying to annoy us, they could hardly do a better job of it.

Moreover, the cover of SCALPED #6 features a face with war paint. But we haven't seen a teepee, an arrowhead, or a peace pipe yet. Can we expect those on the covers of SCALPED #7-9?

Get a clue, Jason Aaron. The chief, the totem pole, and the tomahawk on your covers are clear evidence that your comic is stereotypical. Do something about it or continue to earn my scorn.

Alaskan art overturns expectations

Show a refreshing wade into a whirlpool of social issues“Con-Census,” an exhibition of Alaska Native art showing at the Anchorage Museum, is a skillful blend of aesthetics and education, visually striking, thought-provoking and boldly personal. It is a meld of traditional and modern ele­ments, set within a minimal format and layered with references to intellectual challenges and moral dilemmas. Anchorage artist Sonya Kelliher-Combs was selected to develop the exhibition as the current offering in the yearly series “Points of View.” The stated purpose of the series is to use guest curators to “bring a unique vision” to the museum’s extensive collection of art and artifacts. These curators are encouraged to take a fresh look at the collection, draw new conclusions and highlight pieces not usually exhibited.

Judged by each of the criteria, “Con-Census” is successful. Previous guest curators in the series have made statements with items selected from the museum storerooms and by their arrangements of those selections. Kelliher-Combs, however, takes items from the museum’s closet--old handmade mittens or mukluks--and deploys them in conjunction with outside material--boot boxes, wine corks, identification cards--in assembled installations that become new and complete artworks in themselves.Some examples:“Goodbye” is a memorial to those who died as a result of suicide. Thirty-eight pairs of gloves and mittens representing Alaska Natives who died by their own hand since 2005 are arranged on a platform, fingers pointed upward. Kelliher-Combs has used mittens and their accompanying “idiot strings” as metaphors in much of her own work. The sincerity and warmth expressed in the memorial are moving.

“Overflow” is a single container--a fine example of bentwood utilitarian craftsmanship. It is heaped with wine corks. In “Offering,” the filling in the container consists of pull-tabs from the gambling industry.

Codetalker doc in the works

'Back to the battlefields'

Code Talker documentary still in production phaseThe much-anticipated documentary "Navajo Code Talkers: Back to the Battlefields" is still in the process of completing interviews, and expects a completed project by this summer.

The completed project will be a major documentary program targeted for a prime-time national release. It will include a national educational program and a traveling museum exhibit. The hope of creators is that it will have a lasting impact on Americans.Comment:  I met Natasha Kaye Johnson, the author of this article, at the First Americans in the Arts ceremony. She also wrote the article about the Yazzies getting an Extreme Makeover home. I look forward to seeing more of her work.

Drawings determined Indian images

Early Native American Images Still Echo

Paintings Dating Back 400 Years Show How Native Americans Captured The ImaginationPrints made from engravings of the pictures by Dutchman Theodor de Bry were distributed all over Europe. And because no other similar pictures were made for a couple of centuries, this was the image of the American Indian that was so indelibly tattooed on the European heart. It's still there and can be seen in today's Hollywood image of the Indian.

"It's because they're based on White," Sloan said. "It's because those images became the Hollywood version for all of Europe for 200 years."Comment:  This is an early example of how the media shapes perceptions.

Summing up the Eiteljorg event

Faster than a Speeding Arrow:  “Native American Portrayals in Comics” Showcases Super IndiansWhat’s black and white and red all over?

If you answered Native Americans in the funny pages, you’re right.

On March 10, the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis hosted a program on “Native American Portrayals in Comics.” Fans came from miles around to see the best and worst of Indian comics and hear industry and academic professionals discuss them.

Oñate or "The Equestrian"

Controversial Statue UnveiledThe legacy of Don Juan de Onate stirs up controversy once again.

After waiting nearly ten years, the Equestrian finally gets its officially welcoming, but not without protest.

Hundreds gathered at the El Paso International Airport. Some welcomed the Conquistador with open arms. Others held up signs, calling shame upon the city for honoring who they call "a butcher."What the controversy is about:History states, Onate killed and raped indigenous people. He also cut off the foot of men from the Acoma Tribe. Those in protest, say they are the ancestors of the people who endured Onate's brutal beatings and killings. They say, Onate is nothing more than a murder and should not be honored.

Others say history is filled with murder and the past was filled hard times. They say Onate's past is El Paso's past and history should be told so we don't forget. They say, when people forget the past, that is when history will repeat itself.Comment:  Does anyone think this statue doesn't glorify its subject? If so, get serious. This statue is perhaps the biggest glorification of a person since Mt. Rushmore.

Media stereotypes other cultures

Why ignoring our northern neighbor mattersHere's an example. Some years ago--the late '80s, early '90s--the U.S. media became utterly smitten with Japan. The genius of Japanese industry, the gold-plated work ethic of Japanese workers, the sky-high savings rate of Japanese consumers--all were subjects of innumerable newspaper reports, magazine articles, books and learned publications, many of them fawning, nearly all of them deeply impressed. Japan's customs, institutions and social norms were themselves newsworthy. Japan was a bristling economic rival and, consequently, it was a country that the United States needed to learn from.

And learn what exactly? Lessons of hard work, sacrifice, obedience, the virtues of putting up with less, the blessings of a less clamorous, less individualistic and more compliant society. Japan was admired for its scarcity of lawyers, abundance of patriotism and sturdy deference to authority. (That these blessings came with fewer civic rights, a sham democracy, a denial of war guilt and an emperor-worship most of us would consider pagan wasn't a key part of the message.)

The Japan example suggests that under certain circumstances U.S. media can take an interest in foreign societies, even when they aren't churning out what we would normally consider news. But the ideological tilt was unmistakable.

Pocahontas overshadows Virginia's Indians

Adkins:  Virginia tribes deserve federal recognitionThe story of Pocahontas that is widely known today is largely a myth, a romantic legend that plays to those who fantasize about the exotic nature of exploration and first contact. That myth has overshadowed much of the true story, a story that is much less romantic but far more compelling. It is about a people that have a unique place in the foundations of a modern nation but who have not been recognized for that. We feel that history has not accurately reflected what we have experienced, who we are or who we want to be. VITAL has persisted in the Congressional process because we feel the need to fill in the details, to get past the legends, to reclaim our history. Jamestown 400 years later brings all this history together for us in one time and place.

We owe our survival to more than our own strength. We owe it to reporters like Peter Hardin, who wrote a key story at the right time about Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924, making public the sad truth of the racial discrimination directed towards the Indian people in Virginia. It is also a story which most Virginians outside of the Tribal communities knew nothing of. We don’t like to tell that story but it explains why we have stayed quiet, and how we have survived.

Americans afraid to say "genocide"

The politics of saying 'genocide'On Tuesday, President Bush will be obliged, by law, to wrap his double-talking mouth around one of the most curiously persistent debates in modern geopolitics: Whether to call a 92-year-old genocide a "genocide."

Every April 24 since 1994, the U.S. president has delivered a proclamation honoring the people Congress has declared to be "the victims of genocide, especially the 1 1/2 million people of Armenian ancestry who were the victims of the genocide perpetrated in Turkey between 1915 and 1923." And every year since 1994, the U.S. president has managed to do it without once uttering the G-word. It's a ritual of linguistic realpolitik in deference to the massive objections from Washington's important NATO ally, Turkey.Comment:  Americans are also reluctant to acknowledge the genocide against Native Americans, of course.

Reaction to SCALPED article

From an activist correspondent in response to Dueling Views on SCALPED:I think you nailed it. I agree with everything you said, however, the problems on some of those reservations in SD are really bad. The story as you have described it sounds like a conversation I have four or five times a week on the phone with members of a few tribes out there. However, as you so articulately said, they left out the balance, the other side of the story that all people experience, the sweetness, the beauty, the humor. For sure, as unbalanced as the storyline is, it will perpetuate distaste for Indians among the dominant culture. It plays on their worst fears and stereotypical opinions about Indians.Comment:  I've discussed the issue of balance before. See Dueling Views of the Blackfeet for more on the subject.

Dena'ina Athabascan owns football team

Alaska Native wins semi-pro football team franchiseJeff Hurlburt is a busy guy.

The 27-year-old Alaska Native is married with four children. He's a full-time graduate student studying physical education at Central Connecticut State University. He also works full-time for the state as a mental health worker at Connecticut Valley Hospital: and now he's kicking off the first season of the newly created Middletown Spartans, a semi-pro football team in the New England Football League.

Hurlburt, a Dena'ina Athabascan whose family is from the village of Tyonek, Alaska, was recently awarded ownership of the NEFL expansion team by the league's board of directors.

Revisiting Dances

Looking for Mr. DunbarWhen it was released 17 years ago—yes, it’s been nearly a generation—DWW was heralded as a masterpiece of sorts, a film that humanized Indians by portraying fully-developed characters speaking their native tongue.

But that was then, and then isn’t now. The film has grown wearisome; the portrayal of John Dunbar as the White superhero swooping in to save the Indians was just a new age version of an old, old tale. But maybe, just maybe, it’s time to revisit that idea. Maybe, just maybe, Dances With Wolves isn’t so bad after all.

More stereotypes in Pathfinder

Killsback:  On the 'Path' of sour Indian films

The character types:Ghost ... defeats his own Viking people, thus postponing the colonization of Native America for another 500 years, with the aid of the Indian princess, a mentally retarded tribal member and the Pathfinder, a cliched mystic played by Russell Means.The environment:We know the Vikings landed on northern shores, but we can never gain a true sense of where this legend takes place. In "Pathfinder," the pre-contact environment is the harshest of any on the planet. The sun never rose. In one scene, our hero treks through caves filled with human skulls as if he were in a Conan comic book. Obviously there was ice and snow, but there are scenes that show both frozen and tropical environments. During the whole movie we are told that it is springtime, yet there are scenes that would have us thinking otherwise. Nevertheless, it does not make sense to show a young Indian girl gathering berries in a woodland area, and later show our hero sliding down a giant snow-packed mountain. The question still remains: Where exactly is this harsh environment and what is wrong with the weather?

Are we to believe that our ancient environment was at its most harsh in the absence of Europeans? Are we to believe that pre-contact North America was so untamed that even the seasons were inconsistent, and that today's global-warming weather is "normal?" Of course not, but "Pathfinder" may convince some that Native America was ruled by nature, and in need of a good European environmental makeover.The helpless Natives:"Pathfinder" also depicts the Native people as helpless and defenseless--their pathetic warriors could not kill a single Viking--and that their lack of military tactics and common sense led their best fighters to commit suicide in a weak display of unorganized warfare. The white hero fights, defends and inevitably proves himself superior to the same savage people who denied him as a worthy warrior.

Is this common ancestor the sole reason why the French, Spanish, English and, later, the Americans were met with such violent resistance from Native warriors? Are we to believe that our ancestors could not produce the warriors and warrior societies that protected our people against the gun-wielding brutes of Europe without the teachings of a Viking? Of course not, but "Pathfinder" may convince some, and vindicate others, that the strongest and bravest warriors came from Europe and that somehow our ancestors were bred into knowing their warrior ways.Conclusion:Like most mainstream movies before, "Pathfinder" had given Indian actors the opportunity to be on the big screen at the cost of their own exploitation. The movie falls miserably close to the path of sour Indian films which have the habit of depicting a wild pre-contact Native America filled with dirty savages wandering aimlessly, without much purpose but to await a brutal death from a much mightier European people. Should we distrust all Hollywood filmmakers when they call for Indian actors? No, but we should at least be aware of how they want to depict American Indians to the rest of the world.Comment:  I find Killsback's point about the environment especially telling. The monochromatic, fogbound landscape makes Native America look like a grim, harsh place. Even without depicting the Indians as savages, the movie depicts the land as savage. The implication is that this is no place for a civilization--that civilization isn't possible here.

Contrast this with the depiction of Native America in Disney's Pocahontas. There the land is the opposite: a colorful, magical place of talking trees and lovable animals. This also sends a stereotypical message: that Indians were happy-go-lucky nature lovers compared to the cruel, exploitative Europeans.

Dueling views of the Blackfeet

Here's a reservation that's similar to and located near the fictional Prairie Rose reservation in SCALPED. These two articles about it appeared the same day:

Deaths prompt outcry: BIA law enforcement is failing, Blackfeet leaders say"Today, our reservation is lawless," charged Roger "Sassie" Running Crane, vice chairman of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council.

"It has become a dumping ground for drugs," he said. "We have a number of assaults, sex crimes, spousal abuse, rapes and a lot of murders.

"And we never know if a crime has been investigated," he added.Event displays Blackfeet cultureThe Days of the Blackfeet kicks off Monday with a native film festival, art show and sale and a presentation on the history of Indian horse racing. Traditional games, a double-ball competition, lectures on language and pemmican-making demonstrations also are part of a packed four-days of cultural events.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this week, the college began the Days of the Blackfeet festival in the early 1990s as a way of encouraging the community to learn more about the school and the Blackfeet Tribe's history and culture.

"We're really trying to serve as a living memorial for the Blackfeet Tribe and preserve the traditions and cultures of the Blackfeet people," she said.Comment:  These articles show the balance so evidently missing in SCALPED. Sure, there's a lot of poverty, crime, and despair. There's also a lot of culture, education, and hope. The second part of this equation is missing from SCALPED. Its portrayal is one-dimensional because it portrays only one dimension of rez life.

A note on the first article: Even though the BIA has taken over from the tribal police, the rez is still described as "lawless." But this obscures a key point. No way would the federal government allow the corrupt tribal police in SCALPED to go unchecked. It would intervene long before conditions reached the state of lawlessness shown in SCALPED.

The BIA cops might not do any better than the tribal cops, but the (corrupt) tribal cops would be out of a job. So would the corrupt tribal leadership of Lincoln Red Crow, the tribe's boss. As I said before, the situation in SCALPED could never occur today.

How Farmer handles roles

Haskell film club showcases American Indian cinemaActor Gary D. Farmer has never turned down a role because he objects to the way it portrays his heritage.

He prefers a different strategy.

“What I do is rewrite the script and fax it back to them,” Farmer says.

“Usually they’re the ones who get up in arms and say, ‘No one’s ever done that’ or ‘We can’t work with that.’ I try to work with them and bring them around. Mostly they don’t have the time or interest because that’s not their intent to portray Native people (accurately).”

Farmer, a veteran performer with nearly 80 feature film and television credits, says certain directors and producers have “been very cooperative” with this response, allowing the actor to have a voice in the project.

Others, not so much.

“That show with Michael J. Fox (‘Spin City’), they sent me off a thing and I rewrote it. I actually thought it was funnier. They said, ‘We’re not able to do that,’” he recalls. “For ‘Will and Grace’ I said I’m not going to wear a wig. They wouldn’t let me be myself as an Indian, so someone else got the part. That’s all that happens: They just turn to whoever else.”Comment:  This is an excellent example of how Native actors can and should handle stereotypical roles.

Nonprofit to help athletes

Navajo Olympic hopefuls to try out for Beijing gamesGetting from the Navajo Reservation to Beijing can be a tough haul, even if you are used to traveling long distances.

Two Navajo runners have their eyes and hearts set on China, and the newly formed nonprofit organization Nideiltihi Navajo Elite Runners will do everything it can to help them get there for the Summer Olympics in 2008.

NNER provides runners with basic financial aid for such necessities as travel, lodging and equipment. It also helps with living expenses and assists with coaching services; but most importantly, said board member Thomas Hatathli, the organization offers a spirit, a vision and a sense of shared goals and common values.

McKosato at the mike

Host for American Indian radio show returns after personal setbacksAfter a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, Harlan McKosato is back on the air as host of the national radio show "Native America Calling." The show addresses issues affecting American Indians.

His return is significant because it follows a crisis that led the Sac and Fox tribal member and Albuquerque resident to resign in April 2004.

Creeks sing Scottish-black gospel

Scholar links American Indians, gospelRuff traveled to Oklahoma and was persuaded that the Indians picked up the style from their homelands in Alabama, Georgia and Florida. The forced resettlement of Creeks and other tribes in the 19th century, known as the Trail of Tears, took place as many tribal members converted to Christianity.

"The tonalities of American Indian singing are different than Western singing," he said. "Although the native people picked up the African and European styles, there were some aspects that, if you're just used to European music, sound a little off key, but they're working within that tradition. ... What they all have in common is the lining-out style."