Valenti: Movies are merely movies

Talent manager Michelle Shining Elk has gone out of her way to shield Saginaw Grant and the Dudesons from criticism of their participation in Cowboys & Findians. She posted this item on Facebook Sunday:The late Jack Valenti once told congress during a hearing that movies are merely movies. "I say, if people choose to believe movies are real then there is nothing we can do to save them."Another person who denies the obvious influence of movies. Another apologist for racism and stereotyping against minorities...sigh.

In response I posted this innocent query:

I wonder where Native stereotypes came from if not from old movies. I guess they spontaneously burst out of thin air?

This led to the following debate with her and others:Atta boy Rob! Good point, NOT!

There's this thing call the general public, or "main stream society." Wild west shows? Museum? Magazines, Picture books, etc. Oh but wait, movies have been around before man kind so you're right... first there was movie then man.

From Wild West Shows, from George Catlin, from Museums...and the public...

In addition Edward Curtis "staged" a lot of his photos of Natives yet wouldn't even do the decency to share their real names.Rob replies

"The public" isn't an answer. People aren't born with knowledge of Indians. They get it from somewhere. The question is where.

Wild West shows were forerunners to Western movies. They stereotyped people in the exactly the same way--as whooping savages on the warpath. Indeed, their panoramic spectacles were similar to the big-screen experience. It's absurd to argue that one kind of phony show could influence beliefs but not the other.

Besides, few people have seen Wild West shows, so what's caused the stereotypes since the early 1900s? Why didn't they die out with the Wild West shows?

Museums? What museums? That must be a joke, since only a tiny fraction of Americans visit museums.

Magazines? What magazines? Another funny joke. The US magazine readership is small compared to US movie and TV audiences.

Besides, magazines and picture books are forms of media. Glad you agree with me that media is the problem. The only question is why you'll point to some forms of media but not others.

Edward Curtis photos are another form of media, thanks. Amazing that you think still photos would have an effect but not moving pictures. Explain to me why that is. I'd love to hear how one can affect public perceptions but not the other.



Toys are the source?Rob--I just said where they get the stereotypes, shows, and yes they still have Wild West shows at Knotts Berry Farm, Museums are the first place where movie producers go to get ideas about Indians--that their research and usually they have that non-native curator be their "cultural advisor" for their films. In a way, public pow-wows are damaging too, we need to educate, yet I hear too often that pow-wows are not a place to educate. Toy manufactures...people post about how damaging they are, yet "protestors" don't go after them, and that is produced all over the world. -- So that's where the stereotypes come from...I would say from toys on up...Last time I was at Knotts Berry Farm, the show didn't include Indians. It was more of a stunt show than a Wild West show. And only a tiny fraction of Americans have seen it. It's less than a drop in the bucket where the whole country is concerned.

I don't think I've seen a museum or curator listed as a source for a Native-themed drama. Museums certainly weren't a source for the Dudesons. And the point is that Americans don't visit museums, they watch movies and TV shows. These shows are conveying and perpetuating stereotypes even if the stereotypes originate somewhere else.

Toys? There was a huge outburst when McDonald's gave away a Custer toy with its Happy Meals in South Dakota. And another huge outburst at the King Philip's War game in New England, including a street rally in Providence. So you're flatly wrong about that.

Besides, people protest in proportion to the offense, and the Dudesons episode was the most offensive display of racism in recent memory. It's more deserving of protests than any toy I know of.

From toys on up...to stereotypical movies and TV shows like Cowboys & Findians. If that's what you mean, I agree.



The Valenti argument

Jack Valenti as a source for movie criticism...hysterical. Why don't you quote John Wayne too while you're at it?

If the choice is between non-Native movie apologist Jack Valenti and noted Native director Chris Eyre, I'll go with Eyre:Second to religion, I think movies have been the most damaging thing to Indians.Wild West shows are merely Wild West shows. Catlin paintings are merely Catlin paintings. Edward Curtis photos are merely Edward Curtis photos. Museums are merely museums. Magazines and picture books are merely magazines and picture books. Toys are merely toys.

Heck, Stepin Fetchit and Aunt Jemima were merely Stepin Fetchit and Aunt Jemima. Minstrel shows were merely minstrel shows. Cross burnings were merely cross burnings. Etc.

So much for Valenti's childish defense of movies. We could apply it to every other form of media and "prove" that none of them have ever affected anyone's perceptions. We'd arrive at the absurd position that stereotypes can't exist because no form of media can convey them.

Still not clear why you're indicting every form of media but the most obvious one: the silver screen. I guess it's because you work in the industry. You're afraid to bite the hand that feeds you.

Fortunately, I don't face the same moral compromises. I call 'em like I see 'em. Repeat: The Dudesons episode was the most offensive display of racism in recent memory. Anyone who defends it deserves the "Uncle Tomahawk" label.



Shining Elk respondszzzzzzzzz You crackpot rhetoric is boring and tiresome Rob. You speak like a true white guy who doesn't get it and...well, you can't get it BECAUSE YOU ARE A WHITE GUY and have never lived life as an indian...

You are so stuck on the word stereotype--stereotype is just another word for DISCRIMINATION And seriously, like you can relate to anything we as Indians have experienced...as it relates to stereotypes and discrimination? Oh but wait, I'm sorry, you DO know what it's like to be discriminated against as an Indian by main stream society because you read about in a book or two and EVERYBODY knows how tight you are with your books and how everything that is written is the WORD. Just like the history books in school taught us the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I forget how brilliant you are with your books and all?!?!? Your ignorance slays me and your weird need to feel like you have the right to speak on matters like you know what you are talking about first hand perpetuates the ignorant stereotype that you fall into.Sorry if I used too many big words and bored you, Michelle. Next time I'll try to write down to your level.

"Stereotype is just another word for discrimination"...that explains why some of us are protesting the Dudesons' stereotypes. It doesn't explain why you're defending them. I guess you don't mind discrimination any more than you mind stereotyping?

And...is that it? Thanks for proving you don't have a shred of an argument. You couldn't touch any of my claims, so you insulted me instead. A classic case of blaming the messenger for the message.

Or did you get a teenager to write your response for you? I can't tell since it sounds so juvenile. Books, education...ooh, scary! Really, your junior-high level of "debate" is sadly lacking.

Why don't you call MTV and ask them to give you, Saginaw Grant, and the Dudesons a humanitarian award? You know, for all you've done to promote accurate depictions of Indians in Hollywood? I'm sure they'd be willing to congratulate you for your apology on their behalf.

Yeah, movies and TV are harmless, parents are to blame...great. You couldn't have done better if they'd paid you to shill for them. You keep doing what you do best, Michelle...PR flacking for those who need it. Leave the reporting and analyzing to the rest of us.



Natives speak

Let's close with a few Native writers and thinkers who understand the problem better than you do. You know, the crackpots Natives whose views I share in my blog all the time? From The Harm of Native Stereotyping:  Facts and Evidence, enjoy!Beginning with Wild West shows and continuing with contemporary movies, television, and literature, the image of Indigenous Peoples has radically shifted from any reference to living people to a field of urban fantasy in which wish fulfillment replaces reality.

Dr. Cornel Pewewardy (Comanche/Kiowa), "Why Educators Can't Ignore Indian Mascots"

The media—radio, television, film—is powerful. The messages dominate our thinking, particularly when the viewer has little or no opportunity for firsthand observation. How many Americans see "Indians" anywhere but on the screen? And either way, who is able to distinguish fact from fiction?

Rennard Strickland, Ph.D, "Coyote Goes Hollywood," Native Peoples, 1/13/97

The film industry is arguably the most influential entity on the planet and is an almost universally accepted American icon. It shapes our views about almost everything, and American Indians are key players in the history and continuance of American film.

Paul Apodaca (Navajo/Mixton), "Apodaca: Hollywood Tragicomedy," Indian Country Today, 11/30/07
For more on the subject, see "What Americans Know ... Comes from Movies," Visual Verisimilitude in Movies, and "I Thought John Wayne Killed You All."

Indians in Rolling Hills Estates

Peninsula development battle ground?

By Melissa PamerAt the edge of a trail, he found what he says was either a chert knife or projectile point--a handcrafted ancient tool. He began excitedly searching the ground, finding flakes of stone that he believes show the area was a site where American Indians created hunting and cooking implements.

Since then, he has spent a lot of time at the place he calls Thunderhawk Hill, an appellation chosen for an honorary American Indian name that Johnson said was given to him by a Oglala Lakota medicine woman.

Having found state records showing previous archaeological discoveries nearby, Johnson has come to believe the area was once a significant settlement for local Tongva people. He compares it to Malaga Cove, long known to have been an American Indian village location.

"There's no reason this site couldn't be as important. Nothing has been excavated," Johnson said. "We have no idea what's underneath there."

The discovery--which Johnson likened to a "spiritual experience"--has now taken on a life of its own, becoming entangled in one of the most controversial issues in the affluent, bucolic city.

Critics of a luxury-home development proposed for the area next door to Thunderhawk Hill--on the site of Rolling Hills Country Club and a former rock quarry--have rallied behind Johnson.

The residential project, known as Chandler Ranch, has long generated frustration among local equestrians who are worried its lack of horse amenities will alter the nature of horse-friendly Rolling Hills Estates.

Now, along with a local Tongva representative and a Long Beach archaeologist, some equestrians are calling for further exploration of decades-old archaeological sites before the stalled 114-home subdivision can move forward.Comment:  This isn't what I'd call a pop-culture story. It's just a typical battle between developers and preservationists.

What's interesting to me is that it's only two or so miles from my childhood home on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Yet I don't recall anyone's saying that we were on Indian land when I was growing up. That they might've dug up some Tongva arrowheads or bones when they were excavating our pool.

I like this because it shows our sense of historical privilege. A couple centuries ago, some combination of Spaniards and Anglo-Americans forced the Tongva off the peninsula. No one cared about their legal or moral rights to the land. After that, it became another "uninhabited" stretch of America. Anyone except the Indians could buy it, watch it appreciate in value, and profit from it.

Let's suppose the Peninsula now contains 50,000 homes with an average value of $500,000. That's probably a conservative estimate, and it excludes commercial property. That alone is $25 billion worth of real estate.

That could've belonged to the Tongva, who could've sold or leased it to the white interlopers. Instead, the Tongva have no power or wealth, no federal recognition, nothing except vestiges of their history and culture. The vast majority of Peninsula residents have never heard of the Tongva.

What kids could learn

We can't undo that, but at least we could acknowledge it. How about having schools invite the Tongva to teach Tongva lessons? How about hosting some Tongva art on public buildings? How about giving some places Tongva rather than Spanish or English names?

My street had the outdoorsy but inaccurate name Elkridge Drive. It wasn't a ridge and I doubt any elk roamed there. It probably was a field of rabbits, gophers, or lizards, before it became a suburban tract. So call it the Tongva word for "rabbit patch" or whatever.

For more on the subject, see My Spanish Upbringing, Prayer Ceremony at Ballona Wetlands, and Indians in Culver City.

P.S. The name "Thunderhawk Hill" is kind of lame. A Lakota Indian gave the name Thunderhawk to a white guy, so he applied the name to a hill in Southern California? Because Plains Indians are good stand-ins for all Indians? How about coming up with a Tongva name for the place, Mr. Johnson?

Below:  "Jacob Gutierrez, a Tongva descendant, prepares for a ceremony on a Rolling Hills Estates site believed to have been Tongvan settlement." (Steve McCrank)

Cherokee chief in wrestling hall of fame

Cherokee chief inducted into wrestling hall

By John Klein"Wrestling is a laboratory for the values and attributes necessary in building strong leaders," said Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Smith, who was an undefeated high school wrestler in high school and a collegiate athlete, said he relies on lessons learned on the mat every day in his job as chief of the nation's second-largest tribe.

"There are a lot of sports that teach values like self-reliance and determination," said Smith. "I don't know if there is a better example than wrestling."

Smith, who oversees a tribe with annual revenues in excess of $1 billion, was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Smith was voted into the Hall of Outstanding Americans, an honor reserved for wrestlers who have gone on to become leaders in politics, business and entertainment.Comment:  This honor seems a little silly to me. Wrestling teaches "values like self-reliance and determination"...and so do most other human activities. Is there a Homework Hall of Fame for kids who did their homework and went on to become "leaders in politics, business and entertainment"? How about a Paper Carrier or Babysitting Hall of Fame? A Take Care of Your Pets Hall of Fame?

For more on Natives and wrestling, see Seminoles Want Pro Alligator Wrestling and "Apaches" in Mexican Wrestling.

Blackhawks foe waves severed head

The Blackhawks hockey team is in the playoffs, so its logo is in the news. Here's a follow-up to the recent article on the subject. Adrienne Keene of the Native Appropriations blog found this item and nailed it:

Thanks for the severed head, you've proved my point.Game 4. Philly Flyers vs. Chicago Blackhawks. The Flyers score a goal, and VERSUS TV shows this guy. This guy, holding an impaled, severed, Indian head. On national TV.So disturbing, so graphic, and just what I wanted to wake up to on a Saturday morning. Truly sickening in the literal sense.

This proves it, without a doubt. Native American mascots are demeaning, stereotyping, and harmful to Native people. The Blackhawks logo is often touted as a "good" image--not evil or stupid looking, nothing like Chief Wahoo or the other blatantly racist images. But "good" image or not (and I still stand that no Indian mascot is a good mascot), clearly this demonstrates the danger when fans are given control over a mascot and image. There is no excuse for this man's actions.

That's one area mascot debates rarely cover--the actions of rival team's fans and how they affect Native people. When an entire arena is shouting things like "Beat the Indians!" "Scalp the Redskins!" "F*@! the Blackhawks!" Can you imagine how it would feel to be a Native person hearing those things?And:We could also talk about how the TV station decided it was OK to air the image of this man, multiple times, or how the security at the arena let him through with that spear, and what those actions say about our society, or, per usual, draw the comparisons to other groups. Would a TV station air an image of a man carrying around an impaled Black head? Asian? Latino? No.Keene's conclusion:So, overall, I guess I can--in a twisted and sick way--thank that Flyers fan. Anytime anyone says there is no harm in Indian mascots, I'm sending them that picture.







Comment:  Two excellent points here. First, that the harm of stereotyping extends beyond the mascot and its immediate supporters. As the NCAA ruled, mascots create an abusive and hostile environment. Here's the proof of that claim.

Second, that tolerance for mascots and their associated problems--e.g., severed Indian heads--shows society's ignorance and (conscious or unconscious) racism. So the mascot problem is really the whole problem in microcosm. Mascots create and reinforce stereotypical beliefs...fans (mis)use and disseminate these beliefs...and society is conditioned to accept and tolerate them.

We could say the same about almost any example of prejudice. For instance, some racist decides Obama isn't an American. Thousands of people who are prejudiced or simply ignorant take up the "birther" chant. Suddenly a quarter of the country believes it because we're so conditioned to think of blacks as criminals and cheaters.

How racists "think"

People like this Flyers fan undoubtedly don't know what they're doing. Their "thinking" goes something like this: "The Founding Fathers were white men...Indians are savages...the Pope is Catholic. What's the problem here?"

To be specific, it goes something like this:

"A severed Indian head? So what? There aren't any Indians left, are there? They all died ages ago, right? I know this because I've seen the Blackhawks logo. I've never seen an Indian like that in real life, so they must all be dead."

For more on the subject, see Children and Dudesons Believe Stereotypes and Stereotypes Beget Stereotypes. For more on the subject in general, see Team Names and Mascots.

Below:  No, mascots don't encourage stereotypical thinking. Uh-huh, sure they don't.

Grant wouldn't show Dudesons to grandchildren

MTV's The Dudesons Offends Many American Indians

By RP“At the end of the show, Saginaw makes them honorary Native Americans, and he gives them feathers. In the show they're made to look like eagle feathers, but they were allegedly chicken feathers. How many people around the world are going to understand that those are fake feathers? And why are they bringing in feathers, considered to be sacred medicine, into a show that's mocking our entire culture?”

She disagrees with the argument that the show is a comedy and not meant to be taken seriously. “Anybody that sees this show that is not familiar with Native culture is not going to know what is true, what is not, especially little kids that will go out of their way to harass other little kids.”

Saginaw Grant, a revered elder of the Sac-n-Fox, Iowa, and Otoe-Missouria Nations, discussed these issues on Red Town Radio on May 22 (which can be heard in its entirety here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/redtownradio).

Grant said that the show was trying to make people laugh and to “show how silly people can be.” He pointed out that Indians make fun of themselves vis-à-vis clowns, chicken dancing, and in other ways.

He also said he had no creative control over the show's content; however, he felt that the humor would have been worse had he not been there. (Also, the crazy stunts might have been even more dangerous.) He himself was treated with great respect by the makers of the show.

Grant wondered aloud why children were watching MTV and a show meant for adults that comes on at 10pm. He added that while he had no regrets about doing the show, he would not want his own grandchildren to see it.

Fairbanks, who phoned into the show, countered that Cowboys and Findians has been repeated in various time slots and that her own children wanted to see it because they saw Saginaw and got excited. (The family turned the show off well before it was over.) She and Grant agreed about the need for parents to monitor their children. "Parents are indeed responsible for monitoring what their own children are watching on television,” she stated, “but we cannot police other viewers all over the world and how they are perceiving what they are watching.”

Grant and Fairbanks seemed to be in agreement on another point as well: had The Dudesons depicted Blacks or any other racial group in that manner, the station would not have gotten away with it.

Fairbanks expressed regret that this whole issue is being perceived as a personal attack against Grant. “He and his personality are a distraction from the real issue, which is MTV and the entertainment industry looking for another excuse to use us as mascots for their own purposes, for their own jokes.”Comment:  Damn straight MTV wouldn't get away with putting on whole show featuring minstrel performers in blackface. But that's essentially what Cowboys & Findians was.

Saginaw Grant says the episode was supposed to be funny. He compares the Dudesons to Indians who make fun of themselves. Great...so we've established that the Dudesons weren't trying some clever ploy to subvert Native stereotypes. They were making fun of Indians--just as we thought.

Grant says the mockery would've been worse if he hadn't been there. He also said he had no control over the content, which is a contradiction. Which is it, Saginaw? Did you influence or change the show's content or didn't you?

It's pretty obvious that Grant was okay with the tomfoolery and didn't try much if anything to stop it. How about if he launched a sit-down strike in the middle of filming? Unless the Dudesons had a spare Indian handy, that would've gummed up the works. It might've convinced the Dudesons that what they were doing was seriously offensive.

The "Uncle Tomahawk" defense

What Grant doesn't address is that his presence gave the show legitimacy. Without him there, it might be possible to dismiss the Dudesons as racist idiots who know nothing about Indians. With him there, many viewers undoubtedly didn't know what was real and what wasn't.

Finally, we have Grant saying he has no regrets, but he wouldn't want his grandchildren to see the show. I.e., to see him help perpetuate a century-plus of racist stereotypes. That's another contradiction, but I think we can guess what Grant means. He's embarrassed by his participation but too "professional" to criticize his employers, or something like that.

I think we need a name for the "it's a satire/parody/joke" defense of the Dudesons. I.e., for excuses and apologies for Stepin Fetchit-style performances in 2010. How about the "Uncle Tomahawk" defense?

For more on the Uncle Tomahawk defense, see Children and Dudesons Believe Stereotypes, The Dudesons, Polish Jokes, and Minstrel Shows, and Dudesons Too "Stoopid" to Matter?

Below:  This racism is "okay" because it appeared in a movie and was meant to be funny. No one would think blacks were second-class citizens because of it, right?

Do protests work?

I came across an interesting comment on the Dudesons controversy and the rally against MTV planned for Sunday. Basically, that protests don't work. Huh? I guess some people missed the whole Civil Rights/Vietnam thing.

Here are some more examples of effective protests:

The abolitionist movement against slavery.

Gandhi's nonviolent protests in India.

The global boycott of apartheid South Africa.

Not to mention hundreds of protests against Indian mascots that succeeded in getting them changed.

We hear complaints such as the one I came across all the time. "Why are you wasting time protesting? Don't you have anything better to do? Get a life." Or worse, "Indians are playing the race card. They enjoy being professional victims. They don't care about the issues, they're only promoting themselves."

This posting is for the idiots who don't understand that protests work. I.e., who don't know anything about US history before, say, the Reagan era.

Studies prove protests work

Here's a paper that summarizes studies on how well protests work:

Amplifying Public Opinion:  The Policy Impact of the U.S. Environmental Movement

By Jon AgnoneExaminations of the public policy impact of social movements have predominantly focused on protest efficacy. Work within this theoretical approach asserts that dramatic events such as protests, rallies and sit-ins directly affect policy changes by leveraging elite concessions (e.g., Barkan 1984; Morris 1993). Two foundational works are Gamson’s (1975) survey of challenging groups and Piven and Cloward’s (1977) examination of poor people’s movements. While not specifically focusing on policy gains, Gamson found greater rates of success among groups utilizing violent rather than more moderate tactics. However, Goldstone’s (1980) reanalysis of Gamson’s data found movement success was independent of tactics. Piven and Cloward emphatically supported the role of dramatic events, stating that the only power excluded groups have is disruption, which is lost when they attempt to bargain within the political system from which they have been systematically excluded.And Agnone's own study:In this article, I introduce and find empirical support for an amplification model of policy impact. In short, public opinion influences changes in pro-environmental public policy above and beyond its independent impact when accompanied by protest which increases the salience of the public’s demands in the eyes of legislators. Increases in support for environmental regulation have a greater impact on the passage of environmental legislation consistent with the goals of the environmental movement depending on the level of environmental protest. Thus, a greater amount of federal legislation is passed when protest amplifies, or raises the salience of, public opinion on a given issue.Bogus arguments against protesting

Here's a 2007 posting that discusses Agnone's study and the bogus arguments offered for not protesting:

Gore Says Yes On Protests:  Study Shows EffectivenessThere are many forms of protest (marches, civil disobedience, sit-ins) as well as alternative forms of political action (e.g., campaign work, LTE, blogging, voting). How effective are those actions? A new study shows that an increase in the number of protests in a year increases the likelihood of favorable legislation being passed by Congress by 1.2% to 9.5%.

Our government and corporate America would love nothing more than for us to buy their myths used to deter us from protesting. They say that protest is only used by a few extremist wackos who engage in violence. The truth is that if we unilaterally reject this effective political action, the "few" who will continue to use it will be our government and corporate America. The truth is that our police engage in more violence at protests than most protesters, except that violence is called legitimate. They say that protesters are the fringe elements of society. The truth is that photographs in a video below show that protests since the Iraq war commenced involved members of all ages from our families. They say that "normal channels" should be used in lieu of protest. The truth is that studies show that protests--both during civil rights movement and now--are more effective than traditional channels.

One reason is that normal channels are biased in favor of the powerful and protesters generally champion causes of those not with power. Another reason is that our government (and Bush is a master here) engages in conduct that accomplishes the twin goals of weakening or destroying normal channels while also deterring Americans from engaging in political action. They say that normal channels are preferred over protest, which they claim is ineffective. Historical successes and empirical data show this claim to be false.The posting goes into more detail on each of these points.

More evidence that protests work

The Gore posting also offers an overview on the effectiveness of protests:To paint protest as ineffective is amazing given the successes obtained over the years:

That the effectiveness of direct action can still be debated strains credulity. The success of Gandhi's campaigns in India during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement should have settled the question. Since the beginning of the modern environmental movement, the campaigns against nuclear power, to save ancient forests, to achieve a global ban on high-seas drift net fishing and open dumping have all incorporated significant direct action components. The American experience is teeming with nonviolent direct action. One of the most famous direct actions ever, the Boston Tea Party is patriotically taught in school. Most of the world's democracies have been created by acts of conscience against the state.

Historically, protest has been instrumental in forcing the introduction of freedoms that we now take for granted, such as "the ending of slavery, extension of the franchise, curtailing ruthless aspects of the exploitation of labour and extending rights to women and minorities."If you broaden the definition of protests, it's even clearer that they work. For instance, Euro-Americans protested centuries of treaties given Native Americans sovereign and territorial rights. These protests caused the federal and state governments to mollify the white whiners by ignoring or violating their own laws.

Corporations constantly protest government

Another posting hits this point home:

Protest in a liberal democracy

By Brian MartinThe term protest is applied to actions of groups that are painted as outside the mainstream. When trade unions go on strike that is recognised as a form of political protest--and often stigmatised--but when corporations redirect investments out of a particular area (a 'capital strike') that is taken to be a normal exercise of corporate prerogatives. When peace activists purposefully break a regulation to block a train carrying nuclear materials, that is civil disobedience. When government departments fail to provide information by mandatory deadlines, when corporations continually flout environmental regulations, when prison warders beat prisoners or when ex-husbands refuse to pay child support, that is seen as cause for concern but is not categorised as civil disobedience.As much as I hate the ignorant Tea Party protests, they're certainly having an effect. Politicians across the country are changing their positions to cater to the teabagger crowd. Arizona's anti-Latino laws are arguably a concession to these protests.

Now tens of thousands of people have marched to protest Arizona's racist laws. Arizona hasn't repealed the laws yet, but politicians are complaining about the protests and the accompanying boycott. The economic pinch is hurting, which suggests the protests are working.

Really, we could go on and on listing protests that worked. Tea Party protests effectively weakened the push for a government option in healthcare reform. Wall Street protests effectively weakened the push for renewed financial regulations. Oil company protests have effectively weakened drilling regulations by claiming they'd be too expensive to implement. Etc., etc., etc.

The short answer to the title question is yes, protests work. Duh. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an ignorant twit.

For more on the subject, see Protesting Stereotypes = Cop-Out?, Not Enough Good Native News?, and Bitchin' and Moanin'. For more on the subject in general, see Why Does Rob Keep Criticizing?

Review of Fierce People

Fierce People is a 2005 movie I watched in April. Here's the basic plot:

Fierce PeopleTrapped in his mother's Lower East Side apartment, sixteen-year-old Finn Earl (Anton Yelchin) wants nothing more than to escape New York. He wants to spend the summer in South America studying the Ishkanani Indians (called "Fierce People"), with the anthropologist father he's never met. Finn's dreams are shattered when he is arrested in a desperate effort to help his drug-dependent mother, Liz (Diane Lane), who works as a massage therapist. Determined to get their lives back on track, Liz moves the two of them into a guesthouse for the summer on the vast country estate of her ex-client, the aging aristocratic billionaire, Ogden C. Osbourne (Donald Sutherland).

In Osbourne's close world of privilege and power, Finn and Liz encounter the super rich, a tribe portrayed as fiercer and more mysterious than anything they might find in the South American jungle. (Dirk Wittenborn, the author of the novel on which the film is based, grew up a poor outsider among the super rich in an upper-crust New Jersey enclave.)

While Liz battles her substance abuse and struggles to win back her son's love and trust, Finn falls in love with Osbourne's beautiful granddaughter, Maya (Kristen Stewart). He also befriends her older brother, Bryce (Chris Evans); and wins the favor of Osbourne. When a shocking act of violence shatters Finn's ascension within the Osbourne clan, the golden promises of this lush world quickly sour. Both Finn and Liz, caught in a harrowing struggle for their dignity, discover that membership in a group comes at a steep price.Here are some of the movie's tribal hijinks:

Fierce People

Surviving in That Rain Forest East of the Delaware River

By Stephen HoldenUntil the drug bust, Finn had planned to spend the summer with his father, “the Elvis of anthropologists,” studying the Ishkanani, a primitive people in the Amazon rain forest known for their cruelty and barbarism. The intriguing conceit of “Fierce People” is that the idle superrich and the Ishkanani, whose rituals are shown on reels of film sent from South America by Finn’s father, are equally vicious.

This is a nifty idea that is laboriously overworked. As “Fierce People” nervously skitters between documentary scenes of the Ishkanani and the story of a mother and son absorbing the tribal customs of the New Jersey gentry, your instinct is throw up your hands and shout, “Enough already; we get it!”Fierce People--Review

By Lexi FeinbergEven more tiresome are the eyebrow-raising, arbitrary things that take place in Dirk Wittenborn’s absurd script, based on his book. Finn starts dating Osbourne’s granddaughter Maya (Kristen Stewart) after getting maimed by a deer trap--a lovely way to meet a romantic prospect. When they hang out with her yuppie brother Bryce (Chris Evans) to watch one of his dad’s tribal documentaries, it turns into a dance where everyone chants “fuck and kill!” followed by, naturally, some making out. Finn and his lady get in the mood by smearing paint all over each other’s bodies--it’s just that kind of movie.Fierce People

It's just fiercely bad

By Geoff BerkshireSkip it: Osborne is fond of saying “out of bad comes good.” That’s definitely not the case here. Originally filmed in 2004 and shelved for several years, “Fierce People” should’ve gone straight to video. Miscalculated at every level, it’s a vacant drama full of ineptly drawn characters. Things actually get worse after the first hour when a preposterous violent act sends the narrative spinning wildly out of control. Not even talented actors like Lane and Sutherland can make a difference when the material is this bad.

Catch it: For unintentional laughs. Finn’s obsession with the Amazonian Ishkanani tribe (his absent father made a documentary about them) is supposed to translate to the over-privileged world he finds himself in. It only leads to a lot of risible situations, including a particularly bad acid trip and a really creepy love scene with the very young, underwear-clad Yelchin and Stewart rubbing body paint all over each other.Comment:  The Ishkanani are a fictional Amazonian tribe, but the filmmakers say they based the tribe on several real tribes. Obviously the Ishkanani are meant to evoke the Yanomami, whom Napoleon Chagnon labeled the "fierce people."

Let's parse the movie's use of tribal people a bit.

If the Ishkanani are based on several tribes, the filmmakers have taken the worst tribes they could find and picked the worst aspects of them. I suspect the filmmakers simply read something about the Yanomami ("Fierce People"), decided they knew all about Amazon Indians, and invented tribal scenes out of thin air. Either way, their choice is prejudiced and stereotypical.

The faux documentary scenes show bare-breasted women (naturally), a couple of Yanomami Ishkanani ambushing and killing someone in a river, and a crowd of Ishkanani chanting in some sort of incomprehensible dance. From this, the movie's characters deduce that the Indians care only about sex and death. This becomes their excuse for their bad behavior.

The faux documentaries give no hint that the Indians might have a complex religion and philosophy...extensive knowledge of the flora and fauna...tender relations between children, parents, and elders...etc. These Indians are pure savages. By emulating their worst aspects, the movie's characters reinforce this perception. "We're as savage as the worst savages in the world. You know, the barbaric, beastlike Ishkanani. They're horrible and so are we!"

Real Amazon Indians paint their bodies with symbols that have deep meanings for them. Maya and Finn smear paint on each other like kids doing fingerpainting. Real Amazon Indians take hallucinogens for profound religious reasons: to enter dream states where they can communicate with the spirits. Finn takes a hallucinogen because someone gives it to him, because it seems like a good idea, or just because.

In short, Fierce People stereotypes Indians as mindless savages. In that regard, it's not much different from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, King Kong, or countless potboilers set in primitive jungles. Few people have met an Amazon Indian, so it's movies like this that tell us what they're like.

As the reviews I've quoted indicate, most critics slammed Fierce People. As usual, the critics are right. Rob's rating: A poor 6.0 of 10.

For more on Amazon Indians, see Opera About the Yanomami, Indians in The Librarian: Quest for the Spear, and Indians in FIRST WAVE #1.

Below:  The trailer suggests that the movie can't decide whether it's a light comedy or a heavy drama. Which is part of its problem.

Hopper gets Indian-style burial

Dennis Hopper laid to rest in simple Native American burial after memorial service attended by Jack Nicholson and Val KilmerThis humble grave--little more than a mound of rocks--is the final resting place of Hollywood legend Dennis Hopper.

The Native American-style burial mound in the Jesus Nazareno Cemetery in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, is believed to have been the Easy Rider star's final request.

Flowers and a wreath from well-wishers cover the top of the rubble pile.
Native American burial: Hopper was laid to rest in the traditional grave he had requested

And the only marker identifying the plot is a small plastic wallet with the star's name written on paper skewered into the ground.

The 74-year-old actor, who died on Saturday, was laid to rest at the site in a private ceremony on Wednesday. He died of prostate cancer.

The service was attended by friends and relatives including his friends Jack Nicholson and Val Kilmer.

Before the ceremony, Peter Fonda spoke to the small crowd and opened up about the death of Hopper, his co-star in the iconic Sixties film Easy Rider.Comment:  Following the link for photos of Hopper and his mourners.

So they left Hopper's casket aboveground and covered it with dirt and rocks? Why not bury it underground instead? The mound looks rather unsightly to me. And I don't think it's more environmentally friendly than an underground burial. The mound takes up more space than a burial plot, not less.

I believe some tribes, especially in the West and Southwest, did bury people this way. They probably had reasons for it: no shovels to dig a hole in the hard ground, no time to linger in potentially hostile territory, etc. I'm not sure anyone believed that burying people aboveground was better than burying them underground.

For more on Dennis Hopper, see Hopper Supported Native Rights. For more on Indian burials, see Nicholson Wants Indian Burial and Indian Burial Grounds.

Stud muffin became spiritual healer

Local author:  Lessons learned with Arapaho quadriplegic

By Kelley Bruce RobinsonWhat started as a four-day magazine assignment on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming turned into Lisa Jones' greatest life experience. The Boulder freelance journalist's newfound story soon transformed from a four-day visit to a four-year extended stay, from a magazine article to a 288-page memoir: "Broken: A Love Story."

It was when she met Stanford Addison, a Northern Arapaho tribesman, something stirred inside her, stronger than love at first sight with the quadriplegic.

"It was like falling down the rabbit hole," she said. "I was just blown away. He is a man who has so much power. He is a spiritually powerful person. Literally the moment I met him it was like a body knowledge that my life was about to change."

Addison's life, Jones said, was the most dramatic she had ever heard of.

"He was this bronco busting, womanizing, drug dealing, stud muffin when he was in his late teens," she said. "At 20 he became a quadriplegic in an auto accident. He basically had his ego annihilated."

Soon after his accident, Addison believes spirits started visiting him, giving him the power to talk to unseen worlds and heal people. At first, he thought he was losing his mind, especially as a non-believer in Native American spirituality.

"He was very upset and it took him 10 years to come to terms with the trade he made: his entire physical prowess for this spiritual prowess," Jones said.

Addison told Jones he then began using this inner power he felt to heal visitors, mentor at-risk young men on the reservation and gently tame wild horses, rather than breaking them with force.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Memoir Features Horse Whisperer and Arapaho Horse Healing.

Review of The Pueblo

Here's a great book that's sadly out of print:

The Pueblo (Indians of North America)

The Pueblo is one of a series of books about tribes put out by Chelsea House Publishers in the 1990s. I gather the whole series is out of print. That's a shame.

Here's a description of the series:INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA presents accurate portrayals of the history and culture of North American Indian peoples in volumes written specifically for young adults.

Based on the most recent scholarship and written by authorities on the subject, each of the volumes in this highly acclaimed series provides a balanced account of the history of relations between Indians and whites and challenges many still-prevalent myths and stereotypes. The volumes also examine the Native American past before European contact-chapters in the history of Indian peoples that are often overlooked. Each book is profusely illustrated with black-and-white photographs, paintings, and maps.Comment:  I've read a lot of books on the Pueblo tribes. If this isn't the best book on the subject, I don't know what is.

Written by Alfonso Ortiz, it's nice and accessible. It's only 111 pages, with photos and illustrations on every other page. I read the whole thing in an hour and a half.

There's even an eight-page section of color photographs, including one of the original Newspaper Rock. I hope this section didn't make the books too expensive to publish. It's a nice touch, but it's not necessary.

Ortiz presents just enough information to interest readers without boring them. For instance, he doesn't go into the tribes' summer and winter moieties or their clan and kinship structures. He gives us quotes that show how impressed the Spanish were with the Indians and their villages.

Pueblo point of view

History books, even those written by Indians, tend to be dry and academic. They strive for nonjudgmental neutrality. What makes The Pueblo work is that Ortiz isn't afraid to express an opinion. He almost editorializes about the Indian and Spanish viewpoints, which is good.

Some examples:[R]elations between the Spanish and the Indians soon soured, largely because the Spanish insisted, once their own provisions were exhausted, on treating the pueblos as inexhaustible storehouses.

Having come to find a treasure in gold an silver, expecting to live on the labor of others, the colonists proved largely unwilling to do the work required to establish a self-supporting settlement--most specifically planting and tending fields and otherwise providing for a reliable source of food.

The friars were generally humorless and unrelenting disciplinarians with little understanding or tolerance of native tradition. For the slightest offenses--failure to attend mass, for example--Indians had their heads shaved, were whipped, or were detained in stocks.Lines like these make the historical conflicts come alive. They give you a sense of what the Indians must've thought and felt. Of course the Spaniards were lazy aristocrats who weren't willing to get their hands dirty--but why haven't other books said so?

The first 75 pages cover Pueblo history to 1800 or so. The last 36 pages cover 1800 to the present. These final sections are merely good, not great. I don't if Ortiz lost his touch or rushed through the final years. Perhaps this period is too complex and convoluted to describe easily.

Anyway, I'd give the first part of the book a 9.5 of 10 and the second part a 7.5 of 10. Overall rating: 8.5 of 10. This is a great book for schoolchildren or anyone who wants to learn about the pueblos. If the other books in the series are as good, I'd recommend that some publisher reprint them and every school and library buy them.

For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Books.

Mardi Gras costumes get copyright protection

Mardi Gras Indian Suits Now Copyright Protected

By Alex RawlsMardi Gras Indian costumes are now officially works of art. Fans of the New Orleans Indian tradition have long held this view, but the US Copyright Office recognized the suit of Creole Wild West’s Chief Howard Miller as sculpture/3D artwork effective April 13, 2010. So far, 10 Mardi Gras Indians have applied to copyright protect their suits, which would mean among other things that photographers would have to pay them to sell shots of their costumes in some circumstances.And:The cost of the suits and the history of economic hardships for Mardi Gras Indians is part of the impetus for seeking copyright protection. For years, Indians and members of social aid and pleasure clubs have feared that while they were financially struggling, photographers were shooting and selling their likenesses without giving them a cut. The concern that they were being exploited is longstanding, but Keaton hopes that this ruling will create a win-win situation.Comment:  For more on the subject, see "Redskins" in Mardi Gras Costume and Exploitation Upsets Mardi Gras Exploiters.



Similar costumes that may deserve copyright protection also:

Stevenson's "Little Indian" poem

Charles Trimble:  Just because you wannabee / A Lakota just like meRecently a good friend sent me another such discovery in the writing of Robert Louis Stevenson. This was from Stevenson's poem; "Foreign Children" in his book A Child's Garden of Verses. It sounds innocent enough, and undoubtedly has delighted thousands of children down through the years. But it is still troubling in that it tends to instill in the Caucasian child an attitude of racial superiority. Here it is:

Little Indian, Sioux or Crow,
Little frosty Eskimo,
Little Turk or Japanese.
O! Don’t you wish that you were me?

This stirred up my creative juices, and I immediately penned the following little poem in response, not out of racism, meanness or anger, but in keeping with the lineage of us great authors and poets for traces of bigotry lurking in our sanctimonious hearts:

Little White guy, WASP or Kraut,
There’s no need to mope and pout,
Just because you wannabee
A Lakota just like me.Stevenson knew indigenous people in the Pacific islands, of course. Perhaps he didn't learn from from his encounters, or he thought Pacific islanders were different.

Robert Louis StevensonIn June 1888, Stevenson chartered the yacht Casco and set sail with his family from San Francisco. The vessel "plowed her path of snow across the empty deep, far from all track of commerce, far from any hand of help." The salt sea air and thrill of adventure for a time restored his health; and for nearly three years he wandered the eastern and central Pacific, visiting important island groups, stopping for extended stays at the Hawaiian Islands where he became a good friend of King Kalākaua, with whom Stevenson spent much time. Furthermore, Stevenson befriended the king's niece, Princess Victoria Kaiulani, who was of Scottish heritage. He also spent time at the Gilbert Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand and the Samoan Islands.Comment:  For more on Stevenson's literary peers, see Mark Twain, Indian Hater and Teddy Roosevelt and The Winning of the West.

Theosophy temple has Hiawatha paintings

Life of Hiawatha captured on canvas

By Gayle CuddyTemple member Harold Forgostein, now deceased, crafted a series of 24 oil paintings that are on view by appointment.

They depict the fascinating legend of the man who brought together what would become the League of Six Nations. Its participatory democracy reportedly inspired Benjamin Franklin to use them as a model for the U.S. Constitution.And:One of my favorite paintings shows Hiawatha in his canoe, sailing over the sunset path in the water to his home with the Great Spirit after his mission on earth was completed.

Eleanor Shumway, guardian in chief at the Temple of the People, explained the philosophy of the temple and how it is based on theosophy and integrated with American Indian ideas. The temple was founded in 1898 in Syracuse, New York, and moved to Halcyon in 1903. Halcyon was considered a center of power and a place of healing.Comment:  Another connection between upstate New York, spirituality, and Indians.

The Hiawatha painting looks overly romantic to me--nice but nothing special. I hope these paintings tell the life of the real Hiawatha, not the legendary Hiawatha from Longfellow's poem.

For more on the subject, see The Song of Hiawatha and Romanticized Indians.

Below:  "Marti Fast, a member of the Temple of the People, stands with a Harold Forgostein painting depicting Hiawatha in his canoe. The series of oil paintings is on view by appointment at University Center Gallery of the Temple of the People in the village of Halcyon."

Q'orianka Kilcher in a headdress

Here's a Q'orianka Kilcher photo album:

Q'orianka Kilcher:  Arrested at the White House

including this shot:



I'm guessing Kilcher's Quechua people don't wear headdresses like this. If they do, I'm guessing young Quechua women don't wear them.

Perhaps Kilcher is wearing it to "honor" the Amazon Indians she's fighting for. They may wear headdresses like this.

But they probably don't wear the headdresses with slinky black dresses. In other words, this looks about as culturally inappropriate as James Cameron in a headdress.

That Kilcher is part Quechua doesn't give her license to wear somebody else's headdress. I'd say this is another example of the hipster headdress phenomenon we've seen recently.

For more on hipster headdresses, see Indian Headdresses at Sasquatch! and Yale Grads Wear "Silly" Headdresses. For more on Kilcher, see Kilcher Arrested at White House and Kilcher Is Passionate About Activism.

Remember the Removal 2010

A personal journey

Several Cherokee citizens left for New Echota, Ga., Wednesday, and will bicycle their way back along the northern Trail of Tears.

By Teddye SnellImagine for a moment taking the next three weeks off. No work, no phones, no school books–nothing but you and 900 miles of open road and scenery to enjoy.

Along with that, you’d be learning all about your ancestors along the way.

The catch? You’ll be traveling by bicycle.

Wednesday, 10 Cherokee students embarked on such a journey, leaving Tahlequah for New Echota, Ga., by van. But once they arrive, they’ll be riding bicycles along the northern Trail of Tears back to Tahlequah.

The trip will take approximately 23 days, and riders will cover as many as 75 miles in one day.

Cherokee Nation is sponsoring “Remember the Removal 2010,” the third ride of its kind since 1984. The event provides participants the opportunity to experience Cherokee history first-hand and follow in the footsteps of their ancestors.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Trail of Tears Bike Ride.

Oil spill shows American values

Gulf oil disaster propels tribes into crisis

By Terri HansenThe worst oil leak in U.S. history has grown to 19 million gallons since BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded April 20.

And the oil, still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico is wreaking havoc with tribal lives in Louisiana.

“The smell of the oil is really bad, people describe it as smelling like you were in an engine room,” said Brenda Dardar Robichaux, principal chief of the United Houma Nation May 26 of vapors with potential toxicity.And:The oil, washing into Louisiana’s fragile marshes and wetlands and smothering miles of shoreline is threatening the livelihoods of tribal fishermen and supporting businesses like netmakers, suppliers, and restaurants, Robichaux said.

“Right now it’s about two miles from these beaches tribal people grew up on,” said Charles Verdin of the Pointe au Chien Indian Tribe.

His community spans Terrebonne and Lafourche Parish. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration closed about 25 percent of the Gulf’s federal waters to fishing, including coastal areas in tribal locales.

“It doesn’t look good,” Verdin said. “Most of our people are fishermen and they’ve shut down most the areas we fish. This will affect families’ food supplies. That’s scary.”

Verdin said BP representatives met with their community May 25. A primary concern of tribal members was stopping the oil before it reaches burial grounds and sacred sites.

Americans behaving stupidly

What the oil spill says about our culture:

Our Epic Foolishness

By Bob HerbertIf a bank is too big to fail, it’s way too big to exist. If an oil well is too far beneath the sea to be plugged when something goes wrong, it’s too deep to be drilled in the first place.

When are we going to stop behaving so stupidly? We nearly wrecked the economy and we’re all but buried in debt. But we can’t break up the biggest banks, and we can’t raise taxes. Now we’re fouling the magnificent Gulf of Mexico and ruining entire communities along the southern Louisiana Coast.

And, by the way, we’re still fighting a futile war in Afghanistan that we’ve been fighting with nonstop futility for nearly a decade. (I’m sure the troops saddled with this thankless task were thrilled to see fans and teams demonstrating their undying support for their efforts by wearing fancy baseball caps on Memorial Day.)

For a nation that can’t stop bragging about how great and powerful it is, we’ve become shockingly helpless in the face of the many challenges confronting us. Our can-do spirit was put on hold many moons ago, and here we are now unable to defeat the Taliban, or rein in the likes of BP and the biggest banks, or stop the oil gushing furiously from the bowels of earth like a warning from Hades about the hubris and ignorance that is threatening to destroy us.Greedy, selfish bastards

In A Great Nation Immobilized, Garrison Keillor sums up our culture in a nutshell:We are self-centered, shortsighted people, intent on comfort, averse to sacrifice.Yep, that just about says it all. We probably could find hundreds of examples for each, but I'll identify just a few:

Self-centered: Hence our ignorance of foreign countries and cultures, including our own non-Western people, the Indians.

Historical antecedent: Europeans invaded the continent with little or no thought of the people already living here.

Shortsighted: Hence our unwillingness to adopt energy policies that would reduce our dependence on oil and slow climate change.

Historical antecedent: Americans thought nothing of cutting down most of the forests, killing most of the buffalo, etc.

Intent on comfort: Hence our ongoing desire to have the biggest house, the flashiest car, the nicest clothes, the most bling, etc.

Historical antecedent: Slaveowners such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson depended on and refused to free their human chattel.

Averse to sacrifice: Hence our waging two wars without reviving the draft or raising taxes to pay for them.

Historical antecedent: Indian treaties required Americans to live within boundaries, so the greedy, selfish bastards broke them. All of them.

For more on the subject, see Ecological Indian Talk, Hercules vs. Coyote:  Native and Euro-American Beliefs, and America's Cultural Mindset.

Below:  "Give us a handout! We want free (Indian) land! We're Americans, so everything belongs to us!"

Human sacrifice in Aztec Pantheon

In the public's mind, the biggest Aztec "achievement" is human sacrifice. Naturally, the Aztec Pantheon exhibit at the Getty Villa addresses this. For instance, there's this reference from the Florentine Codex:The Festival of Toxcatl

Every spring a war captive of superior physical beauty was chosen to impersonate the god Tezcatlipoca (Smoking Mirror).

Worshipped like a deity, the captive was adorned in precious clothing and given wives and servants in a yearlong rite that culminated in his sacrifice to the god.Comment:  The exhibit mentions human sacrifice half a dozen times. In each case, the context is that it's a religious ritual to appease the gods.

The "Festival of Toxcatl" is one example. We consider this practice strange, even repellent, but it has nothing to do with barbaric bloodlust. The Aztecs had elaborate mythological beliefs that required human sacrifice.

Demonstrating their sincerity, they also practiced bloodletting on themselves. Again, this is because the gods demanded it. They didn't want to make bloody spectacles of themselves, they had to do it.

Killing people irrationally

In my mind, it's not much different from our modern practice of bombing villages in Vietnam or Iraq. There's no rational foundation to believe these countries threatened the US, yet we bombed them without regard for civilian deaths. The people who did the killing had an irrational, quasi-religious faith that what they were doing was God's will. That it would bring peace and prosperity to their homeland.

Well, the Aztecs also believed that killing people would bring peace and prosperity to their homeland. Dropping enough bombs Sacrificing enough captives would ensure victory over the enemies who threatened their dominance.

In one place, the exhibit links human sacrifice with state-sponsored terrorism, but it doesn't elaborate. Even that is couched in terms of appeasing a war god, I believe. I don't think there's any case where the Aztecs simply said, "No god has ordered us to sacrifice this person. There's no religious justification for killing him. We're doing it for secular reasons: to frighten our enemies, and because we like it."

For more on human sacrifice, see Human Sacrifice "Prevalent" Among Indians? and Were the Aztecs Murdering "Animals"? For more on the exhibit, see Divinities in Aztec Pantheon and Confrontational Aztec and Roman Art.

Indian jewelry sold on QVC

Unique Necklace Created by Collaboration of Four Native Designers Will Be Featured at the SWAIA Auction GalaA handmade, one-of-a-kind necklace will be the signature item at the Southwest Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) Live Auction Gala at the August Santa Fe Indian Market. The collaborative work is by four award-winning Native American artists. The Auction Gala, sponsored by Carolyn Pollack Jewelry, is a benefit for SWAIA, presenter of the world-renowned Indian Market held each year in Santa Fe.

The SWAIA Live Auction Gala, August 21 at the La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe, is one of the most sought-after tickets of Indian Market weekend. This year, the auction will conclude with an opportunity to purchase a sensational necklace created by renowned Native American designers Roderick Tenorio, Veronica Benally, Fritz Casuse, and Cody Sanderson.

Valued at $39,000, the necklace is being donated for the benefit auction through the generosity of the four artists. The inspiration for the finely crafted necklace comes from nature and features butterflies created by each designer mixed among flowers and Native American symbols.And: “Although a collaboration, the necklace has a unique contribution from each of the designers,” Carolyn Pollack said. “Each of the four artists designed one of the butterflies and they each have their own style, and yet they all came together in this piece. Fans of each designer will recognize instantly the butterfly that designer created, and yet everyone’s work is integrated into the whole. It was truly a creative collaboration, and I think the end result is a stunning work of wearable art.”

Through a partnership that stretches back as far as 10 years, Carolyn Pollack Jewelry licenses and manufactures designs from all four Native American designers—Tenorio, Benally, Casuse and Sanderson—and introduces their designs to millions of viewers nationwide by featuring their work on QVC®, QVC.com, in their own retail stores, and online at www.CarolynPollack.com.

“We’re excited to see iconic American Indian jewelry of New Mexico evolve in an exciting direction and become an international sensation on television,” said Dr. Bruce Bernstein, SWAIA executive director. “The collaborative piece brings attention to the four Native American designers whose success stories include the way they’ve launched successful businesses and partnered with Carolyn Pollack Jewelry to license their designs.”Comment:  For more on Indian jewelry, see Roanhorse Jewelry Funds Breast Cancer Cards.

Kilcher arrested at White House

Q’orianka Kilcher and her Mother Saskia Kilcher Arrested at Protest against Peru’s President Alan Garcia at White HouseA protest was held outside of the White House as Peruvian president Alan Garcia met with president Barack Obama on June 1st, 2010. The protesters reminded Garcia of the killings of Indigenous peoples that he ordered a year ago in the Peruvian rainforest region of Bagua.

Actress and activist Q'orianka Kilcher and her mother Saskia Kilcher got arrested after they participated at an act of civil disobedience, demanding the respect of Indigenous peoples and the protection of the Amazon forest in Peru.

The protest was held while president Barack Obama welcomed the Peruvian president in the White House, to discuss bilateral topics which weren’t released to the press. The Peruvian president had to enter the residence by a side door to avoid the protesters.

The protest against the president of Peru Alan Garcia turned into a tense moment when actress and activist Q’orianka Kilcher chained herself to the White House fence and later got arrested along with her mother Saskia Kilcher.

Comment:  We've heard about Q'orianka's activism, but I didn't know she was this hardcore. Way to go, girl! (I can call her a girl because she's young enough to be my granddaughter.)

As Wikipedia notes about Q'orianka, "Her father is a Quechua artist from Peru. Her mother, Saskia Kilcher, is a human-rights activist of Swiss descent, and was born in Alaska and raised in Switzerland."

The moment may have been "tense," but nothing much happens in the video. I guess the police take Q'orianka's mother away at the end, but they don't try to manhandle Q'orianka or anything.

For more on the subject, see Kilcher is Passionate for Activism and "Sedition" and "Savages" in Peru.

Foxwoods logo on Liberty jerseys

Foxwoods Casino to Have Logo on Jerseys of WNBA's N.Y. Liberty

By Erik MatuszewskiFoxwoods Resort Casino reached a multiyear agreement with the New York Liberty, becoming the first casino to have branding on the jerseys for a U.S. professional sports team.

Mashantucket, Connecticut-based Foxwoods, North America's largest resort casino, will have its name and logo appear on the front of the Liberty's home and road shirts. The Women's National Basketball Association team will debut its new uniforms in two days during a game against the Connecticut Sun.

"This is an organization we're proud to be associated with," Scott O'Neil, president of Madison Square Garden Sports, said in a telephone interview. "The Foxwoods executives came to us and said, 'We're looking for somewhere to put a stake in the ground and alert those entertainment seekers in New York that we are here, we have a presence and we'd like you to come visit in southeastern Connecticut."Comment:  I've heard of logos on things like shoes and warm-up jackets. But on the official team uniforms? That seems like a first to me.

For more on the casino, see Foxwoods Joke on David Letterman and Foxwoods iPhone App. For more on the subject in general, see The Facts About Indian Gaming.

Lego's Tribal Hunter minifigure

Adrienne Keene of the Native Appropriations blog reports on this Lego figure:

Tribal Hunter“Nature is both beautiful and very ticklish.”

The Tribal Hunter is a skilled, wise and noble tracker who is at one with the wilderness. He lives off the land, his only possessions a hand-made bow and quiver (though some say he also has an MP3 player hidden somewhere, and that he’s secretly a great dancer). There is no better hunter alive, but he does not hunt to eat–instead, he prefers to prove his skill in a most unusual way.

If an animal is famous for being difficult to sneak up on, you can bet that the Tribal Hunter can be found creeping silently toward it, his bare feet making not a sound on the dry autumn leaves, until he suddenly jumps out to surprise the unsuspecting creature with a friendly poke. Fortunately, he is also a very fast runner, because most of the time he ends up getting chased by something with very big teeth and a very short temper. But that’s all just part of being the best hunter around!Adrienne comments:I think this serves as a great example of how a "Noble Savage" stereotype can be just as damaging as a fierce-scalping-war-like character. So let's see. "Tribal Hunter" is skilled, wise, and lives off the land--playing into the stereotypes of Natives being mystically connected to the land and nature. He has a bow and arrow and is the best hunter around--because he creeps silently through the leaves (like every "Indian scout" in every movie ever). But to make sure you still remember he's "modern" he's rumored to have a mp3 player, and *gasp* is a good dancer. Though it's not confirmed. Thanks?

But don't worry all you helicopter parents concerned about the amount of violence to which your child is exposed! This "hunter" doesn't hunt/kill to eat animals (god forbid). He tickles them. If that isn't infantilizing Natives, I don't know what is. I just picture this clown-like Indian jumping out of the bushes with a lopsided grin and poking a buffalo with a maniacal laugh.

If you go to the Lego page, you can see along the side the other "characters"--there are some occupations, like deep sea diver and nurse, but most are things like Ninja, Caveman, Robot, Zombie, etc. Just like I mentioned in my post about headdresses at Yale Class Day, Indians are placed as a fantasy character, pretend, not a real group of people.Blogger Stephen Bridenstine adds:I always like to make the comparison to pirates, ninjas, and cowboys. All of these are rooted in history but have become so twisted and stereotyped thanks mostly to popular culture--literature, films, TV, etc.

But as I remind everyone, when you got that questionnaire from the government a few months ago, tell me, was there a box to check off with the word pirate next to it? How about ninja or cowboy?

Well, there is a box on the U.S. Census for American Indian. That's the difference!Comment:  Except for the "Caveman" and the "Forestman," all the figures are set in the present or future. In contrast, the Indian is set in the past. Again, there's zero recognition that an Indian could be a spaceman, nurse, or cowboy.

Note also that he's wearing warpaint even though he's only hunting. It couldn't be clearer that people aren't trying to replicate or "honor" actual Native traditions. What they're doing is treating Indians as a collection of superficial costume elements--just like the circus clown.

Someone else makes another good point:Also, it gets better: I checked out the Lego page, and the only 2 females (out of 16) are, you guessed it, the cheerleader and nurse! Is it just me, or are kids' toys getting even MORE stereotypical?In other words, Lego's "thinking" is purely stereotypical. These toys are like something out of the 1950s. A "Chinaman" in a coolie costume, an Arab on a flying carpet in a turban, and a woman in a cocktail dress and pearls would just about complete the set.

A "defense" of Lego

Correspondent Michael Cooke offered a predictable defense of Lego: that all the figures are stupid and stereotypical, so why single out the Indian?Yeah, and the wrestler is a Mexican, the White guy is a dumb cowboy and the spaceman is stupid and has no skills. But that's not worth mentioning?My response:

You almost had me worried that you might have a valid point, Mike. But as usual, you don't.

All the characters are yellow-skinned, so there's no white guy or Mexican. The wrestler is specifically not labeled a Mexican or Latino, so you're flatly wrong there. The only figure that has a clear ethnic identity is the Tribal Hunter (Indian).

The Cowboy has a notable set of skills and the Spaceman has an array of high-tech equipment. In contrast, the Indian supposedly tickles his quarry into submission. In short, the only reason to comment on the other figures would be to emphasize how much more stereotypical the Indian is.

For more on Native-themed toys, see Mormon Action Figures and Indian Toys and Games. For more on Indians as fantasy figures, see Natives = "Pirates" and "Outlaws" and Indians, Smurfs, and Fairies.

Divinities in Aztec Pantheon

More thoughts from my excursion to see the Aztec Pantheon exhibit at the Getty Villa:

The Florentine CodexNo source is more valuable for understanding Aztec civilization than the Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España (General History of the Things of New Spain), familiarly known as the Florentine Codex after its location in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence. For this exhibition, the Florentine Codex returns to the New World for the first time in over four centuries.

The codex is illustrated with over 2,400 images describing Aztec religion, rituals, agriculture, commerce, and crafts.The Birth of HuitzilopochtliWhen the mother goddess Coatlicue (Serpent Skirt) was magically impregnated, her daughter Coyolxauhqui led 400 brothers against her.

The god Huitzilopochtli sprang from Coatlicue's womb fully armed, defeated his siblings, and decapitated Coyolxauhqui, whose dismembered body fell to the base of Coatepec (Serpent Mountain).Comment:  I believe the exhibit said the Aztecs had more than 150 deities. 150! Christianity barely manages three: God, Jesus, and Mary.

The Aztec religion was much more complex than Christianity, as the Huitzilopochtli story hints. Yet the Spanish demonized it as simple devil worship. How typical.

Aztec divinities vs. Greco-Roman gods

Moreover, as one exhibit panel noted, the Aztec deities weren't like the Christian or Greco-Roman gods: majestic white guys sitting on thrones in the sky. They were more like "spirit forces" that animated the living world.

So it's incorrect to even call them gods. Although the exhibit uses the term "gods" as shorthand, it alternates this with the more appropriate "divinities."

Since they were more akin to forces than beings, the Aztec divinities were more fluid in nature. They readily changed shape from human to animal to some other aspect of nature (sun, moon, storm, fire, etc.).

The exhibit has several statues and drawings of Aztec "gods" with their faces emerging from the mouths of animals (jaguar, snake, bird, etc.). This was meant to indicate the divinities changing from animal to human form.

The Europeans couldn't come close to understanding this, so they reinterpreted it based on their own myths. A "god" who appeared to be wearing a jaguar's head and Hercules wearing a lion's head...same thing! Like Hercules, the god must've slain a mighty predator to prove what a mighty man he was.

It's a good example of how the Western and indigenous worldviews diverged. Which is why I titled my posting on the subject Hercules vs. Coyote:  Native and Euro-American Beliefs. A big, brawny man vs. a small, brainy animal--that sums up the difference in a nutshell.

For more on the subject, see "Primitive" Indian Religions and Were the Aztecs Murdering "Animals"?

Indian headdresses at Sasquatch!

Sasquatch! Sunday:  Anyone Else a Little Taken Aback By All the Warpaint and Feathers?

By Chris KornelisWe are, after all, in an area of the country rich with Native American heritage, and the outfits du jour at Sasquatch! this year appears to be anything related to the kind of American Indian image painted by white oppressors of Native Americans. I understand we still live in the world of Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins, but this seems like a step backward, right?

Among the responses I got when I asked those dressed up what the deal was:

"It's what we're about."

"Why not?"

"Chief Seattle, baby! Chief Seattle!"

Adrienne Keene of Native Appropriations comments:Thanks for the stereotypical war whoop face, because it was unclear you were being insensitive solely by your mess of a headdress.

I don't know if it's a step backward as much as bringing to light something that never went away. These incidences have been happening for years-decades-centuries, but it wasn't considered to be the ultimate in trendy or counter culture until more recently. To me, the responses when directly questioned show the absolute ignorance of the issues with wearing a headdress.Comment:  As far as I know, Chief Seattle didn't wear any headdress. Invoking a Pacific Northwest Indian as an excuse to dress up as a Plains Indian is plain stupid. It's about like dressing up as the Pope and saying, "Queen Elizabeth, baby! Queen Elizabeth!"

Again, you don't have to go more than skin-deep to find that the people "honoring" Indians are completely ignorant of them. Again, these people are "honoring" their fictional, romantic images of Indians, not real Indians. The correct label for that is stereotyping.

For more examples of hipster headdresses, see Yale Grads Wear "Silly" Headdresses, Kesha Goes Tribal at Bamboozle, and White Girls Play Indian at Powwow. For more on why the practice is wrong, see Idiot's Guide for Dudesons Defenders, What's So Wrong About Kesha?, and Why Hipster Headdresses Aren't Okay.

Kilcher is passionate for activism

Kilcher has rare maturity for a young actress

By G. Allen JohnsonKilcher is not your typical young actress. She took time off to get her education and pursue her passions--human rights and environmental activism. After five years, she chose another important historical figure, the title character in "Princess Kaiulani," as her second starring role.

"I feel like, as a celebrity, I have a responsibility to tell important stories," said Kilcher, calling from Arizona, where she is filming "Shouting Secrets," a movie with an American Indian theme. "Films are very influential, and I especially feel a responsibility to tell stories that have been pushed aside. Being able to shed light on issues that need to be brought to the world."And:"There's still the struggle of being an indigenous young actress," Kilcher said. "You're not given that many opportunities to play normal roles. Sadly, people don't have an imagination sometimes. It's hard to break through that barrier and show people ... you are an actress, and you can play different roles, not just indigenous roles."

Unlike many young self-absorbed actors, Kilcher talks openly about starting a family while still in her 20s, and not letting her foot off the pedal when it comes to her causes. She enlisted Malick's help in a "Princess Kaiulani" screening event earlier this week that raised money for Peruvian flood victims.Comment:  My understanding is that the movie's official title is Barbarian Princess, not Princess Kaiulani.

For more on the movie, see Barbarian Princess Plods, Hawaiians Criticize "Barbarian" Movie, and Princess Kaiulani Trailer. For more on Kilcher, see Q'orianka Kilcher on Ellen Show and "Sedition" and "Savages" in Peru.

Below:  "In her second starring role, Q'orianka Kilcher (Pocahontas in The New World) again plays an important historical figure."

Tule River Memorial Day parade

Tribe's Memorial Parade tradition grows—30 entrants, 20 floats

By Sabrina ZieglerA Memorial Day tradition of honoring American soldiers with a parade and free-to-the-public luncheon in the heart of the Tule River Indian Reservation is drawing a slightly larger turnout each year, said a few of those who took part in the festivities Monday. This year, close to 30 entrants, and about 20 floats, made the procession, starting at the Tule River Tribal offices, and looping around across the Million Dollar Bridge, Silver Bridge and back toward the Tribal office. This way, people could view the parade from the school playground neighboring the Tribal office, or from anywhere along that route, including—for some—their front yards.And:The parade had a familial touch to it. The entries included vehicles dressed in red, white and blue decorations, memorial floats with the photographs of fallen loved ones that served in the U.S. military, and plenty of area veterans, in addition to young dancers dressed in Native American regalia, a Citrus Tule South School District bus full of kids, a horse drawn wagon, Eagle Mountain Casino performer Ray Flores, the 11th Airborne Division, Casino security guards and the drum group Painted Rock Singers.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Weaponized Drone = Indian Savage and Indians in the Military.

Below:  "Members of Tule River Native Veterans Post 1987 hold flags honoring the divisions in which they served during Monday's Tule River Memorial Parade at the Tule River Indian Reservation." (Dean Alari for the Recorder)

Beach's role in Cowboys and Aliens

Adam Beach Joins Cowboys And Aliens

He's playing a half-Apache enforcerBeach joins a cast that already includes Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Clancy Brown, Keith Carradine and Paul Dano.

The plot (for those still unaware) finds a mysterious, amnesiac stranger (Craig) stumbling into a tightly controlled Arizona desert town known as Absolution. It’s not the friendliest place for outsiders and the situation is made worse by the cruel grip of Colonel Woodrow Dollarhyde.And:Beach is playing Nat Colorado, a half-Apache who works for Dollarhyde, in a script co-written by Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof.

Favreau has already begun making preparations for a summer shoot, and the movie should be invading our cinemas on August 5.Comment:  Another blog claims Wes Studi has joined the cast also.

For more on the subject, see Green Lantern Out, Cowboys and Aliens In and COWBOYS & ALIENS.

Racist Arizona and Dudesons

Indian Comics Irregular #193:  Arizona Targets Latinos, Indians