Through Native Eyes

A maelstrom of snow and rain, my girlfriend and I walked into a bookstore native to her home in Arizona. Used and new, the first aisles I proceeded to were labeled native American. Lands of the Navajo and Hopi peoples among others, naturally, there was a wide selection available unlike the ones I frequent in California. Then I found a bargain copy of a book called Through Navajo Eyes. Ecstatic, I showed it to my girlfriend who is Navajo/Dine in blood and she smiled. It fascinated me not only because it concerned film, a passion of mine, but filmmaking at the hands of her people. The result was a series of documentaries seen from an indigenous perspective.

Then I got to thinking, and subsequently, researching into native cinema in general; aside from the films we know like Dances with Wolves and regulars such as Wes Studi and Graham Greene, there wasn't much behind the lens. Of course, this is changing with the likes of directors like Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals) who is Arapaho-Cheyenne and the Ojibwe actor Adam Beach (Flags of Our Fathers, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee). There are even independent filmmakers far and away from the mainstream such as Canadian native Alanis Obomsawin, a woman who has been documenting the First Nations of Canada for decades now. Unfortunately, the fact remains - they are difficult to come by if at all.

A couple months pass, I remembered Sacheen Littlefeather. For those who don't know or remember, she was the native (not Mexican as had been noted) who accepted Marlon Brando's Oscar for The Godfather.

(Herein lies the complete intended speech for that night.)

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/movies/bestpictures/godfather-ar3.html

An excerpt:

"...the motion picture community has been as responsible as any for degrading the Indian and making a mockery of his character, describing his as savage, hostile and evil. It's hard enough for children to grow up in this world. When Indian children watch television, and they watch films, and when they see their race depicted as they are in films, their minds become injured in ways we can never know.

Recently there have been a few faltering steps to correct this situation, but too faltering and too few, so I, as a member in this profession, do not feel that I can as a citizen of the United States accept an award here tonight. I think awards in this country at this time are inappropriate to be received or given until the condition of the American Indian is drastically altered. If we are not our brother's keeper, at least let us not be his executioner."

It was then I saw the need to forge an awareness of their collective visions. I'm sure there are others more knowledgeable than I may ever be but the more we advocate their voices, the more they will be heard. The mission of this capsule, if you will, is a modest venture; I intend to review, document, and share anything I happen upon that pertains to native cinema. Truth be told, I am usually buried in schoolwork, my own filmmaking endeavours, and of course, learning more about the peoples that have come before us - and are still among us. So forgive me if my entries are few and far between at times but I do intend to build this as consistently as possible.