Cultures in Contact
ANT 326L (30410) Spring, 2008
Samuel M. Wilson
Imagining
Indians (and Darkwind) by Masayesva - Imagining Indians (1992,
56 min. Documentary) Producer: Victor Masayesva, Jr. (Hopi) Director:
Victor Masayesva, Jr. (Hopi)
Interviews with Native Americans in film and community reveal the misappropriation
of American Indian culture, spiritualism, ceremony and religion. By juxtaposing
footage from Hollywood films with the humiliation suffered by Indian extras
and actors, he asks, "When did sacredness lose its sacredness?"
Surviving Columbus - Pueblo people - KNME-TVSurviving Columbus : the story of the Pueblo people / KNME-TV Albuquerque and the Institute of American Indian Arts ; program concept and initial development, Larry Walsh ; producer, Larry Walsh, Edmund J. Ladd ; director, Diane Reyne ; written by Larry Walsh ; original poetry written by Simon Ortiz, Rina Swentzell.
Without Reservations: Notes on Racism in Montanna, a film by Native Voices.
Return of Navajo Boy - see http://www.navajoboy.com/
Blood River
-(2000, 23 min.) CANADA Director: Kent Monkman (Cree) Producer: Gisèle
Gordon Actors: Tantoo Cardinal, Jennifer Podemski, Brandon Oakes, and
Gregg Odjig
Rose, a Native teen at odds with her white adoptive mother, fantasizes
about what her life might have been with her birth family. The search
for identity reveals a brother and a new understanding of the meaning
of family.
Black Indians: An American Story- Voted the Best Native American Film 2001 An introduction to the blending of Native Americans and African Americans. “Black Indians: An American Story,” explores the issue of racial identity among Native and African Americans. This in-depth documentary examines the coalescence of these two groups in American history. Discounted, and often ignored by mainstream America, these minority peoples have often shared a common past. However, with their heritage ignored and their contributions denied they are all but invisible at the dawn of the new millennium. - http://www.richheape.com/native-american-videos/Black_Indians_An_American_Story.htm
The Death March of De Soto -- 1992, Roger Clem. "The textbooks still provide romantic visions of the explorer Hernando de Soto's arrival in North American 450 years ago and his "discovery" of the Mississippi River. But archaeologists are discovering a darker story as they chart the conquistador's trail across Florida's Gulf Coast to the Gulf of the Mississippi and uncover now extinct Native American cultures, their peoples victims of brutality, disease, and neglect."
Shadow Catcher: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian is a fascinating 1993 film about the ambitious project of this photographer to record the vestiges of Native American culture-their customs, costumes, and sacred rituals.
Rabbit Proof Fence (Australian) 2002 - Based on a true story, this film follows three aboriginal sisters in Australia in the 1930s who are taken from their homes by the government to be trained as servants for a white family. They escape and walk across the Outback, using the rabbit-proof fence as their guide and trying to find their way home.
A Seat At the Table: Struggling for American Indian Religious Freedom.
Professor Huston Smith, in dialogue with eight American Indian leaders,
explores the problems faced by Native Americans in practicing their
religious ceremonies and beliefs. Each of the film's eight segments
deals with an important obstacle to American Indian's religious freedom.
Taken as a whole, the film provides an outstanding overview of the
spiritual ways of today's Native Americans. 2004. 91 min. DVD 4866
Kennewick Man: An Epic Drama of the West
When a human skull was found by the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington
in 1996, it turned out to be one of the oldest and most complete skeletons
ever found in North America, igniting a firestorm of controversy pitting
scientists against Native Americans. The scientists demanded the right
to study the bones, while the Umatilla Tribe believed the bones to
be sacred and ancestral. When the American government ruled the bones
would be repatriated, eight scientists then filed a lawsuit in order
to block the action. This documentary explores the cultural assumptions
and differing opinions among the various groups involved, looks at
the far-reaching implications for the future of anthropology and present-day
relations between Native and non-native people. 2001. 86 min. Video/C
9188
Redskins, Tricksters and Puppy Stew: Native Humour and its Healing Powers
Take an in-depth laugh-a-minute tour of complex issues like Canadian
native identity, politics and racism, and wrap them neatly inside one-liners,
guffaws and comedic performances. Native American comedians discuss
Native American humor as they hilariously overturn the conventional
notion of the "stoic Indian" and shine a light on an overlooked
element of Native culture -- humour and its healing powers. 2000. 55
min. Video/C MM188
Lighting the 7th Fire
This film examines how the Chippewa Indians of Northern Wisconsin have
struggled to restore the tradition of spear fishing and the opposition
they have encountered, vividly documenting contemporary racism towards
Native Americans. Presents treaty rights issues and the re-emergence
of traditional fishing rights linked to the Chippewa prophecy that
speaks of seven fires representing seven periods of time, the seventh
being a time when lost traditions would be renewed. Nationally broadcast
on PBS Stations as a part of the Point of View series (P.O.V.) 1999.
47 min Video/C 7653
The Mystery of Chaco Canyon.
This film examines the deep enigmas presented by the massive prehistoric
remains found in Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. The film reveals that
between 850 and 1150 AD, the Chacoan people constructed massive ceremonial
buildings in a complex celestial pattern throughout a vast desert region.
Aerial and time lapse footage and computer modeling show how the Chacoan
culture designed, oriented and located these buildings in relationship
to the sun and moon. Pueblo Indians, descendants of the Chacoan people,
also speak of the significnce of Chaco to the Pueblo world today. Narrator:
Robert Redford. 1999. 56 min. Video/C 6630
Real Indian.
Presents a personal look at the meaning of cultural identity. Describes
the complex world of the Lumbee Indian culture and questions the viewer's
perceptions of Native Americans. Featuring Angeles Gonzales and Denni
D. Woodward. c1999. 7 min. Video/C 7667
Homeland: One Reservation, Four Families, Three Years
Four Lakota families living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South
Dakota, open their hearts and homes to present a portrait of reservation
life. The film focuses on their attempts to secure decent housing on
the reservation with the assistance of Walking Shield, a non-profit
agency that works to provide housing for indigenous Americans. Berkeley,
CA: University of California, Extension Center for Media and Independent
Learning, 1998. 57 min. Video/C 7538