It's that time again

National American Indian Heritage Month, 2006

A Proclamation by the President of the United States of AmericaDuring National American Indian Heritage Month, we honor the generations of American Indians and Alaska Natives who have added to the character of our Nation. This month is an opportunity to celebrate their many accomplishments and their rich ancestry and traditions.

America is blessed by the character and strength of American Indians and Alaska Natives, and our citizens are grateful for the countless ways Native Americans have enriched our country and lifted the spirit of our Nation. We are especially grateful for the Native Americans who have served and continue to serve in our Nation's military. These brave individuals have risked their lives to protect our citizens, defend our democracy, and spread the blessings of liberty to people around the world.

Mascot or Halloween costume?

You be the judge.

Beach on Hollywood Indians

Actor takes pride in Iwo Jima roleAlthough the dialogue is improving, Beach said writers are finding it hard to let go of "the old-school Hollywood Indian."

Even more pressing: the lack of authentic faces on screen, let alone Academy Award nominations beyond Chief Dan George from "Little Big Man" and Graham Greene from "Dances With Wolves." Both were nominated for supporting actor and lost.

"The most difficult of all is the percentage of the Indian actors out there working. It's so low, it's like we're .02 percent, which is below ‘Others' on the graph. We're not even in the minority group, and that's what we're trying to change in Hollywood, because we're not accepted in that field. Yet.

"That's why I think we, as a people, have to now start making our own movies and taking steps into producing and creating these stories, because it is limited in Hollywood."

Casino fosters culture

An Undocumented History Made Real

Historic Connecticut: Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research CenterBe prepared for a journey back in time when you visit the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center. Four acres of permanent exhibitions depict 18,000 years of Native and natural history, concentrating on the history and traditions of the Pequot tribe.

Your journey will begin with a visit to the Ice Age and a simulated glacial crevasse. You'll shiver as you step onto an escalator or into an elevator and descend into a glacier, traveling through thick blue walls dripping with water, feel the chilling air and listen to the recorded sounds of an actual glacier, with its creaking ice and whistling winds.

The highlight of the museum tour is a visit to a re-created 1550 Pequot village. Using life-size replications of daily life in the 16th century, the 22,000-square-foot diorama shows daily life over the course of 50 years leading up to European contact. Visitors view Pequots at play, cooking, making baskets and other activities of daily life, enhanced by atmospheric sounds and smells. All figures were cast from Native American models, and the traditional clothing, ornamentation and wigwams were made by Native craftspeople. A portable, digital audio system permits viewing unobstructed by signage.

Metal band is back

Neither time nor distance can keep Native Blood downIn the annals of heavy metal music on the Navajo Reservation, no band has deeper roots than Native Blood.

One of the Navajo Nation’s earliest heavy metal bands, Native Blood has been up and down for two decades. Now it is poised to make a comeback after seven years on hiatus.

Dressing up = learning experience?

More on Indian Costumes at Halloween

Un-PC Mom:People dress as Marie Antoinette, don't they? People dress as Vampires. The point is, people dress as things that they find intriguing and actually might want to learn more about. I am very sorry if you find it offensive, but honestly, I find it an opportunity to talk organically with my child about what she finds interesting and then that opens the door to what is there academically. She certainly means no offense, being 6, and I, most certainly do not either. In this day and age, when so little is actually taught correctly about native american indians, I find it a great "in" to talk about everything with my daughter. I am sorry if it offends your sensibilities, but then, that is something for you to deal with. At the end of the day, do you want people to be insinserely NOT talking about Native America Indians, or do you want them to learn, by hook or by crook, what is real?Educator:I’m wondering what resources you and your daughter would use to find information about “Indian” ways of dressing and looking? Without the most accurate resources and careful choices, the result is likely to be a pseudo-historical mélange of styles and inaccuracies that will add to her misinformation about what it means to be Indian, in either the historical or contemporary sense. Even if the costume is 100% authentic/accurate, you still run into the problem of allowing your child to think that "playing Indian" is somehow on a par with pretending to be a vampire or Marie Antoinette, which it isn't.(Excerpted from Debbie Reese's American Indians in Children's Literature, 10/29/06.)

Comment:  I guess children are suppposed to learn what's real by looking in the mirror and saying, "Indians sure didn't look like this!"

See Indian Wannabes for more on the subject.

Big fat idiot does it again

Limbaugh:  Natives too "one with the land" to be on Survivor

Roscoe Pond responds

A comment from Roscoe Pond on the numbers in his article:A lot of people are discussing my article that appeared on Indian Country Today newspaper. That's great. But....People are arguing about the Percentage of Natives working in Hollywood and whether I'm accurate or not. Well....According to the Screen Actors Guild this year 2006. Natives represented on TV and in FILMS was less than 1%...50 people! And most of that work was GUEST STARRING ROLES. I've counted only 9 on NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX and the CW. There are no reoccurring roles, no supporting roles or GOD forbid, lead roles for Natives in Hollywood!

Last year's SAG report was less than 2% because we had more than 500 Natives working on "Into the West" or "Apocalypto" and most were Background Extras! The Census doesn't matter with 4.0 million Indians in this country. What matters is Natives in Mainstream Hollywood!!! We are invisible!!!! And where are the Native actresses? We only had two LEAD FEMALE ROLES last year on "Into the West" and that was only a mini-series and not on a major Network.

Even if it's 2%. It still means we NATIVES are NO-WHERE on Mainstream TV and in FILMS! That doesn't count Independent films which are never seen by the mass public....

I suggest you call SAG and get the percentages. It won't be pretty. WE are Nowhere and if we are it is only in Westerns or Period Pieces! 100 years of filmmaking and WE are not modern Indians in 2006 on TV or Films!For news on the annual diversity reports issued by minority coalitions, see Diversity Lacking in Television.

Native vs. non-Native humor

A Very Special “Occasion”:  Breaking Bread With Drew Hayden TaylorCQL: Do you notice a difference in what Natives and non-Natives find funny?

DHT: As Native humorists, we aren’t reinventing the wheel. What makes me laugh, will probably make you laugh, and what makes you laugh, will make me laugh. I go home at night and watch the Simpsons and have a good time. Funny is funny. Many people think Native humor is a lot different, but really it isn’t that different.

Humor is exceedingly cross-cultural. Ninety-five percent of the people who come to my plays are non-Native. For my comedies to work, the humor has to be universal. Let me give you an example: you have tandoori chicken, chicken cacciatore, you have McChicken. It’s all chicken, but it’s the spices you use to cook that chicken that give it its cultural uniqueness.

CQL: Please explains what you mean by the “Ladder of Status” and how this applies to what is socially acceptable when one ethnic group tells jokes about another…

DHT: In essence, I break it down into the world of geometry. Humor works from the bottom up; racism works from the top down. We can make jokes about people higher up on the ladder than we are, whereas people higher in the culture, white people, cannot. That’s racism.

Indian killer = hero?

Colonial woman lionized for scalping Abenakis while fleeing

Another stereotypical video game

Video game:  "Mohawk Mayhem...When Apaches Attack"

NY Times reviews Thirteen Moons

Trail of TearsLike “Cold Mountain,” then, “Thirteen Moons” is a book with grand, bordering on grandiose, ambitions. At its best, Frazier’s writing achieves an almost Virgilian level of polish, expressed in elegant similes: a pair of dueling pistols in a velvet-lined case look “like lovers coupling in a canopy bed.” A scene of looters at work during the Cherokee evacuation might have come straight from the sack of Troy: “Sometimes the rabble fell upon a place so soon after vacancy that the owners could look back and see them trying to straddle a plow mule or struggling to lead away a reluctant hog by a rope around its neck or flailing about in the farmyard chasing old big-breasted and flightless hens that ran squawking with their wings trailing in the dust.” This beautifully drawn scene is especially poignant because the animals’ masters have also just been ignominiously herded off their farms.

How, then, to explain the much more frequent patches of bad—really bad—writing in “Thirteen Moons”? This starts with the book’s very first sentences, which are so awful that they beg to be read aloud: “There is no scatheless rapture. Love and time put me in this condition. I am leaving soon for the Nightland, where all the ghosts of men and animals yearn to travel.” To be sure, there were plenty of passages like this in “Cold Mountain”—of prose that somehow managed to be simultaneously portentous, folksy and cloying, like banjo music on the soundtrack of a Ken Burns documentary. But the volume in “Thirteen Moons” has been cranked up considerably.

American Indian Film Festival

American Indians find voices in filmWhen the American Indian Film Festival opens Friday in San Francisco, it will be 31 autumns old. And like the season it is celebrated in, the festival showcases films that fall from a world warm with history while facing an industry that can be cold and cynical.

"It used to be if you were dealing with homelessness or alcoholism, you might get some support from foundations and government grants. But if you're talking about media, arts and culture involving American Indians, people who could help always found that hard to grasp," says Michael Smith, who founded the nonprofit American Indian Film Festival in Seattle in 1975 before moving it to San Francisco two years later. "At one point there were white arts groups getting funded for work on Indian arts projects. But our Indian groups wouldn't be given a chance to do things on our own."

That has changed in recent years, as Indian tribes with lucrative casino enterprises realized that they could give back to their communities by helping fund Indian arts groups like Smith's American Indian Film Festival.

Dime-store Indian vs. stuffed bunny

“The Last Great Hunt” Satirical Short Takes a New Look at Old StereotypeWhat's this? A film that stereotypes Indians...made by Indians ??!

You got it. But it's not what you might think. The Last Great Hunt, by Shonie and Andee De La Rosa of Sheephead Films, is a comedy that takes some of the most ingrained images of Natives–and turns these stereotypes right on their head in this seven minute parody.

Take a look-see for yourself. (Gotta watch that rabbit. He's a scary one:)

Disenrollment = murder?

Macarro, "henchmen" decimate Pechangas "with...prejudice"

Reporter misstates tribes' motivation

Morain:  Greedy "Casino Tribes Try to Keep Entire Pot"

Two pea-brains in a pod

The Great White Woman Speaks

Dr. David Yeagley interviews Ann Coulter.

No good Native movies? Wrong

This is the Year That Is…Who Says There Ain’t No Good Native Cinema? (Not Me)Maybe it’s not nice. But I’m gloating right now.

This is for you, dear cynics. All of you, each and every one, who say there are no quality Native produced films. This is for you, dear cynics, who dismissively pass off such enthusiasm as naïve and snort that an audience doesn’t exist for Indigenous cinema—after all, who cares about Indians if they aren’t carrying tomahawks?

You’re wrong. Here’s proof.

The film festival season is in full throttle. Festivals, festivals, festivals: the well funded and well publicized, the grass-root, college-run and those teeming with glitterati. Take a look. Carefully.

Calling Indians "Indians" offends "Indian"

People from India are HINDU, not "Indian."I am offended by this confusion in modern day America, confusion which is created by the abundant presence of Hindu people referred to as "Indians." This, in effect, is yet another and very serious assault on the identity of the American Indian.

Thus, the typical modern headline in American papers: Indian Communisty Burgeoning in America. Of course, the article has to do with Hindus, not American Indian. And recently there appeared this entry on the blog, aboutbloginfo.com: "Fact about India." It is a strange collection of information about American Indians (Seminole), and it has my name and a name of one of my articles (It's the Casinos, Stupid). It has nothing to do with India, or Hindu people. Yet, is listed as "Fact about India."

Tribes = casinos, again

Tribes "most often formed to promote casino development"

Equality means no Native nations?

Republican:  Indians "treated equally" can't own Red Lake

Jefferson admired Indians' freedom

Newcomb:  On the North American Indian tradition of libertyAs "[i]mperfect as this species of coercion may seem," said Jefferson, "crimes are very rare among" the Indians. Jefferson then posed a most interesting question: Which "submits man to the greatest evil," "no law, as among the savage Americans, or too much law, as among the civilized Europeans"?

Jefferson answered that "one who has seen both conditions of existence would pronounce" that too much law as among the civilized Europeans submits man to the greatest evil: "and that the sheep are happier of themselves, than under the care of wolves." It is because large societies cannot exist without government, said Jefferson, that the Native societies "break themselves into small ones."

What I believe Jefferson was noticing is the North American Indian tradition of liberty: a truly free way of life, without monarchs or despotic leaders who could dictate their will. Such societies were regulated from within; not by written laws, but a code of honor, respect, honesty, and an abiding appreciation of the sacred web of life. The result was a sense of liberty in the beauty of a natural setting that is now difficult for many of us to comprehend let alone imagine being able to live as a way of life.For more on the Indians' belief in freedom, see Indians Gave Us Enlightenment.

No love scenes for Indians

Hey Hollywood, Black, Asian, and Latino Men Do Fall In Love!I saw this great post on the All Things Considered Blog about love scenes in the top grossing movies. The author, Steven Barnes, reviewed love scenes in the 350 films that have earned more than $100 million dollars. Barnes found that 50 of these movies had loves scenes, which he operationalizes as scenes that insinuate sex, but not one of those scenes included a male actor who was not white.

I think one of the primary ways that groups are marginalized is through control of their sexuality. The control can be exercised directly through sexual violence (i.e. rape), forced breeding, and coercion. It can been done indirectly through stereotyping and erasure. I think one of the primary ways that Black, Asian, Latino, and American Indian sexuality is controlled today is through what Patricia Hill Collins calls controlling images. Popular movies, TV programs, music, and almost every other major form of popular culture contribute these controlling images when they avoid showing African Americans in intimate, loving relationships. Not only are people of color not shown in loving relationships, we also rarely see intimate family relationships.

Washington chopped down cherry trees

Exhibit uncovers Ithaca’s pastIt’s a little known fact that George Washington chopped down more than one cherry tree, according to Jack Rossen, associate professor and chair of the anthropology department.

In 1779, General John Sullivan was ordered by Washington to destroy the Hodenosaunee, or Iroquois, for their loyalty to the British. The campaign destroyed 43 communities, including Peachtown, a Cayuga Indian village located 30 miles north of Ithaca, known for its 1,500 peach, apple and cherry trees.For more on Washington's dealings with Indians, see Fun Fourth of July Facts.

Kingsolver's books worth reading

A little about KingsolverThe Bean Trees is the first of Kingsolver’s novels. It is the story of Taylor Greer, who left Kentucky because “being barefoot and pregnant wasn’t my style.” Traveling to Arizona in a beaten-up old Volkswagen that would only start on a hill, Taylor ironically ends up with a child. The child, a Cherokee, is given to Taylor at a gas station/restaurant. Taylor soon learns that the child has been abused. Because she doesn’t speak and clings to Taylor, Taylor names her “Turtle.” The adventures of Taylor and Turtle and their friends are a delight. There are also refugees from Central America, and a store called “Jesus is Lord Used Tires.”

A follow-up book is Pigs in Heaven, more or less the continuing saga of Turtle. Taylor discovers that Turtle is lactose intolerant, as are many native Americans, and this problem sets up the conflict between Taylor’s guardianship of Turtle and the rights of her Cherokee tribe. Taylor’s mother appears in Pigs in Heaven, a refugee from her new husband, who thinks that spraying everything with WD-40 is all it takes for a good marriage.

Uniting nature, culture, and spirit

Restoring Earth new role for NativesHow do you restore the Earth?

The concept is at odds with indigenous peoples, who find themselves at an unprecedented crossroads.

Tribal people never had to think about restoring Mother Earth on a global level because it was inconceivable anyone would wantonly destroy the Earth and sky.

But images of a crying Earth appear each day. We have stinking rivers, melting ice caps, dwindling rainforests and polluting oil refineries. For more Native views about the environment, see Ecological Indian Talk .

Genocide causes suicide?

Expert says past genocide linked to suicides in Native AmericansHistorical trauma is the intergenerational post traumatic stress that is the result of the genocide perpetrated on American Indians, Brave Heart said. The resulting "cumulative group trauma" was aggravated by the boarding school system imposed on Indian children by both the United States and Canada, robbing them of their traditions, language and families, she said.

The children of the massacre survivors, the boarding school survivors, passed on this trauma to their descendants, Brave Heart said. Hope for Native American children lies, Brave Heart said, in recognizing that this historical trauma exists and reclaiming traditional culture and spirituality through the power of the tribal community and "grass roots healing."Domestic violence:  The view from a Navajo counselorNative Americans trying to overcome learned behaviors may have more difficulty because of historical trauma or intergenerational trauma, said Clifford Jack, community educator for the Home for Women and Children. Jack also facilitates a men's group to help offenders overcome issues regarding domestic abuse.

"There is a backlash of forced assimilation—boarding schools, experiences of attempted extermination. All those backlashes lead to social ills," he said.

"Super Indian" premieres

Native Voices premieres three new stage playsWhat if German entrepreneurs were to descend on a Canadian reserve to build the world's largest Native theme park, complete with bumper canoes and a dream catcher Ferris wheel? Ojibway playwright Drew Hayden Taylor of Canada explores the comedic results in his latest play, “Berlin Blues,” performed as part of a festival of new works by Native playwrights at the Los Angeles-based Autry National Center's “Continent of Stories” on Nov. 3-5.

Also premiering in November is the comedy “Super Indian,” by Kickapoo/Creek writer and performer Arigon Starr, which features an unassuming bingo hall janitor who transforms into a reservation superhero when bad guys come to town; and the thriller “Plymouth Dodge DeSoto,” by Diane Glancy, Cherokee, about a man who seeks revenge after his family is killed in a car accident.

Chocolate Indian art

Artist's chocolate masks a sweet dealIf you don't have thousands of dollars to buy artwork from the Roxanne Swentzell Gallery at the Tower Gallery in Pojoaque Pueblo, you can buy Roxy's Chocolates, which are masks made of chocolate.

Roxy's Chocolates are the newest creation of the famed Santa Clara Pueblo artist and are going for $15 each or $25 for two. Swentzell has been selling them since September and is already behind in orders.

"She started making them in our kitchen at home in September," Tim Star, Swentzell's husband, said. "The only problem is they're so beautiful no one wants to eat them."

Giant Indian head found!

This iPod user rocksGoogle Earth spotters have discovered a strange rock formation in the prairies of central Canada that resembles a native American in headdress listening to an iPod.

The rock formation is in Alberta, Canada about 300km southeast of Calgary, near the border with Saskatchewan.Comment:  Were the "ancient astronauts" responsible for this too?

See it for yourself in Google Maps.

Dissing David Yeagley

Is Yeagley Truly Indian?  Actual Comanches Say No

Did Yeagley Have Plastic Surgery to Look "More Indian"?

DavidYeagley.org

Super-Chief lives

DC has just revived Super-Chief. To learn about this 45-year-old character, who may be the Silver Age's first Indian superhero, see Super-Chief Lives.

Native superheroes made easy

You too can create a Super-Chief, American Eagle, or Red Wolf. Just follow these 12 easy steps:

Create Your Own Native American Superhero!!!In honor of DC's "Relaunch Native American Superheroes" Month, we present a handy guide so you, too, can create an original Native American Superhero just like REAL comic book writers!

Think tanks rethink Indians

Language is crucial to garnering support, leaders say“The neoconservative movement has used cognitive linguistics successfully over the years to advance its political agenda with such words as 'tax relief' and 'family values' because these terms frame their message in ways that persuade their audience to support them,” said Parker. “We, too, need to know how to frame our message of tribal rights and values to win the support of the American public.”

Nisqually elder Billy Frank Jr., a regular at the table, said, “We need these 'think tanks' all around the country. Our people are beginning to be identified as 'casino Indians' and not as the people of the land or of the salmon. The casinos help us economically but they are not who we are. We are our languages, we are our culture, we are our natural resources, we are our spirituality and we are our prayers.”

Film fest avoids anything "Indian-y"

Never To Suffer…On How To Run a Native Film FestivalOne of the primary goals of the First Nations Film and Video Festival is to protect Native American first-voice. For so long the control of Native imagery has been out of the hands of the Native film makers themselves. That contemporary Native perspective that is consistently absent from modern films is tied to Native first-voice. Also, giving a venue to any Native film maker’s voice by simply providing a venue for their works. Seems almost too simple really.

That contemporary Native perspective, away from the beads and feathers of that romanticized past of the “Old Times”, is what the FNFVF wants connect to and promote. To show Native Americans as living, breathing, evolving, and yes, flawed participants of America’s modern society is crucial in cultural preservation. Native Americans never forget who they are. Indeed, most people will never let them forget. But, to not show people who we are now lends to being lost forever, like the ghosts of Alexie’s poem.

Wounded Knee just a mistake?

And not a crime? Read about this and much more in

Were American Indians the Victims of Genocide? "The violent collision between whites and America's native population was probably unavoidable."

Rainmaker returns

If you don't know the history of the GEN¹³ comic book and its bisexual Apache superheroine, read all about it in Rainmaker Returns.

Flags flags

After Weak ‘Flags’ Debut, Studio May Face Costly Oscar BattleClint Eastwood’s World War II movie “Flags of Our Fathers” lumbered ashore this weekend weighted with the expectations of a studio needing to win big. Looking for Oscars and a payoff on the film’s $90 million budget, Paramount, its distributor, put the film in nearly 1,900 theaters, and still plans to add hundreds more as early as this week.

By Monday morning, however, the studio and its partners found themselves facing a costly fight to save their showcase awards entry, as “Flags” took in just $10.2 million at the box office—a relatively tiny beachhead that did not match expectations or its mostly strong reviews. The picture had failed to excite enough older viewers who could remember, readily identify or relate to its subject, the bloody battle for Iwo Jima, to make up for its lack of appeal to younger audiences and paucity of recognizable stars.

Why Indians like The Searchers

Assuming they do, that is. Here's an exchange on subject with correspondent Khan. It's a response to the negative review of The Searchers I linked to in July.The writer found it strange that they seemed to identify with the cowboys, and not the actual Natives in the film, who were stereotypes.Many Indians have identified with the cowboys rather than the Indians in Westerns. See The Harm of Native Stereotyping:  Facts and Evidence for examples. And why not, since everyone loves a winner? Why would an upstanding Indian want to associate with the murderous savages in a typical Western?

Indians could've loved The Searchers for several reasons. Because the Indians in the film came off better than the John Wayne character. Because the film exposed the racism inherent in our culture. Or simply because they finally saw themselves on the screen in any role, no matter how unrelated it was to their actual lives.

None of this has anything to do with the quality of The Searchers, which was the writer's point. Regardless of its racism, the film is highly overrated.

Grammy for an Indian?

Arigon Starr:  Oklahoma’s own makes it in first round for the Grammy AwardsOklahoma has been responsible for producing many talented musicians over the years. We are known for our country and western talent, as well as, numerous musicians in various fields of blues, classical and rock-n-roll.

But try to fit Indian Country’s Arigon Starr in a category and you may have a bit of a problem. She’s known as a performing actress, folk artist, female country vocalist and playwright.

The Lone Ranger rides again

Dynamite Comics is publishing a new Lone Ranger comic book. This time the Lone Ranger is barely out of his teens and Tonto is his adult savior and mentor. This Tonto looks like a wild Conan the Barbarian, not a tame Jay Silverheels.

I glanced at LONE RANGER #1-2 but didn't buy them. Although the story seems a little light, John Cassady's artwork looks gorgeous. Here's what the Lone Ranger Fan Club thinks of #1:The story is told in a very minimalist way without a lot of narrative and dialog. It flows quickly. The artwork is very detailed and edgy. The flashback scenes appear like worn and scratched images. The comic has a wonderful blend of earth tones accented by vibrant colors when needed.

There are many details that are faithful to the established character mixed with new elements, such as the father. There is some course language that is questionable for a character of the Lone Ranger’s integrity. At one point in the story Tonto makes an appearance and does something that is way out of character. It’s the biggest disappointment in an otherwise superb story.

Over all, the creative team has done an exceptional job blending tradition and new storytelling in a comic that will be pleasing to a wide range of readers from the older Lone Ranger fans to the young comic book connoisseurs. We eagerly await the next installments of this episodic adventure!One interesting note:  At the end of #1, Tonto finds young John Reid after desperadoes leave him for dead. On page 1 of #2, Tonto greets the boy with "How." But on page 2, he finishes the sentence by saying "How are you alive?"

This is a clever bit of humor. Writer Brett Matthews (and Tonto, since he's the one speaking) is smart enough to use a stereotype only to subvert it. It's an example of laughing with Indians, not at them.

Flags of Our Fathers debuts

Flags of Our Fathers premiered Friday. I haven't seen it, but the preliminary reviews were apparently on the mark. Here's the consensus view:

'Flags of Our Fathers' Salutes The Men Behind The Moment"Flags of Our Fathers" stands with the best movies of this young century and the old one the preceded it: It's passionate, honest, unflinching, gripping, and it pays respects. The flag-raising on Iwo might have indeed become a pseudo-event as it was looted for maximum profit, but there was nothing pseudo about the courage of the men who did it.
But a few reviewers have noted imperfections:

Deconstructing myths in 'Flags of our Fathers'It is when the narrative shoots all the way forward to the present day, showing author James Bradley interviewing the old men who fought beside his father, that "Flags of our Fathers" starts to lose its footing. The horrible "old man flashback" framing device that Steven Speilberg used to bookend "Saving Private Ryan" should have been warning enough, but Eastwood plows ahead with several conversations between an actor we can barely see and don't care about and some elderly gentlemen who are not easily identified by their young counterparts in the island scenes. It brings the movie to a standstill every time.

Billy Jack revisited

One Tin Indian… “Billy Jack”—The Legend; the Wannabe. He’s BackThirty-five years ago actor Tom Laughlin and his unadorned wife Delores became minor phenoms when their low-budget, cliché clogged, stereotype teeming, screamingly poor acted, hideously written piece a crap of a movie made loads of money and too much press by being identified as a metaphor for the little guy standing tall against the establishment.

The name of the movie was The Legend of Billy Jack. Except one thing. Billy Jack aka Tom Laughlin who’s a white guy playing a "half-breed" Indian, ain’t no legend. Beyond his and his unadorned wife’s dreams, that is.

Pop quiz!

How well do you know Native Americans? Take the quiz on my American Indian Heritage Month page...please! No peeking at the answers at the end of the page until you're done. If anyone can get even half the answers right, I'll be impressed. (I didn't know the answers either until I looked them up, so I'm not bragging.)

Comment on Juaneño photos

From correspondent Bonnie:The sequence of pictures, "Padre explains Bible to Indian" followed by "Indians build mission" and "Indian baby gets baptized" got me thinking, maybe the first caption should read, "Padre explains to Indian that the Bible says he's supposed to build the mission and that he should baptize his baby so it won't go to hell when it dies of smallpox." :-P

Blog is racialicious

RacialiciousRacialicious (formerly known as Mixed Media Watch) is a blog about the intersection of race and pop culture. Check out our daily updates on the latest celebrity gaffes, our no-holds-barred critique of questionable media representations, and of course, the inevitable Keanu Reeves newsflashes.

Indians know immigration

Listen to the Native AmericansMany people don't know that there are over 20 tribes that live in the border area who are suffering the consequences of the immigration crackdown.

Federal agents violate tribal land without any regard to the rule of law set by treaties. When on tribal lands, agents invade homes at gunpoint, and demand papers.

In addition, the proposed border wall would cross through tribal territory, including sacred burial grounds, also in violation of the treaties. Migrating animals would be drastically affected by the wall as well.

"We are directed under our law to go to the aid of others and not just sit back and watch the devastation," said Mohawk Mark Maracle, representing the Women Title Holders. Maracle added that the proposed border fence would upset nature. "If this fence goes up, this nation will see natural disasters like it has not seen before. It will disrupt the natural order."

Bill Means, a member of the Indian Treaty Council went farther and called the proposed fence another "Berlin Wall" that would violate federal laws such as the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act and American Indian Religious Freedom Act.

The current proposal for a wall, as well as the need for Indigenous people to migrate to the United States, have one thing in common: they result from the continuous disregard and disrespect of Natives since the European colonization.

Policy is never ever drafted with Native people's interests in mind and favors only the interests of the colonizers.

Criticism of Zagar mounts

Bud Light ads celebrate white superiorityI know that I shouldn’t expect too much from beer commercials but these Bud Light ads, featuring the uh, comic duo of Steve and Zagar, really sink to a new low. Watch them yourself here.

I can’t even count all the stereotypes these ads contain: cannibalism, eating domestic animals, spear-chucking, squatting, etc.The broader context:What’s sad is that this isn’t an isolated incident. If anything, the whole Savage vs. Civilized dichotomy is one of the mainstream media’s favorite cliches. It pops up time after time after time.

The underlying message in all of these representations is the smug celebration of the supposedly inherent superiority of whiteness and “Western” culture. It’s unbelievable to me that this still flies unchecked in 2006. I guess just because Zagar is light-brown and doesn’t have a bone through his nose, it didn’t racist enough to raise a red flag at theAnheuser Busch headquarters.Comment:  This posting came after my blog entries and article in Indian Country Today. I wonder if they triggered it.

The "Zagar and Steve" website is down, so the campaign may be over. But the criticism continues!

Money for nothing

A look at 'The Color of Wealth'Americans have always had easy explanations for minority poverty, often involving alleged behavior factors such as laziness, unmarried motherhood and debt brought on by irresponsible spending. Lui used an anecdote of J. Paul Getty, one of America's first oil millionaires, to dismiss the mythic discredit poured on the poverty of minority groups. Getty revealed his "three little secrets" for getting rich, Lui said: work hard, rise early, and find oil--or in other words, get lucky.

Getty's message was that without luck, you can do everything else it takes to get rich and still not get rich. Lui, though, was pointing out that without the property unmentioned by Getty--without the asset, land that yielded the oil--even luck wouldn't have done it. The larger message here was that people of color have been deprived of assets they owned, or on other occasions excluded from owning them, throughout U.S. history.

Getting ready for AI month

Resources Offered for American Indian Heritage Month

Blue Corn Comics Provides Quiz, Articles, Contest

It's that time of the year again: American Indian Heritage Month, when Americans celebrate Native people in all their diversity and complexity. To that end, Blue Corn Comics has gathered several of its resources for the media, schools, and the Web in one handy spot. Editors, teachers, and bloggers can come here for content they can use to acknowledge the country's first inhabitants.

PBS documentaries scheduled

PBS Explores the Lives of the First Americans During American Indian Heritage MonthPBS salutes American Indian Heritage, traditionally celebrated during the month of November, with both new programs and repeats of some of the popular programs that explore the lives and culture of the first Americans. Native-American culture--too often invisible both on television and in American society at large--is at a crossroads, and PBS' special programming provides a provocative and surprising look at how communities are changing, adapting and enduring.

Flags an eye-opener

A chance to live historyBeach said his portrayal of Hayes in the Clint Eastwood-directed epic, which opens Friday, proved to be an eye-opening experience not only for him but for his fellow actors as well.

“One of the actors, Ryan Phillippe, pulled me aside and said, ‘You know, Adam, I’m seeing native people in a different light because I’ve always thought of them as stoic and here you are presenting them as a human being with human emotions. You’re crying, you’re angry and it’s nice to see that.’

“When I thought about that, I was like, ‘Wow, we are now pursuing a different look at native people.’”From the Washington Times, 10/18/06:

Roller coaster of emotionsIn one of the movie's most powerful and disquieting scenes, the corporal meets the mother of his slain squad leader, Mike Strank. It is a moment that pulls back the ideological curtains to reveal the fallacy inherent in creating heroes. In the end, they're mortal men, born to mothers just like Mrs. Strank. Upon seeing her, Mr. Hayes is overcome by the burden of the sergeant's death, and he grips her so tightly and for so long that one senses he might fall off the face of the earth if he let go.

When asked about his thoughts during the scene, Mr. Beach says, "It's crying. It's remembering. It's letting go. It's healing. It's almost like a child wanting his own mother. There's so much."Comment:  Indians have human emotions? Wow!

Get a friend Flicka--cheap

From the Yakima Herald:

'Flicka' could be a friend to Yakama horse programWith this week's release of "Flicka," Twentieth Century Fox's retelling of a beloved children's story of a child's love for a horse, the Yakama Nation is hoping to release some horses of its own.

The film opens Friday, and the tribe and the studio are using the occasion to team up in promoting the Yakamas' wild-horse adoption program.

Fox representative Janet Wainwright said Fox will use the movie's animal conservation theme to help preserve the 5,000-head Yakama herd, which has been difficult to manage. Wainwright contacted radio stations in Yakima, Seattle and Portland to publicize the adoptions.A Hollywood ending for Yakamas' wild horses?The unlikely partners were brought together by Janet Wainwright, a Seattle publicist who represents the studio in the Northwest. Wainwright remembered reading a Dec. 28, 2004, story in the P-I chronicling how the Yakama cherished the herd as a cultural icon.

"The article mentioned the problem they were having with overpopulation of the herd," she says. "And I learned from the tribe's Web site that, to avoid having to put down the overflow, they were trying to get tribal members to adopt them--with not enough takers.

"So I figured that if I could go to the Yakama and convince them to open up the herd to adoption by non-Native Americans, and use the visibility of the movie to promote the program, it would serve the good causes of the movie, the Yakama and the horses."

Deep secrets about boarding schools

County, reservation to be backdrop of 'Older Than America'Carlton County and the Fond du Lac Reservation are about to step forward into a new and important role in bringing history to life. The area will play host to the filming of the independent movie, “Older Than America,” that tells the story of how the American Indian boarding school experience of the late 1800s and 1900s has influenced subsequent generations of the Indian culture.

The movie, directed by Native American director and actor Georgina Lightning and produced by established local producer Christine Walker, is described as “a Native American thriller set in a small Minnesota town once home to a Native boarding school.”

“Deep secrets about the school and its dark past come to light when an earthquake threatens to attract undue attention to the area,” the movie overview goes on to explain.And how does the past affect the present?Lightning said she believes that many of the issues Native Americans are struggling with today are a product of what has come out of their past.

“I believe that’s a direct result of several generations in a row having to go to Indian boarding schools,” she related. “They got out and there were no parenting skills, no relationship skills. It’s a really harsh environment to grow up in.”

Inside Indian country today

“Indian Country Diaries” to Premiere on PBS this NovemberINDIAN COUNTRY DIARIES, a new two-part PBS series, goes inside modern Native American communities to reveal a diverse people working to revitalize their culture while improving their social, physical and spiritual health. Co-produced by the Native American Public Telecommunications and Adanvdo Vision, the series discusses some of the biggest issues facing contemporary Native Americans, including:

How has new-found casino wealth changed the fortunes of Native Americans?

How are tribes coping with the influx of Indian wannabes, eager for a piece of the pie?

How can Native American parents teach their children their tribal history when they were not taught it themselves?

Can Christianity and traditional Native American spiritual beliefs co-exist?

Is there any perfect middle ground between assimilation and isolation?

Time-traveling boy meets codetalker

From a press release on the children's book Anthony and the Magic Picture Frame:

Navajo CodeTalkers are Forgotten Heroes of Iwo Jima, Says Author Michael ClassIn the chapter on World War II, Anthony sees six marines raise the American flag on Mount Suribachi. The six marines are the subject of the current motion picture, Flags of Our Fathers. Class recommends that parents take their high-school students to see the movie.

But, Anthony also witnesses something else on Iwo Jima.

"I was just in time to see six marines raise the American flag in the rocky ground of Iwo Jima's dormant volcano, Mount Suribachi," reports Anthony. "When the flag went up, the marines on the mountainside and the beach below gave a loud cheer, the U.S. Navy ships anchored offshore blasted their horns, and a coded message crackled on the radio of a marine standing near me. The message was: 'Ni-he da-na-ah-taj ihla.'"

The coded message that Anthony heard was in the Navajo language. The Navajo words meant: "Our flag waves."

On the indigenous frontline

'Whispering in the Giant's Ear' looks at Native challenge in BoliviaIt used to be referred to as Oblivia, a small landlocked country ruled by a typically corrupt elite. About three years ago, however, news from Bolivia started creeping toward the front pages of our press as large groups of Natives began to protest the longstanding discrimination against them. Since almost two-thirds of Bolivia’s population is composed of indigenous peoples, the largest of any country in the hemisphere, this movement is no small matter. Its main tactic was the nonviolent blockade of roads to and from the most important cities. It culminated in December of 2005 with the election of Evo Morales, the first indigenous head of state in Latin America.Comment:  As usual, Gandhi and ML King knew best. Score another victory for nonviolent action.

Where X-Indians dwell

The X-Indian Chronicles
The Book of Mausape

Author:  Thomas M. Yeahpau
Illustrator:  Bunky Echo-HawkMausape, a young "X-Indian" man dreams he's about to compete against the King of All Fancy-Dancers--who, it turns out, is Elvis Presley in full Las Vegas regalia. Another teenage boy, concerned that he's not a real warrior, seeks confirmation behind the liquor store from Grandma Spider, a wise, obese old creature with the torso of an elderly woman and the eight legs of a spider. In stories and poems mixing magical realism with unflinching reality, a young American Indian author offers a raw, graphic view of life on a reservation, a place where bitterness toward the white man lingers, where the enemy often appears in liquid form, where misogyny often raises its ugly head, and where a new generation's pop culture infiltrates ancient beliefs. A standout voice in the anthology NIGHT GONE, DAY IS STILL COMING, Thomas M. Yeahpau explores the place between native culture and contemporary America where X-Indians dwell.Note:  Thomas Yeahpau is a Kiowa writer/filmaker/musician. Bunky Echo-Hawk is a Pawnee artist and a big supporter of Blue Corn Comics.

The gay-Indian connection

Heard an interesting fact on Conan O'Brien last night and found it on Google today. Scientists have identified 1,500 species of animals with homosexual traits. Did these animals opt to be gay as a "lifestyle choice"? I'm guessing not.

How is that relevant to this blog? Conservative Christian Americans were just as sure that Indians were deviants and blasphemers as they are about gays. And they're just as wrong now as they were then. The objective evidence, such as that found in this posting, proves they don't know what the hell they're talking about.

The Fifth Horseman

Cover illo for FIFTH AND LAST HORSEMAN by Michael "Huzo" Paddlety.

Russ Bates explains:  You are seeing the emergence of "The Fifth Horseman" from the circle of existence brought about by the four previous horsemen, and in fact you are looking from above him so that you see the top of his head and that of his horse. Lovely thing, that....

Tribes losing their roots

It's time for Native peoples to take a standI challenge you as I challenge myself to practice your traditions, learn your language, study your tribal history and learn how to subsist off the land and sea. Go to your elders and make an effort to find out your tribe, family crest, clan and house. You will find an enlightenment phase of your life. Knowing who you are is power and a sense of being.

We don't have to give up anything. We can still keep our jobs, eat at McDonald's, shop at Wal-Mart, use cell phones, drive our cars, watch HDTV and live in a house. We don't have to go live the old ways without the modern conveniences that make our lives easier. Our people adapt. If they had electric sewing machines or cars back in 1867, they would have used them.

White people don't get it

Our view:  It's not just a nameWhite elected officials, such as Kootenai County Commissioner Rick Currie and state Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, don't get it.

It doesn't matter what they think the word "squaw" means. Or if they use the word in the best manner possible when they refer to geographical place names in North Idaho. Or if they're tired of name changes. Or if the name has a debatable background. In the 21st century among American Indian tribes--including the Coeur d'Alene, Nez Perce and Kootenai of the Idaho Panhandle--the term is universally regarded as a derogatory reference to female genitalia.

Cherokees pleased with Thirteen Moons

Novel taps into history, romanceTurning his research and style from the Civil War setting of "Cold Mountain," Frazier found inspiration for "Thirteen Moons" in the often tragic history of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.

"The Eastern Band is very pleased that such a notable author as Charles Frazier has undertaken the daunting task of conveying intricate stories typical of our 'Removal Era' history," says Principal Chief Michell Hicks in the tribe's official statement on the book.

"I read 'Thirteen Moons' and begin to crave more and more Cherokee history," Hicks says.

PEACE PARTY joins MySpace

Check it out here.

Culture at casinos

Statues near the Agua Caliente Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs, California.

Carpet in the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California.

Statues outside the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California.

Indians = Palestinians?

Give Virginia Indians a fair dealI am so tired of hearing that all we want is a casino and the "evils" that are associated with it. How two-faced the forked-tongued white man is!

We have legal gambling in this state, with the state-owned lottery and horse racing. No tribe has plans for a casino. What we want is the legal recognition that we have been denied and the respect associated with being recognized.

My tribe--the Chickahominy (I am an enrolled member)--had a reservation, but that, too, was taken from us in the 1700s.

We are the Palestinians of Virginia, a people in their homeland without legal recognition.

June-July Stereotype of the Month loser

The loser:  "Zagar" ads show Indian sacrificing animals, shooting people

Dishonorable mention:  YouTube videos show models with feathers, face paint, bones

Update on "squaw"

Squelching the S-Word

Are you a dreamcatcher?

Are You a Dreamcatcher? No.I can't think of anything more annoying or degrading than a huge billboard sign with the allusion of ladies gambling and a huge caption over it reading, "Are You a Dreamcatcher?"

Amazingly, this eyesore of a sign can be viewed right before one takes a little journey on Highway 49, into a beautiful, quaint valley with a historic significance all its own. I suppose the only more annoying thing would be a Home Depot plopped within the view shed of historic Jackson.

The popping up of American Indian casinos all over the nation is causing a slow, inevitable death of real Native American culture and tradition--a tragedy, for sure, almost as tragic as the genocide of Native Americans themselves. Quite frankly, I wish more cared. Billboard signs like these don't help.

America's first multicultural village?

Discoveries let Jamestown museum give equal play to Colonists, Indians, AfricansEvidence at the fort site made it clear that Jamestown was a trading community tied into the worldwide economy, he said.

This idea clashes with earlier notions. Around the time of the last Jamestown anniversary--in 1957, when this museum was created--the settlement was envisioned as a rural English village transplanted to the New World, Davidson said.

"What we're now seeing is Jamestown as an example of a new thing--a trading post/commercial center that is analogous to the kinds of establishments being set up in Asia and Africa by the Dutch and Spanish and Portuguese."

Dead man walking

Sleepdancer...A Silent Man’s Plaintive WailThe second feature written and directed by and starring Rod Pocowatchit, Sleepdancer is above all else a drama about everyday people in an anyplace town with regrets, secrets, tragedy and eventually, forgiveness. The film begins with an earnest coroner’s investigator, Derek Smith, studying the death of a 65-year-old Native man who died of natural causes. What should be a routine assignment turns into an obsession for Derek, played with understated realism by Mark Wells, as he delves into the past of the disturbed, mute son, Tommy.

As Tommy, Rod fills the screen as a tic-afflicted dead man walking. With less than several sentences of dialogue in the entire film, he is the core of the story—what happened to this formerly “normal” guy that has transformed him into a zombie?

Adam Beach cries

Raising Maple Leaf on Iwo JimaBeach, who was brought up on the Dog Creek Indian Reserve in Manitoba and is a member of the Salteaux tribe, sees Hayes as an inspirational figure. He feels that portraying him has brought him closer to his personal goal of becoming an influential leader of the Indian nations.

"Ira Hayes is a hero to me," he says, dabbing his eyes. "He is like a lot of other heroes of war who struggled to maintain their dignity through those horrors. The American Indian in him kept him strong."

New Native network

Native Voice 1 officially launches its programmingNative Voice 1 officially launched the latest in Native American programing recently. Radio personalities from Gallup to Alamo attended the launch celebration held at the Albuquerque Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Oct. 4.

"Native Voice 1 is the great American radio service, being the voice of all Natives," said Camille Lacapa, NV1's station manager and a longtime fixture at Ojibway's WOJB radio station in Wisconsin.

Contemporary artists struggle

Contemporary American Indian artists struggle for attention in a market focused on tradition"While a handful of artists of native descent have achieved national and international recognition, Indian artists have largely been ignored by the power brokers of the art world," says Marjorie Devon, director of the Tamarind Institute, a center for fine art lithography within the University of New Mexico Department of Fine Arts.

The snub has been felt most deeply by contemporary Indian artists trying to break out and define their work beyond traditional culture. They've struggled against strong preconceptions to show there is more than one kind of Indian art and that being an Indian artist can mean many things.One artist's epiphany:Deo has fought those generalizations much of his life. He drew horses growing up in Tulsa, Okla., influenced by the painterly style of Jerome Tiger. Deo moved to Santa Fe in 1989 to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts.

"While there, I had a revelation," he says. "I was painting Plains Indian-type stuff - you get caught up in the market in Santa Fe. I was painting this Indian man shooting a buffalo, and, for some reason, I felt I needed to be more connected to my work. I didn't feel I was connected to that image.

"I grew up on horses, but I never shot a buffalo. I had never really seen a buffalo. I started asking myself a lot of questions. A teacher, Craig Anderson, nurtured me. He said `If you feel you need integrity, that's how you should paint.'"Note:  The following drawing is by Patrick Rolo (Bad River Chippewa).

Don't go to hostile U. of Illinois

Mascot Flap Leads Illinois Professors to Urge Sports Recruits to Stay AwayDon’t come to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. That is the message 14 Illinois faculty members are sending to some of the university’s athletics recruits because of a controversy over Chief Illiniwek, the Illinois mascot that some people feel is hostile to American Indians.

Led by Stephen J. Kaufman, an emeritus professor of cell and developmental biology and a longtime critic of the university’s use of an American Indian mascot, the faculty members wrote letters to prospects advising them to “think twice about whether the university is a good environment for you to further your education and athletic career” because of the chief, according to today’s Chicago Tribune.

Playing Indian on Halloween

"An Indian?" in Clifford's Halloween, by Norman BridwellLet’s pause for a moment, though, and think about this seemingly innocent act of dressing up as an Indian for Halloween.

What else do kids dress up as at Halloween? I don’t mean animals or superheroes, but people-costumes. They can be policemen, firefighters, cowboys, doctors, nurses, pilots, astronauts, baseball players, cheerleaders, soldiers, football players, princesses, belly dancers. ... All these are occupations or positions one can, in fact, be at some point, with the proper training.

Now--what about an Indian? You can’t train to be an Indian. You can’t become one. It is something you are born into.Comment:  Sheesh! Just when we finish Columbus Day, we have another holiday to fret about.

Adam Beach grows up

Unfurling the real storyIn bringing Hayes' torment to the screen, Beach says he's found his own possibility. He's also beginning to receive the sort of praise that can mess with one's equilibrium. But he's ready, and not just for his impending close-ups.

"After this film I found the courage and strength that I've never seen," he says.

A couple of months ago, Beach ran for chief of his tribe, the Saulteaux, a subtribe of the Ojibwa. He didn't win, but sees the possibilities.

"I have a sense of my responsibilities," he says. "But now I see my leadership qualities. I know what I'm supposed to do. My spirit name is Leading Bear Man." He repeats the name in Anishinaabe. "And I found it, I found my true spirit."

Indians talk'um funny in spoof

PAC satire:  Sitting Bulldozer, Kosher Horse talk like Tonto

Alternatives to Columbus Day

Leif Erikson DayLeif Erikson Day is a United States observance occurring on October 9. It honors Leif Erikson, who led the first Europeans believed to have set foot on North American soil. In 1964, Congress authorized and requested the President to create the observance through an annual proclamation. Lyndon B. Johnson and each President since have done so. Presidents have used the proclamation to pay tribute to the contributions of Americans of Nordic descent generally and the spirit of discovery.

In addition to the federal observance, some U.S. states officially commemorate Leif Erikson Day, particularly in the Upper Midwest, where large numbers of immigrants from the Nordic countries settled. In 1930, Wisconsin became the first state to officially adopt this holiday, thanks to efforts by the Norwegian-American initiator, Rasmus B. Anderson. A year later Minnesota followed suit. In 1963, the U.S. Representative from Duluth, John Blatnik, introduced a bill to observe it nationwide. The following year Congress adopted this unanimously.Discoverer's DayDiscoverer's Day is a commemorative public holiday of the state of Hawaii in the United States, observed on the second Monday of each October. It is celebrated on the same day as Columbus Day, a federal holiday which Hawaii does not officially honor, as Christopher Columbus had no part in the history of Hawaii. One of the principal advocates of the creation of the alternative holiday to replace the irrelevant federal holiday was Bud Smyser, editor of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspaper. While many in Hawaii still celebrate the life of Columbus on Columbus Day, the alternative holiday also honors James Cook, the British navigator that became the first person to record the coordinates of the Hawaiian Islands and shared with the world the existence of the ancient Hawaiian people and society. Some people interpret the holiday as a celebration of all discoveries relative to the ancient and modern societies of Hawaii.Discovery DayDiscovery Day is celebrated in only two provinces in Canada. Newfoundland and Labrador celebrates Discovery Day on June 24. Yukon celebrates it on the third Monday of August.

In Yukon, Discovery Day is a public holiday commemorating the anniversary of the discovery of gold in 1896, which started the Klondike Gold Rush.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, it commemorates John Cabot's discovery in 1497.

Foley exemplifies Euro-American arrogance?

Whiteman magicWhether or not there was any physical contact with Foley, the pages wanted what Monica Lewinsky wanted from Pres. Bill Clinton--to get close enough to power to take home some fairy dust.

The pages wanted what the clients of Team Abramoff wanted--for the leaders in Washington to shake their hands for photos and for fortune to smile on them.

They all want whiteman magic.

Whiteman magic is the stuff of dreams and shams. It's the appearance of causing a solar eclipse or eating fire, or some other rabbit-out-of-the-hat tricks that kept the Europeans from being killed in indigenous peoples' countries.

Whiteman magic enabled the historic whiteman to get away with murder and to claim he stole the Western Hemisphere fair and square.

Whiteman magic protects politicians when they harm innocent or defenseless people.Comment:  Interesting passage from Suzan Shown Harjo. I'm not sure it's valid to link Foley to Abramoff to the grand sweep of history, but it's provocative.

Raving about Raven Tales

Raven Tales...the reviews are in!Raven Tales blends the stately ancestral style of Native American art effortlessly with the hip, vernacular pizzazz of today. Raven, the hero, is the archetypal trickster, endowed with curiosity, persistence and daring. Raven’s video debut has been exhibited at film festivals worldwide and received over twenty prizes and multiple broadcast offers internationally. A dozen further “Raven Tales” will be rolled out in Canada on the Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN) next year, starting in March with “Raven and the First People,” with release on DVD to follow. Children are not the only ones in danger of getting hooked.

--Wall Street Journal, Jan. 4th, 2006

...the most extraordinary and delightful film at this years Smithsonian Native Cinema Showcase is the animated Raven Tales: How Raven Stole the Sun…the results are dazzling; the animals are stunning, their forms based on the totems and renderings from Native Cultures, and the colors of their dreamscape environment are natural and fresh.

--Crosswinds Weekly, August 17th, 2005

Flags shocker

The Hot ButtonThe first true shock of the Oscar season has landed. And much to the amazement of many, it is Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers.

Simply put, the film is a Midnight In the Garden of Good & Evil level swing and miss by a very fine director and creative force. It is thematically muddled, emotionally simplistic (if not retarded), and it commits the worst sin of all… it is a dead bore.

Fiesta celebrates "genocidal maniac"

Fla. fiesta goers don feathers, face paint to honor Indian killer

Raven Tales takes wing

So what is Raven Tales?Raven Tales is the multiple (20 and counting) award-winning series of 13, half-hour, CGI (Computer-Generated Imaging) animated television/film programs, targeted at school-age children and their families. Starring Dr. Evan Adams of Smoke Signals fame, winner of the AIFF Best Actor Award, Raven Tales features Native American folklore developed to appeal to a broad international audience in a contemporary, humorous and entertaining way.

Raven Tales concentrates on the wild and funny adventures of Raven, the most powerful, and one might add, trickiest troublemaker of Native American folklore.

The Raven Tales, like the Simpsons, centers its humor on the interactions of its re-occurring ensemble cast. The three principal characters, Raven, Eagle and Frog, anchor the show and provide familiar faces and humorous antics that feature widely in each episode. Along with the principle characters are a cast of humans, their children and a group of mythological creatures whose foibles and flaws give our heroes plenty to worry about. And with 10,000 years of market research to support them, these stories are surefire hits with any audience.

The pilot episode, How Raven Stole the Sun, has been adapted from a popular Haida myth, but has elements of Salish and Kwakiutl, while others episodes have been adapted from Cree, Cherokee, Lakota, Navajo, Nisgaa and other Native American stories from all across North America. In every case, Raven Tales Productions has been careful to gain express written permission of Tribal Councils and hereditary Chiefs to tell these stories.

Columbus Day poem

“Columbus Day”--Poem by Cherokee poet, Jimmy DurhamIn school I learned of heroic discoveries
Made by liars and crooks. The courage
Of millions of sweet and true people
Was not commemorated.

Let us then declare a holiday
For ourselves, and make a parade that begins
With Columbus' victims and continues
Even to our grandchildren who will be named
In their honor.Comment:  Happy Native American Day!

Lindsay and Yeagley do it again

Tribal leaders and investors are responsible only to themselves

Pix of Juaneño Indian country

Mission San Juan Capistrano--October 8, 2006

Review of Flags of Our Fathers

Flags of Our FathersAmbitiously tackling his biggest canvas to date, Clint Eastwood continues to defy and triumph over the customary expectations for a film career in "Flags of Our Fathers." A pointed exploration of heroism--in its actual and in its trumped-up, officially useful forms--the picture welds a powerful account of the battle of Iwo Jima, the bloodiest single engagement the United States fought in World War II, with an ironic and ultimately sad look at its aftermath for three key survivors. This domestic Paramount release looks to parlay critical acclaim and its director's ever-increasing eminence into strong B.O. returns through the autumn and probably beyond.

Conventional wisdom suggests directors slow down as they reach a certain age (Eastwood is now 76), become more cautious, recycle old ideas, fall out of step with contemporary tastes, look a bit stodgy. Eastwood has impertinently ignored these options not only by undertaking by far his most expensive and logistically daunting picture, but by creating back-to-back bookend features offering contrasting perspectives on the same topic; the Japanese-language "Letters From Iwo Jima," showing the Japanese side in intimate terms, will be released by Warner Bros. next year.Adam Beach's role as one of three survivors is central to the movie:Of the three, Gagnon embraces his sudden celebrity, gallivanting around with his fiancee and expecting great things to stem from it. Already haunted by the horrors he witnessed, Bradley copes in a subdued way. But Hayes, whose story was dramatized onscreen in 1961 as "The Outsider" with Tony Curtis, of all people, portraying the Pima Indian, can barely hold it together.

Feeling from the outset that their participation in the tour is a "farce," that the real heroes are the guys who died or are still out there fighting, Hayes drinks heavily, embarrassing himself while having to stomach the everyday casual racism of being called "chief" or being refused service.

And once they've done their bit raising billions for the government, they're left on their own to put their lives back together. It's not an easy road, particularly for Hayes, who in one moving, genuinely Fordian moment, treks a long distance for a brief visit with the father of one of his fallen comrades.

Given this dramatic, wrenching arc, Hayes' story becomes the heart of the movie, and Beach, who previously played a Native American in the Pacific campaign in "Windtalkers," unquestionably takes the acting honors with it, delivering a full sense of the character's pain and sense of entrapment in an absurd situation.

Kit Carson: first cowboy hero?

A Real-Life Wild West Show, With Kit Carson as StarA legendary mountain man and Indian fighter, he accompanied Fremont on his mapping expeditions, served with General Kearny’s Army of the West, fought on the Union side against Texas and brought the Navajo nation to its knees in a ghastly war of attrition. It was Carson whose feats of daring on the wild frontier were presented to the public in the pulp novels known as blood and thunders, where he was described as a colossus, whose “lynx-like eye” and “imperturbable coolness” made him invincible in a thousand battles. He is hero, antihero and, in every page of Mr. Sides’s book, a mesmerizing star.

Carson was actually a squat, bowlegged little man who could neither read nor write, but he was indeed cool and courageous, a crack shot and a wily warrior, a man of few words but a sly sense of humor. Fame embarrassed him, but it hounded him for most of his life, as news of his exploits drifted back to a public ravenous for pictures of life on the frontier.

“Before there were Stetson hats and barbed-wire fences,” Mr. Sides writes, “before there were Wild West shows or Colt six-shooters to be slung at the OK Corral, there was Nature’s Gentleman, the original purple cliché of the purple sage.”

Carson captivates Mr. Sides, almost against his better judgment. Again and again he has to remind himself, and the reader, of Carson’s darker side, which is, by extension, the ugly side of the American story. Loyal and honest, chivalrous and self-sacrificing, Carson represented the ideal American male, a tight-lipped man of action.

But he was, as Mr. Sides points out, the strangely passive agent of men with less-than-lofty agendas, in whose service he carried out cruel policies and, on one occasion, committed cold-blooded murder. Although he spoke several Indian languages, married an Arapaho (and later a Mexican) and greatly admired the Indians he fought, he never questioned the American mission to conquer the West, or the right of American settlers to displace Indians from their land.

Oneida animators going strong

Oneida's latest venture is animation productionsThe Oneida Indian Nation of New York is using 21st century computer technology to preserve the ancient oral stories of its past.

The nation started its own video production company in 2003 and now after several successful ventures, Four Directions Productions is embarking on a project to turn some of the tribe's historic tales into animated video stories.

“We are bringing Oneida legends to life,” said Dale Rood, a member of the OIN Men's Council who serves as the company's executive liaison and studio operations director.

“We want to do more than just entertain the next generation. We want to teach them--and others--about the Oneida culture,” said Rood, as he watched lead animator Shaun Foster add a special effects sequence to “Raccoon and Crawfish,” which will be the company's first animated short feature.

Beach prepared to play Hayes

'Flags' star Beach generates buzzHayes' story, told in the Johnny Cash-performed The Ballad of Ira Hayes and in the 1961 Tony Curtis film The Outsider, is a tragic one. Unable to get past the horrors of war or deal with being considered a hero, Hayes was an alcoholic who was in and out of prison until he died of exposure in 1955.

Beach had a lot to draw on in playing the emotionally burdened Hayes.

A member of the Saulteaux tribe from Manitoba, and born in Winnipeg, Beach lost both parents within months when he was just eight. His best friend died just before production began. And during shooting, moments ahead of a pivotal scene, Beach was told his grandmother had died.

"I had a huge heaviness that carried me through it," he recalls. "I couldn't mourn for anyone because I was working. I had to wait until the job was done."

Integrating Indian ed

Schools struggle to integrate Indian ed into classroomsIndian Education for All is a state law passed in 1999 that requires Montana schools to teach all students about the state's American Indian tribes and reservations. It expanded upon a 1972 provision in the Montana Constitution recognizing the cultural heritage of the state's Indian tribes and committing the state to educational goals designed to preserve their identity.

"The idea is not to somehow show Indian people in isolation, but to show them as part of the big circle of life," Anderson said.

Literature is just one area in which Helena High is integrating American Indian culture this year, Anderson said. Freshman social studies classes will study the cultures of Montana's tribes. Sophomore biology classes will study plants used for medicinal purposes by the tribes. Senior government classes will look into modern issues such as tribal sovereignty and treaty law.

Re-revising Native history

Patrick Barkman:  Who ‘discovered’ the ‘New World’?An excellent recent work on this subject, and the re-revisionism of American Indian history, is 1491, by Charles C. Mann. Whereas contemporaries of Colombo, like Bartolomé de las Casas, described a land that was a “beehive of people,” the next generation of explorers found emptiness, leading to the enduring myth that North America was virgin unclaimed territory. De las Casas first came to the Americas as a conquistador himself, but was sickened by the brutality he witnessed and, repenting, entered the priesthood. His posthumous work, Apologética Historia Sumaria, was the first attempt by Europeans to write truthfully about American Indian culture. In fact, the “discovery” of the “New World” had led to a crisis in Christianity, since these lands and people were not to be found in Holy Scripture. De las Casas’ famous debate with Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda in 1550 was over the blunt issue of whether or not American Indians were human beings.

De las Casas had a somewhat romantic view, arguing that Indians were naturally innocent, living in paradise—a patronizing and offensive position, to be sure, but certainly better than de Sepúlveda’s contention that Indians were essentially animals who only looked like men, natural slaves created to serve white men and incapable of self-governance. King Charles V (grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella) was persuaded to de las Casas’ point of view; one can only imagine how things could have been worse for Indians had he gone with de Sepúlveda instead.

First Indian cartoonist in a mainstream newspaper?

Humor drawn from hardship

An American Indian cartoonist from Santo Domingo Pueblo will see his work grace the pages of ‘The New Mexican’ starting MondayRicardo Caté, from Santo Domingo Pueblo, is poised to be one of, if not the first, American Indian cartoonists to have his cartoons of Indian humor published daily in a mainstream newspaper. Already receiving accolades from various publications around the country and offers of national syndication, he says it's not about the fame or the glory but rather getting Indian humor to the mainstream public and showing Indian children they can be successful.

"I just draw the world as I see it," Caté said. "The cartoons are mostly Indian humor but I believe everyone can find truth and the humor in it."Comment:  Here's a strip of four Caté cartoons, somewhat blurred.

I hope these are early versions of Caté's cartoons. I saw similar cartoons 10, 20, or more years ago.

For my version of Native-themed cartoons, see Political Cartoons 2000 and Political Cartoons 2001.

Same old song about Columbus?

Eastern Connecticut students, teachers look again at ColumbusFrank Demicco is offended by the kind of Columbus lessons taught by teachers such as Rygielski. The 78-year-old Norwich resident is a former trustee of the United Italian Society of Norwich and an organizer of local festivities to honor Columbus annually.

"I hate revisionists that rewrite history, because we have no more facts about Columbus than the facts that have been used for the last 500 years," Demicco said. "Every immigrant family should have pride in their heritage. Italians have done an awful lot of good for the community and brought over a lot of culture and arts, not just pizza and pasta."

But not all teachers address Columbus' purported brutality. Colchester Elementary School teacher Kim Waltmire said many of her colleagues just teach simple songs about Columbus' voyage.

Teaching about peace treaties

Educator's play brings lesson on Indian treaty to lifeThompson, a University of Montana educator, opened the topic for discussion on Monday by inviting community members to participate in a “dry-run” reading of curriculum designed to introduce students to the process of peace treaty negotiations.

“It integrates the relationship between the United States history of the federal government and tribes in the region,” said Thompson, director of the UM Regional Learning Project.

More than a dozen people joined her at St. Paul Lutheran Church to help the educator read through what amounted to a three-act play. Everyone was assigned a role, ranging from Indian reservation agents and peace treaty negotiators to chiefs representing tribes throughout the region.

The black-Indian connection

More Blacks Are Exploring the African-American/Native American ConnectionAbout 15 years ago, a group of blacks attending the Silver Star Pow Wow in California decided to go out into the circle and dance together in an intertribal dance. Almost immediately, they felt a bond, said Don Little Cloud Davenport, leader of the Black Native American Association.

“There was something special about that moment,” Davenport told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “We are under the philosophy that you can’t be a whole person unless we acknowledge all that we are.”

William Loren Katz, author of Black Indians and a nationally noted expert on the subject, estimates the number of blacks with Native American ancestry to be 90 to 95 percent of blacks in America. You can see the features in blacks from Michael Jackson and Lena Horne to LL Cool J and Frederick Douglass, he told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

Indian guy meets dolphin gal

“Dude Vision” Rocks. Life through the Eyes of a Guy...Dude Vision is not dopey humor like Dude, Where’s My Car? It’s clever; it’s glib; it’s satirical, but never demeaning or crude for the sake of a cheap guffaw. For that you can thank [Jon] Proudstar, who wrote, directed and stars as the film’s title “dude.”

In the opening scenes we see Jon lying in bed with his “bombshell” girlfriend, Veronica, played by Juoy Luzania. Yeah, he loves her enough, but it’s Saturday morning and what would any guy under 40 want to do on Saturday morning? No, not that—he had plenty the night before; and it surely ain’t cuddling, which he’s afraid his honey is expecting. It’s free time playing X-box and drinking soda and eating cold pizza. Now, that's the American man we all know and love.

In typical dude fashion, Jon gamely agrees to go shopping at the mall with main squeeze. As she’s chastising him to get ready, her voice, ummm…her voice becomes…“When is she going to learn that as a guy, I have a genetic predisposition to hear a maximum of eight words in a given sentence?” Jon says, “Anything beyond that is…dolphin talk.”Comment:  Proudstar was also the writer of TRIBAL FORCE #1--reputedly the first comic book done by Natives.

More good Native-themed books

Native American titles for young readersAs a multicultural education has become the norm, it is important for young people--especially teens--to be aware of the vast amount of reading material available at the library that deals with other cultures. Native American themes are among those discussed in the classroom, and there are many talented authors who have written both nonfiction and fiction titles on the subject. The Manatee County Central Library should be the first stop in your quest for Native American writing.

Noted author Barbara Kingsolver writes about the Cherokee Indian Nation in her wonderful book, "Pigs in Heaven." Another great selection is "The Shadow Brothers," A. E. Cannon's book about the Navajo. "A Yellow Raft in Blue Water" by Michael Dorris is another excellent example of Native American fiction.Comment:  Pigs in Heaven is right up there with Pastwatch as my all-time favorite book about Natives. But I wouldn't say either book is for children. Rob's rating:  9.0 of 10.

Kunuk's Inuit films

Indian Comics Irregular #145:  Journals Follows Fast Runner

Reviews of Blood and Thunder

Carving a fuller role for Kit Carson

After winning the Mexican War in 1848America found itself inheriting a long-standing blood feud between the Navajos and the Mexican settlers, a fight that predated Plymouth Rock and Mexico's independence.

This three-way clash and the resulting traumatic "long walk of the Navajos" is the basis of Hampton Sides' energetic and engaging "Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West." Sides, the author of "Ghost Soldiers," offers a sweeping look at the interaction among these three groups, exploring the endemic violence of the 19th century frontier and the difficult issue of how America dealt with both former Mexican citizens and the nomadic Navajo (or as they called themselves, the Diné) tribes. The disastrous resettlement of the Navajo tribes was Sides' original focus, but to the benefit of readers, he expanded his subject to include this much larger and complex story of America's conquest of the Southwest.

"Blood and Thunder" is at its best when telling vignettes of historical figures who played a major role in this Southwestern drama but have lost some their luster in recent years. Though their names might be familiar today, some because of the cities named in their honor--Carson, John Fremont, Stephen Watts Kearny--others because of their titles, like Sen. Thomas Hart Benton and President James K. Polk, their actions in starting and fighting for America's expansionist adventure are barely remembered. In crafting his book, Sides wisely centers it on one of the most dynamic, morally complicated men of the mid-19th century, Kit Carson. Carson appears at nearly every juncture: guiding several key explorations of the Oregon Territory, playing a major part in the conquest of California and leading the fight against the Navajos.Rotten editing, writing ruin epic Kit Carson story Who edited this thing, Mr. Magoo?

Honestly, you wonder sometimes if the art of editing books hasn't gone the way of the rotary phone. It's hard to find one these days unmarred by hackneyed phrasing, stilted dialogue, lame characterizations and incorrect usage masquerading as "style." It's harder still to find one that couldn't be improved by cutting the verbiage by a third.

Case in point: "Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West" could have been a very good book. There aren't many likelier subjects than Kit Carson, the frontiersman who embodied all that was heroic--and much that was unheroic--in the "winning" of the West. He was a scout and a mountain man, a soldier and a settler, a warm friend to some American Indians but a scourge to others, a loving parent but also a casual killer, a man utterly at home in the wilderness and completely unnerved by city life. His exploits were so varied and so dazzling that he was literally a legend in his own time: revered out West, a household name back East, the unwitting hero of the earliest dime novels, the prototype of the laconic Westerner.

This is can't-miss material. Yet Hampton Sides, an editor at Outside magazine and author of the best-selling "Ghost Soldiers," fumbles badly.

A Columbus corrective

Pastwatch:  The Redemption of Christopher ColumbusAnyone who's read Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong knows about the devastating consequences that Columbus's voyage and ensuing colonization had on the native people of the Americas and Africa. In a thought-provoking work that is part science fiction, part historical drama, Orson Scott Card writes about scientists in a fearful future who study that tragic past, then attempt to actually intervene and change it into something better.

Tagiri and Hassan are members of Pastwatch, an academic organization that uses machines to see into the past and record it. Their project focuses on slavery and its dreadful effects, and gradually evolves into a study of Christopher Columbus. They eventually marry and their daughter Diko joins them in their quest to discover what drove Columbus west.

Columbus, with whom readers become acquainted through both images in the Pastwatch machines and personal narrative, is portrayed as a religious man with both strengths and weaknesses, a charismatic leader who sometimes rose above but often fell beneath the mores of his times. As usual, Orson Scott Card uses his formidable writing skills to create likable, complex characters who face gripping problems; he also provides an entertaining and thoughtful history lesson in Pastwatch.

--Bonnie BoumanRob's rating:  9.0 of 10.

The Columbus attitude

Columbus Day no reason to celebrateThe Columbus attitude has justified U.S-Indian policy all the way from stolen lands and broken treaties to recent attacks on tribal sovereignty and the failure to make good on Indian trust funds.

Currently, mainstream America has a "just get over it" attitude to native peoples, dismissing our grievances as political correctness gone awry. But in the recent words of an elder, "If the shoe were on the other foot, Americans would carry laminated copies of their ancestors' treaties until they got their just dues."

Asking the U.S. government to abandon Columbus Day in favor of Indigenous Peoples' Day is akin to asking for a sea change in the national psychology. It demands a soul-searching objectivity that is simply too threatening to the mainstream culture and economy.

Greene tackles Merchant of Venice

Shylock the outsider a role Greene 'can relate to'The actor, who has had a long career in film and television, said he thinks his First Nations heritage will give him insight into the character.

"Let's see, Shylock, they treated him badly, called him names, cursed his nation, took his house, took his money, took everything," Greene said.

"We've lost our language, we've lost our culture--it's coming back slowly--we've lost our land, we've lost everything. And we were treated quite badly growing up ... I can relate to the character."

Two-spirits gather

A Spirit of Belonging, Inside and OutThe occasion was the ninth annual Montana Two-Spirit Gathering, a weekend retreat here in northwestern part of the state for a few dozen American Indians who define themselves as embodying both male and female spirits. Many are refugees from the gay or lesbian bar circuit who are now celebrating an identity among themselves that they never knew existed, in a setting without drugs or alcohol. Some identify themselves as gay or lesbian; others as a third or fourth gender, combining male and female aspects.

“A lot of our tribal leaders have their minds blocked and don’t even know the history of Two-Spirit people,” said Steven Barrios, 54, who lives on a Blackfeet reservation in northwestern Montana, and who has been open about his sexual orientation since he was a teenager. Mr. Barrios cited a small and sometimes contested body of anthropological evidence that suggests that before the arrival of Christian missionaries, many tribes considered Two-Spirit people to be spiritually gifted and socially valuable.

Another review of Thirteen Moons

"Thirteen Moons":  A legendary old witness to how West was "won"Through the incantatory voice of Will Cooper, Frazier takes us back to the 19th century, when the American creed of manifest destiny mowed down everything and everybody in its path. The 20th century and modernity are being born when Will hangs up his coonskin cap and offers the story of his life, one that mixes romance and politics with the spirit of Daniel Boone.

In lesser hands, this combo could easily implode. But Frazier is a remarkably meticulous and tasteful writer: He gives delightful flavor to the landscape (tree leaves are "squirrel-ear big," and the Mississippi parts the country "like a gash in meat"). He takes us back to a time and place when most homes were humble ("The cabin was set all around with mud and stumps"). Frazier similarly deconstructs the frontier culture: "I judged that being a whiteman here might not be as great an advantage as I generally counted on," Will notes on arriving in Cherokee territory.

Spotlight on Adam Beach

Adam Beach is a film fest Rising StarAt Patricia Barry's home in Beverly Hills, built by Charlie Chaplin, entertainment lawyer Steve Breimer hosted the fete introducing Adam Beach, a member of the Saulteaux tribe who is one of the young stars of "Flags of Our Fathers," a soon-to-be-released Clint Eastwood-Steven Spielberg movie about the Marines at Iwo Jima.

Beach will be one of the upcoming festival's Rising Star Award winners.

Past recipients of the award include Terrence Howard, Scarlett Johansson and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Beach, who is based in Ottawa, is best known for his work in "Smoke Signals," which won a Sundance Audience Award, and for starring opposite Nicolas Cage in the film "Windtalkers."

In "Flags of Our Fathers," Beach plays a Pima Indian who is troubled by his experiences in battle.

"The film is very poetic. It deals with a tough issue, with showing one of the worst periods of war. Iwo Jima was very, very horrific, and to be able to show it in a way that's memorable and emotional but not drawing on it being too heavy, I think a lot of people are going to really respect the people who fought the war to create the world we have today," Beach said in a phone interview.

"It makes you want to phone your grandfather and your dad and say thank you, thank you for being there for me," Beach said from the party Thursday night.Comment:  Flags of Our Fathers debuts October 20. Let the hype begin!

Sick over Flags role

Going to war:  Saulteaux Indian Adam Beach fought hard for "Flags" roleBeach, a member of the Saulteaux tribe, wanted to play the tragic American Indian Ira Hayes, one of the six men seen in what became history's most reproduced photograph.

Word got back to Beach. No go. Eastwood wanted to cast age-appropriate actors and the 33-year-old Beach was a good decade too old.

"I thought, 'That's a bum rap,' " Beach says. "Then a few weeks before the shoot, I'm coming out of a bout with the flu and I'm not answering my phone. I get a message. 'You better call Clint Eastwood.' So I did. 'Put yourself on tape.' I made a tape and sent it in. And I think because I was coming out of the flu, it gave me such a tortured feeling that Eastwood couldn't resist. 'Whoa, this guy looks terrible. He's perfect.' "

Beach buzz

'Flags' Draped in Oscar BuzzThe emotional center of "Flag" is Ira Hayes (Beach), a Pima Indian who endures ugly racism even while being hailed as a hero.

The left-leaning Academy is likely to be receptive to the movie's skepticism about the government's truthfulness, which many will likely relate to the current administration's role in Iraq.

It wouldn't be the first time Oscar voters were tickled by a political twist in one of Eastwood's movies--2004's "Million Dollar Baby," with what many took as a stealth pro-choice message, won the Best Picture Oscar.

Dump Columbus, says Italian

Dump Columbus Day...an Italian-American ViewI’m very Italian. But I don’t want to celebrate Christopher Columbus or his day.

Mussolini was Italian, so was Al Capone—and you know what? I don’t feel any pride for them either. I have much more affection for Al Pacino, Martin Scorcese and Rudy Guiliani.

Columbus was the first. Columbus was the first in a long line of European explorers and trappers and pillagers and settlers to “discover” the pristine land later called the Americas and come face to face with its people. The history from that point forward, from an Indigenous point of view, can best be described as 500 years of cultural and physical genocide.

Ward Churchill on Columbus Day

From "Bringing the Law Back Home" via Wikipedia:Very high on the list of those expressions of non-indigenous sensibility which contribute to the perpetuation of genocidal policies against Indians are the annual Columbus Day celebration, events in which it is baldly asserted that the process, events, and circumstances described above are, at best, either acceptable or unimportant. More often, the sentiments expressed by the participants are, quite frankly, that the fate of Native America embodied in Columbus and the Columbian legacy is a matter to be openly and enthusiastically applauded as an unrivaled "boon to all mankind." Undeniably, the situation of American Indians will not--in fact cannot--change for the better so long as such attitudes are deemed socially acceptable by the mainstream populace. Hence, such celebrations as Columbus Day must be stopped.Comment:  Yes, I know Churchill's status as an Indian is in doubt. Even so, most of his pro-Indian arguments are still valid.

"Indianpreneur" battles kitschy art

Artist seeks to redefine genreChris Rowland didn't like what he saw when searching the Internet for Native American art, primarily the kitschy posters selling at "bargain prices."

"Ninety-percent of it is not even Native American art," said Rowland, a Northern Cheyenne artist. "I'm trying to redefine Native American art while looking at ways to market that art."

Rowland's use of the Internet to introduce his work to the world as true Native American art may be a novel concept.

In fact, his Web page caught the attention of the State Tribal Economic Development Council, which launched its new "Indianpreneur" site last week using Rowland as its first featured artist.

"They liked how I was marketing myself," Rowland said. "The Indianpreneur thing--I thought that was a really good move. It puts us in another class and I'm honored."

The state agency will use its new site to promote Native American artists working in Montana. The hope is to create new economic opportunities for Indians and reservation-based businesses.Comment:  Nice idea, but the author has overstated the use of the Internet as a "novel concept." Hundreds if not thousands of genuine Native artists have set up websites already to sell their work.

Conservative insulted by Homeland Security shirt

Fighting Terrorism Since 1492I take offense at a T-shirt finding popularity among the hate-America. You can see an image of it on this page here.

"Homeland Security," it reads, over a photo of four armed Indians. "Fighting Terrorists Since 1492."

I'm sure this is getting some yucks in college faculty lounges and among Ward Churchill fans in academia.

But it's not funny. In fact, it's insulting. It's insulting to you, me and should be to every single American. The fact that it is obviously not insulting to every American is the real tragedy behind the "joke."

Geek excuses genocide against Indians

Columbus Day:  a celebration of diversityThe TCDA claims that the native population was a group of peace loving peoples. The native of the Americas were fighting amongst themselves long before any Europeans arrived. They made war on each other and enslaved humans of other nations (which we have called tribes). Dr. Yeagley calls the interaction between Europeans and Native Americans a "car wreck". Europeans did trade with the friendly natives when they first arrive. They also defended themselves against attacks from the unfriendly ones. As new generations of in the New World grew in size they moved west where they encountered more natives. They were not always met with friendly commerce and trade, so there were wars. Those with modern weapons and training defeated those without. Such is the history of war. It cannot be denied and it is not denied.

Skulking Indians and their stealth governments

Folks find tribal government where they expected only casino

Yeagley: pro-Columbus, anti-Indian

Columbus Day feteParade organizers held a news conference Monday, at which a Comanche Indian who flew in from Oklahoma told the media that "Columbus was not responsible for the 500 years of history" that followed his sailing from Spain to the Caribbean. Some claim Columbus was responsible for the "genocide" of American Indians that followed.

"The dominant image of this parade is that American Indians are opposed to anything white or European. I don't consider Columbus to be a threat to American Indians. I consider (CU professor) Ward Churchill to be more threatening to American Indians," Yeagley said.Comment:  Yeagley is wasting time on semantics. Columbus didn't knowingly instigate everything that happened in the next 500 years, but he started the ball rolling. In that sense Columbus is responsible for all the deaths that followed.

This is a standard legal concept, one that even Yeagley should be able to grasp. If you open the door to a criminal and let him commit a crime, you're guilty of aiding and abetting, even if you didn't harm anyone yourself.

But make no mistake about it:  Columbus did kill and enslave Indians himself. He's personally guilty of hundreds or thousands of legal or moral crimes.

Obviously Columbus isn't a threat to anyone today, since he's dead. But historical ignorance about him is a threat. Telling Americans that Indians were uncivilized until he raised them up and enlightened them is a threat.

I hope it's clear how this is a threat. If not, here's an example:

Right-wing groups want to shut down Indian casinos. Why? Because they question the concept of tribal sovereignty. Why? Because in their minds, Indians couldn't have had their own governments. Why? Because they were just a bunch of ignornant savages.

And why do right-wingers think this? Because they learned this version of history in their grade-school classes...and during Columbus Day parades.

Result:  Historical ignorance leads to the re-impoverishment of Indians. Without gaming revenues, more Indians suffer from crime, substance abuse, and suicide.

So beware of Uncle Tomahawk, Americans. Since Yeagley has argued against tribal sovereignty, he may be a bigger threat to Indians than either Columbus or Churchill.

For more on Yeagley, see The Anne Coulter of the Native World.

Humor, aboriginal-style

I Have Never Hunted Buffalo, But I’ve Had Their Wings...Drew Hayden Taylor’s “I AM ABORIGINAL”

Some t-shirt slogans from Taylor:I’ve never rubbed noses as a sign of affection but I’d be more than willing to try.

I do not personally have a land claim but I have not ruled out the possibility.

Contrary to popular belief, I do pay taxes and like you, I find it annoying.

My great great grandmother was part white but that doesn’t change anything.

Frazier gives back to Cherokee

Eastern Band translates ‘Thirteen Moons’The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is translating the “Removal” section, including Frazier’s retelling of the Tsali story, into the Cherokee language. Frazier and his wife, Katherine, have given an initial $15,000 to the project.

The translation may be a first for any new fiction for any Indian tribe, according to Barbara Duncan, education director with the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. “In talking with Charles and Katherine, we were talking about the language and the efforts to keep it alive. They wanted to give something back."See also 'Cold Mountain' Author Promotes New Book.

"Brocket 99": humor or hate?

Vancouver filmmaker explores racist audio tape that became cult phenomenonOne part of "Brocket 99" features Scar solemnly announcing the death of a man killed while lying on the highway. While a piano softly tinkles in the background, the announcer--speaking in what's supposed to be an aboriginal accent--discusses the man's funeral and adds that "everybody who knew him is asked to attend and bring a case of beer."

In another segment, a man calls a substance abuse help line, only to receive directions on where to score alcohol and drugs.

A phoney commentary on substance abuse pretends to denounce the notion that "most Indians are drunken bums" with the announcer explaining that "only three are not drunkards and bums, but we're working on them very hard to get them associated with the rest of us and make sure they see our way of thinking and drinking."For more on the subject, see "Brocket 99" Ain't Rockin' My World.

Saved by the Bell?

From NativeVue.org:

What is the “Native American Film Commission” and Why Should We Care?

Commissioner Judy Bell (on the right)has put together a workshop to introduce the tribe on the value of creating a Native film industry based in southern California. If successful, the Commission will replicate the seminar package to other tribes throughout the country, dispelling the notion that filmmaking is necessarily a high-risk, little return investment. Meanwhile, she is also working with filmmaker Michelle Marshall to help her secure funding for her upcoming family movie about a kid’s football team.

“Funding for good films and television needs to come from the Indian community,” she notes, “It's no secret that Hollywood hasn't been interested, but if there was financial support and enough good films suddenly showed up, pulled in audiences, and made money, they'd pay attention.”

History causes spousal abuse?

Unraveling the source of domestic violence in Indian countryHistorically, when Indians were forced to settle on small reservations, the Indian male was stripped of his weapons which kept him from doing the jobs that made him a man: Feeding and supporting his family. While many Indian women found jobs with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian hospital, the schools or with the tribal government, most Indian males found themselves without jobs. Unemployment on many Indian reservations to this day exceeds 50 percent.

When an Indian male discovered that he could no longer assume his role as leader and provider for his family he felt totally emasculated. This loss of self-esteem and self-confidence caused many men to turn toward substances like alcohol and drugs to help them forget and to help them cope. Too often this culminated in the man striking out at the one object he loved, his spouse or girl friend. The hurt he felt within himself often manifested itself in violence against others, especially against someone near to him.

Anubis vs. the Renegade

A multicultural comic by D.R. Quintana and Prof. William Foster (a long-time PEACE PARTY supporter). Featuring a tomahawk-wielding Indian as the opponent:

Anubis home page
Anubis ashcan

The new TV season

I'm watching a lot of new and returning TV shows this season. (I do it while I'm working on PECHANGA.net twice a week.) This may be one of the best seasons for drama ever.

There are a lot of good shows on the air. The list includes:

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Vanished
Gilmore Girls
Veronica Mars
Law & Order:  SVU
Jericho
Justice
Lost
Kidnapped
Ugly Betty
Grey's Anatomy
ER
Men in Trees
The Simpsons

I'd be watching Prison Break too if my TiVo hadn't broken. And there are a few other shows I'd like to watch that conflict with these shows, unfortunately.

But let's review the diversity of this new season. Except for the Latina Ugly Betty, all the stars are white. Every show has at least one black person among the top six or seven characters, even the ones set in Kansas (Jericho) or Alaska (Men in Trees). There are several significant Asians and a few Latinos.

But I don't see any Natives in recurring roles. If every show has 10 recurring characters, there should be one Native every 10 shows. Actress Princess Lucaj did have a bit role in the first Jericho, but I didn't see her in the second one. And that's about it.

Men in Trees is a special case, since it's supposedly a new Northern Exposure. I see a few Native-looking people in the background, but there aren't any with speaking parts. Natives should comprise something like 10% of the population in rural Alaska. But I guess this is sort of a Fantasyland version of Alaska. So far it's been sunny every day with barely a hint of inclement weather.

Sopranos sing about Indians

Speaking of Columbus Day...I finally saw "Christopher," the episode of The Sopranos featuring Indians. Here's a partial summary of it:It's October and at long last, time for opening arguments in the case of the United States v. Corrado John Soprano. But even though it's the first Soprano family trial in sixteen years and Junior could very well be sent away for the rest of his life, Tony's crew is preoccupied with charges being leveled against another Italian: Christopher Columbus. Columbus Day is only days away and the New Jersey Council of Indian Affairs is planning to disrupt the annual parade. At Satriale's, the feeling is unanimous: indignation at the Native Americans' effrontery. Silvio pretty much speaks for everybody--even Furio, who dislikes Columbus because he was northern Italian--when he asserts, "Ultimately, it's anti-Italian discrimination, " he says, "Columbus Day is a day of Italian pride, it's our holiday, and they want to take it away."

Tony's guys try everything they can think of to rescue Columbus from the red man's revenge. Ralph threatens to expose Iron Eyes Cody as an actor of Sicilian ancestry, but that turns out to be unfounded. Tony tries to get Councilman Zellman to intervene, but he begs off. Chief Doug Smith, CEO of a Mohonk casino, tells Tony he'll stop the protest, but he also fails. Ultimately, both the parade and the protest take place. And where was Silvio?

Enjoying the blackjack tables at Chief Doug's casino.All in all, it was a decent exploration of prejudice against Indians, and Italians. And it's another posting involving Iron Eyes Cody. Must be his lucky week.

For more on the subject, see my review.

Turquoise Tales debuts

See the initial version of our website for Turquoise Tales: a nonprofit dedicated to doing comic books for tribes.