Guest Column: A Journey Through Their Eyes:
We look at their culture with wonder, some of us with disgust, some of us feeling sorry for the plight of a people that has been theirs since the birth of our nation; what we regulate and what we do with our knowledge will only make us stronger in the end.
This article is not intended to answer questions, but rather bring up questions. Why did early movies show American Indian people as stoic and unemotional? Why do some of us still think of them as savages, without hearts? No one can answer these questions for you, but you.
The first movie that was ever made, “Birth of a Nation,” portrayed American Indians as people who wanted to kill. In all reality, most American Indian tribes have wanted peace throughout what has happened in the United States, which is why many went along with peace treaties. The movie “Dances with Wolves” switched the table around, showing the white man as the enemy instead of the tribes.
“When a film maker is dedicated enough to show what is on his or her mind, that is his or her interpretation of what they see,” Jay Tavare, a American Indian actor, stated. Tavare has been in such movies as “Unbowed,” “Cold Mountain,” “Adaptation” and played Chief Prairie Fire in the miniseries “Into the West.”
In documentaries made about reservations, many are shown as poor, with little or no income, education not being a top priority and alcoholism being extremely prevalent. When sitting down with the American Indian Student Council at USU, many expressed concerns that all reservations were shown the same in movies and documentaries. They said that not all reservations are the same. There are different religions, different rituals practiced and that Hollywood showed them as a generalization.
Angel John, who is the president of the NASC at USU, said, “I’ve never seen people on the reservation look like some of the Native American actors; we look like regular people.”
Although reservations may be poor, in 2004, “[the] National Indian Gaming Association grossed over $18.5 billion of which 7.4 billion was raised in California alone,” Tavare stated. The NIGA is in charge of the casinos that are on the reservations, which help to bring money in and lower the American deficit by $1.2 million per year.
When I asked why many American Indians do not pursue a career in acting, many stated that it was not logical. Expressed views were stated that parents did not encourage their children to into acting, but rather go to school and get an education so they could go back to the reservations.
Another reason for not pursuing a career in acting was family values, according to many in the NASC, they are tight and close knit; wanting to make a world a better place. With not so much recognition in Hollywood, American Indian actors have needed to fight to get where they are today.
Tavare, who thinks of himself as a storyteller, showing that American Indian people with emotions; who laugh, cry, love and feel pain. He stated about his job, “I like to think I am doing my job from inside out, fighting a war from inside Hollywood one film at a time …” Tavare takes each role and makes them into a three-dimensional role.
American Indian actor, Graham Green, was nominated for his role in “Dances With Wolves.”
“I [would] like to see one of us up there in the next five to 10 years … once again it’s time,” Tavare said when asked when an actor with native roots would win an Oscar for their performance.
There are always two sides of a story, always two sides to the conflict and always two sides to the ending. The main question one has to ask is, “What ending am I going to follow and which one am I going to believe?”
-jen@cc.usu.edu