Reservation Dogs.
Dark Winds.
Rutherford Falls.
Not you!
Not you. Prey.
Killers of the Flower Moon.
It's nice to see more and more Indigenous
stories popping up in Hollywood,
winning awards and trying to undo
the harmful stereotypes of Indigenous people of the past.
And there's a vast array of Native filmmakers out there,
stories authored by them and portrayed by them,
something we haven't seen in Hollywood.
But this surge of Indigenous
productions owe a part of their success
to a little known 1998
film called Smoke Signals
This is a People's
History of Native America.
With me, Tai Leclaire.
Smoke
Signals is a coming of age story
about two Native American teenagers,
Thomas and Victor,
who must leave their reservation to retrieve
the ashes of Victor's late father, Arnold.
The story starts by retelling the events
of the night of July 4th, 1976,
where a massive fire destroyed Thomas's house,
killing his parents and almost
burning up Baby Thomas.
If not for the heroism of Arnold,
the film jumps to the present day,
where we learn that Arnold has passed away
in Phoenix, Arizona, half a world
away from the Coeur d'Alene reservation.
“Hey, Victor.
I'm sorry about your dad.”
Victor and Thomas must now travel
to Arizona to retrieve Arnold's ashes to his final
resting place back on the Rez
“You're leaving the Rez
and going into a whole different country, cousin.
But it's the United States.
Damn right it is.
That's as foreign as it gets.
Hope you two got
your vaccinations.”
As Victor
and Thomas venture off the reservation.
We watch how they interact with white society,
confronting and subverting
stereotypes and racism.
Through flashbacks, we see how Victor's father,
Arnold, struggled with alcoholism,
domestic abuse, and eventually abandoning his family
to move to Phoenix.
This film was sold as the first feature film
written, and directed by Native Americans.
And if you've seen the movie, it's pretty evident
the Coeur d'Alene reservation is honestly depicted
showing a low income community
with little infrastructure.
But where non-Native filmmakers
would see this reality and assume sadness.
Smoke Signals shows the truth
with what we call Indian humor.
“The Coeur d’Alene people,
our Reservation is beautiful this morning.
It's a good day to be Indigenous.”
The film showcases comedy
and resilience through Rez life,
like the Rez car that can only drive
and reverse the local K-REZ radio,
“So, Lester, how's traffic out there
this fine morning?
A couple of cars went by earlier.”
And most importantly, the never ending gossip
of a small community, which all portray a deep
understanding of living on a reservation.
But one of the most important commentaries
of Smoke Signals comes from references
to past films like The Last of the Mohicans,
Dances with Wolves,
and the works of John Wayne.
All that helps solidify so many of the stereotypes
that Indigenous films grapple with today.
For example, as Victor
and Thomas board the bus towards Phoenix.
The presence of non-Indians causes
Victor to prod the happy go lucky Thomas
to get stoic
and act like a real Indian.
After arriving at a rest stop.
Victor and the now stoic Thomas try to regain
their assigned seats from two whites,
but “These are our seats now
and there ain’t a damn thing you can do about it.
So why don't you and Super Injun there,
find yourself someplace else
to have a pow-wow?”
Stuck now at the back of the bus.
Victor starts a disparaging chant about John Wayne.
A peaceful protest designed to humiliate
the notorious Indian killer of the silver screen.
“John Wayne's teeth.
Hey-ya, John Wayne's teeth.
Hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya, hey”
Even with
alcoholism, a real
issue that's a literal hangover
from the attempted genocide of Native Americans.
It's handled with care and grace. As the film
continues, we understand that Arnold's decision to leave
was not because he was drunk, but out of shame
that his tendencies would rub off
on Victor. Smoke
Signals was able to adopt all the nasty stereotypes
thrown at Native Americans by complicating them,
then humanizing and humorizing the pain.
Research shows that depictions
of Native Americans and media change
depending on the policy at the time.
During the removal period,
we saw the bloodthirsty Indian savage,
the mortal enemy of the gentle settlers.
during the simulation,
we shifted towards a more sympathetic version
of Native Americans called
the Noble Savage.
Where the Native character
is nice to the Europeans,
perhaps some of their spiritual ways
helped the white protagonist complete their goal.
In the end, it's clear that no matter
the intention, media
authored by non-Natives only reflects
what non-Natives want Natives to be.
Want to validate the Trail of Tears?
Watch Far and Away.
What about justifying assimilation?
Check out Wind River.
Now, Smoke
Signals is not without critique or controversy.
The author
of the original short story admitted and apologized
for a pattern of sexual misconduct.
Plus Smoke Signals relies on
a lot of pan-Indian tropes
like Frybread power
shirt or asking, “Who's your favorite Indian?”
But the important takeaway is to understand how a film
that's written, directed and produced
by Native Americans
can look and feel so much different than a film either
about Native Americans or even has
Native Americans on the cast.
So what happened
between 1998, when Smoke Signals premiered
and 2021, when Rez Dogs came out?
Remember that concept, the “Vanishing
Indian” from our school's episode?
Well, that's kind of what happened.
Smoke Signals mocks the film Dances with Wolves,
which premiered eight years before Smoke Signals,
was a box office hit
and won seven Academy Awards I mean, how many times
have you seen Dances with Wolves?
100, 200?
Ah jeez,
you have seen it
that many times, haven't you?
Because Dances with Wolves was a cultural phenomenon
for everyone except
Native Americans.
Why? It wasn't accurate.
The real story is based on the Comanche, not the Lakota.
It meshes multiple cultures together
and depicts them as stoic
and a dying race.
But this isn't new.
Let's call Doctor Joely Proudfit, a professor
at California State University, San Marcos,
who has been working for
nearly two decades in Native of education
and the media industry as a whole.
Doctor Proudfit,
can you give us an overview of the history
of Native Americans in the media?
It's amazing
how Hollywood has built
its industry on the backs of Native peoples.
And it's done that, since the beginning.
I mean, most modern cinema comes from,
the idea of the Western, which comes from James
Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales.
So, a lot of the images that we see
in cinema, in media today, and a lot of the stereotypes
that we see, stems from James
Fenimore Cooper's work.
Can you share a little more about
how it shaped our narratives now?
If someone can define
how you see yourself, how others
see you and limit
you in the past,
they don't care about the big picture items.
They don't care about clean water.
They don't care about missing and murdered
Indigenous women.
They don't care about educational equity.
So our ability to see ourselves
define ourselves for who we are
and how we want to see ourselves is so critical.
over 200 years of
storytelling done
without our approval
and without our focus and lens
is going to take more
than just a few years to replace.
So Smoke Signals didn't magically fix everything.
And there are several shady films
that met huge success between
then and now.
Allow me to illustrate.
2000.
The Patriot estimated
a budget of 110 million.
Total box office of
215 million.
The protagonist is based on Francis Marion,
the notorious murder of Native Americans
who committed atrocities as bad,
if not worse than the British.
2005 the New World
estimated budget 30 million
total box office, 40 million
Live action remake of Pocahontas.
Need I say more?
Apocalypto.
Estimated budget 40 million.
Total box office 121 million.
Historically inaccurate. Avatar.
space Pocahontas. Estimated budget
237 million.
Total box office.
The Lone Ranger remake.
250 million
box office 261 million.
A Million Ways to Die in the West.
they didn't even get a Native American for Tonto.
40 million.
The Revenant 87 million.
135 million.
Hell or High Water
Estimated budget 12 million.
Box office 533 million.
2020 News of the World.
Box office 38 million.
3 billion.
Estimated budget 38 million.
Romanticism at its finest.
12 million. Tom Hanks.
Basically, Tom Hanks saves a white girl
who was adopted by the Kiowa.
The classic white people are better than Indians at
being Indian.
Speaking of.
You see,
Natives are never the crux of the story.
These films, and many more
only depict Indigeneity through the lens or
relationship of white culture.
And while these movies touch on some form
of Native American culture,
at least the cast has actors
who are and wait for it.
Native American
Being a Native actor myself,
I know it's a challenging position.
I like all actors, love my craft,
but I cannot accept a role
that diminishes my agency
and dignity as an Indigenous person.
But as you've seen, there's not
a whole lot of roles that fit this category,
and actors have little choice in the roles they're offered.
Studios, scripts and directors have already decided
on who the character is
and what they look like.
that is completely based on
stereotypes like,
and this is a true story.
I got less auditions once
I cut my hair to this length.
So do I get to be myself
or do I be your Indian?
So take Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk actor
from Six Nations and probably my cousin.
You would know him as Tonto
from the original The Lone Ranger.
He's also known for being outspoken
and disapproving of how the character was written,
notably stating Tonto is stupid.
A small slice of Silverheel's likeness is forever
memorialized as a problematic sidekick.
But he's better defined by what he did
after The Lone Ranger.
He founded the Indian Actors
Workshop in Los Angeles
to tap into the dormant creativity of the Indians.
Part of his goal was ending
the practice of red face.
Or when someone non-Native plays a Native role.
So the problem is not the effort or talent of authentic
Native people, because that's not the issue here.
The issue is who gets the money
to tell our stories.
So when most of the money is going to non-Natives
to do the work of Native people.
These mistakes will keep happening.
Mind you, red face is still a thing.
I called out Yellowstone in the beginning
because they do just that.
The main Native character is not Native.
But again, the blame here goes to the writer,
director, producer, or casting.
But Doctor Proudfit talk about why
Indigenous representation is so crucial for our future.
authentic representation promotes
cultural understanding.
It breaks down all those stereotypes and prejudices.
but overall authentic
representation is a matter of respect.
It's a matter of equity and justice.
last and most important question
what are your hopes for the future
of Indigenous entertainment?
there needs to be an autonomy in storytelling.
Native American filmmakers
asserting the right to create and tell stories
that are rooted in their own
cultural perspectives,
their own values, their own histories,
without external manipulation or pressure.
That is fundamental.
Thank you so much, Doctor Proudfit
for your expertise and insights.
So in light of this new effort
to break the typical Native American genre.
Here are my pitches
for my new slate of films.
I know a lot of studio executives
watch this show, so brace yourself
and please, please, please check your inbox.
Okay,
how about
I'll Tai-et on the Western Front
or Two Tais Two Furious
Fast Tai at Ridgemont Tai
Tai, Robot
Tai Hard,
Saving Private Tai-yn
Yeah, yeah.