JANUARY 27, 1978 PAGE 5
Tribal Films
Depict Different Reservation Worlds
New faces and cameras are
nothing out of the ordinary
around Warm Springs. The
reservation’s cultural and ma
terial wealth are attractive to
filmmakers, journalists and re
searchers.
What is notable about the
young men currently engaged in
recording the local scene on film
is that they are creating pro
ducts that will be owned and
[distributed by the Tribes.
Two films are in the making,
one for public relations purposes
and the other strictly for the
^educational use of the tribes.
Filmmaker Rick Johnson has
Ibeen working closely with Cul-
tural Heritage Director Nathan
Jim and Municipal Manager
¡Rudy Clements since June of
1976 producing most of the foot
age needed for one of the films.
Bust this week he and his assis-
tant Mike McLeod were involved
hn the filming of one of the last
scenes — a traditional hunt.
Johnson was joined recently
by freelancer Peter Maroney
who is writing the scripts for the
two films. Maroney has based
himself in the community to be
closer to the people and tradi
tions about which he is writing.
■ The two films grew out of a
proposal submitted ' to the
American Bicentennial Commis
sion by the Tribes in 1975
suggesting a half-hour color
documentary about the reser
vation. In early 1976 Johnson
was selected for the project,
which had obtained funding
from the Commission, the Tribes
land the BIA to the tune of
; $35,000. As soon as filming began
at the Simnasho Root Feast that
spring, the need for two films
became apparent.
As Project Director Rudy
^elements explained, the original
film is designed “to convey the
positive direction the Tribes are
taking in the utilization of non-
reservation resources as well as
our own.” It will encompass the
history, the present and the
future direction of the reser
vation. There will be only glimp
ses into the religious world of
the people. This documentary is
intended for the education of the
non-Indian community and will
be made available at the Tribes’
discretion.
The outgrowth of this was a
traditional film that has actually
been given higher priority by the
Tribal Council. According to
Clements, this film will focus on
the spiritual life of the com-
Filmmaker Rick Johnson explained operations to Bicentennial
Confinittee Chairman Amos Simtustus during filming of the 1977
Pi-Ume-Sha celebration. Two films have grown out of the
Bicentennial Committee’s proposal for a half-hour color document
ary about the reservation.
CDS Photo
Community Calendar
January
31 - JOM meeting, Community Center, 7 p.m.
February
2-Public Education Meeting, Agency Longhouse,
^nacks at 6 p.m., meeting at 7 p.m.
3 - Employee’s Banquet, Kah-Nee-Ta Lodge,
No-host cocktail hour at 6:30 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m.
9 - Miss Warm Springs Pageant, Community Center, 7 p.m
Applications must be in by Feb. 6
16 - Talent Show, Community Center, 7 p.m.
Indian Group
Sets Goals For White House Library Program
An American Indian plan
ning committee has set three
goals for a White House Pre-
conference dealing with library
’services on reservations, Dr.
¡ William Demmert, Director of
^the Bureau,of Indian Affairs’
Office of Indian Education an-
,'nounced today.
Goals for the session to be
held next October in Denver are
to raise awareness among In
dian people of the value of li
braries, to develop a consensus
on a long-range plan to improve
library services oh reservations
and to provide an organized
Indian contribution to the subse
quent White House Conference
on Library and Information Ser
vices.
The planning committee is
COCC Adult Ed News
composed of thirteen American
Indians who have demonstrated
concern for Indian library and
information services and who
represent a cross section of
Indian people.
Staff support for the groups
is provided through the BIA’s
Office of Indian Education and
the Interior Department’s Office
of Library and Information Ser
vices.
Two Classes Offered Second Time
■ Two COCC Adult Education
classes for which people showed
a great deal of interest have
been postponed, to be offered at
more convenient times.
“I Can’t Draw” will begin
^Saturday February 11, at 10:00
a.m. at the Adult Learning Cen
ter. Teacher Nancy Chinn, an
accomplished local artist, has
explained that she will present
drawing as a “fun” activity that
anyone can participate in. She
will start with such basics as
how to hold a pencil comfortably
and how to loosen up, and will
advance to perspective and pro
portion.
After the five-week begin
ning drawing class, a more ad
vanced class entitled “I Can
Sorta Draw” will be offered.
The Welding class, to be
taught by Tribal Garage super
visor Leon Maxwell, will begin
Thursday February 2 at 7:00
p.'m. at the Garage. Maxwell
plans to give students a basic
working knowledge of the tech
niques and equipment, stressing
safety.
Interested students are en
couraged to register in advance
for both courses. Stop by the
Adult Learning Center in the
Community Center between 10
and 4 daily or Monday and
Thursday nights 7-10.
munity, particularly the Washut
religion, and will be used only on
the reservation as an education
al tool “to carry on the tradition
and heritage of the Tribes.”
Writer Maroney pointed out that
the original narration may be in
the Sahaptin language.
One film completed by April
The pace of filmmaking has
been slower than expected in
order to “make sure the films
are authentic,” said Clements.
Johnson noted, “Rather than
move the project at a pace that
accommodates me, I’ve been
waiting for things to happen in
the normal course.” This, he
feels, will result in films that
more accurately reflect the
mood of the reservation, rather
than an outsider’s viewpoint.
At this point, the visual
portion of the traditional film is
being edited and is awaiting a
verbal and musical soundtrack.
The music, according to the
crew, will be a balance of tradi
tional and modernized Indian
song;
A rough cut of the film was
shown to a group of locals at
Kah-Nee-Ta last month and a
refined product will be ready to
view by the first of April. The
final cost of both films will be
$47,000, according to Clements.
Extra funding is being requested
from the Oregon State Depart
ment of Education.
*
Already the Tribes are
benefiting from the project.
Hours of videotaped interviews
with tribal members have been
collected and are to be included
in the tribal archives. Johnson
and Maroney expect there to be
many such by-products of the
films — from .transcripts of
verbal history to recordings of
traditional songs — to serve as
reference materials for the
Tribes.
Films with “feeling”
Clements and the film
makers seem to agree that the
“feeling” created by the films
can be a stronger statement
about the people of the Warm
Springs Reservation than the
actual facts and words.
The traditional film flows
with scenics and is oriented
toward the seasons, in keeping
with the strong spiritual base in
the natural world. There will be
no “talking heads,” said John
son, meaning that stilted speech
es will be avoided in favor of a
natural rendering of people and
events. Feasts, sweats, and
ceremonies have been recorded
as they happened.
The original documentary
will be filmed more convention
ally, but Johnson still acknow
ledges the importance of letting
circumstances and people sug
gest the style of presentation. It
will not be “a vase of roses,”
noted Johnson, who expects a
realistic balance of progress and
problems on the reservation.
Both Johnson and Maroney
are relative newcomers to In
dian country. In 1976 Johnson
produced “Time of the First
Moon,” an award-winning film
about Indian fishing rights on
the Columbia, but admits to
having had a “grade school
textbook understanding of In
dians” prior to that. The closest
Maroney had come to experienc
ing Indians was to work on a
Trailblazers film with a fellow
who had produced “The People
Are Dancing Again” about the
Siletz Restoration.
But both men have profited
from their close alliance with
Nathan Jim. As the official
liaison between the filmmakers
and tribal members, Jim has
spent many hours providing
guidance, interpretation, an es
cort service, and access to ma
terials and individuals.
Maroney, who has been at
tending as many traditional
functions as possible, reading up
on history, and taking Ada
Sooksoit’s Indian language class,
.feels that he and Johnson aré
“facilitators” for the Tribes,
providing their technical skills
to carry out an idea originated
by the Tribes.
The result of this cooper
ation may well be film docu
ments that the Tribes are proud
to own and use.
TOE NESS
There was this guy that went into this huge hotel and registered
signing his name “Tex”. The desk clerk looks at the name. Finally
said to this guy, “What part of Texas are you from?” The guy looks
up and said, “I’m not from Texas, I’m from Minnesota.” The clerk
asked again, “How come you call yourself Tex?” “Because I sure
wouldn’t want to sign my name “Minnie.” “YIKES”
SS SS SS
There was this guy who had dinner in a Chinese restaurant. When
he finished his meal he asked for his fortune cookie which said: Hard
work will bring you success. The guy wasn’t satisfied with that
answer, so he asked the waitress for another cookie. He opened the
next cookie and it had the same answer. The guy very disgusted
said, “Something I just hate is a nagging cookie.” “YIKES”
SS SS SS
There was this guy playing golf who had quite a slice on one of
his drives.lt curved real hard and broke Jim’s windshield. “Hey!”
Jim comes running over to this golfer and said, “You broke my
windshield, what are you going to do about it?” The guy said, “I
think I’ll take your advice and move my thumb a little farther up the
club.” “YIKES”
SS SS SS
There were these two hillbillies that traveled out west to
California and when they arrived they only had $1 between them. One
of the guys said, “What can we do with a dollar?” The second
answered, “Give me the money and I’ll go see what I can get.” He
leaves and was gone for some time and he finally returned with a box
of tampons. The other said, “What can we do with this?” looking at
the box, the other guy said, “Look here, it says we can do a lot of
things like waterskiing, swimming, horseback riding..“YIKES”
SS SS SS
There was this guy that had a hard time meeting people. One
day he was talking to his friend and was telling him his problem. His
friend said, “If you want to meet people the best way is to pick up the
wrong ball on the Golf Course.”
SS SS SS