December, 1991
Smoke Signals
iiii
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Page 11
Movie Roles Continue to Improve for Native American Actors
By Peggy Langrell
Smithsonian News Service
After 1938, when the Lone Ranger and his faithful
Indian friend, Tonto, rode out of radio and onto the
silver screen, they rode into popular fantasy worldwide.
The image of the friendly Indian sidekick is mirrored by
the equally familiar one of ferocious Indian warriors .
riding their horses back and forth across the screen
letting loose with arrows and blood-curdling war
whoops. But what does either image convey about real
Indians?
Not much. But in the ever-shifting entertainment
scene, a trend toward portraying Indians more realisti
cally has begun to set in. The sweeping success of Kevin
Costner's film "Dances With Wolves" and now mount
ing interest in Robert Redford's film production of the
Tony Hillerman mystery novel "The Dark Wind"
indicate that American curiosity about real-life Indians
has been piqued.
Even considering this advancement, "The image of
Indians has been so erroneous for so many years that
the only way it can be changed is for Native Americans
to produce films themselves," said George Burdcau, of
the Blackfeet Tribe, one of the commentators in the
1991 Native American Film and Video Festival, spon
sored by the Smithsonian's National Museum of the
American Indian in New York City.
"In this event," says Elizabeth Weatherford, head of
the festival, "we offer greater understanding to people
who share an interest in the indegenous peoples of all
the Americas. Independent film and video makers give a
window into worlds that are widely unknown."
However, in the world of commercial entertainment,
fantasy still reigns.
"Film and theater seem stuck in the 1930s as they
relate to American Indians," says Rudy Martin, an actor
and playwright whose tribal affiliation is TewaNavajo
Apache. Martin, public relations and information
director for the American Indian Community House in
New York, is involved in a casting service for Indain
actors, run by the organization that gives cultural
reinforcement and other support to Indians who have
moved to the city.
Contrary to popular belief, Martin said, recent statis
tics show that 70 percent of all Indian people live in
urban areas. In a performance series given in the
Community House Circle--an off Broadway theater
native actors, musicians, and writers can be seen and
heard. Their contemporary themes go a long way to help
educate and to break age-old stereotypes.
"The struggle to be seen has been a long and arduous
one for Native American actors," Martin said. "Here in
New York, there is a long-standing belief among
producers, directors, casting directors and agents that
there are no American Indians east of the Mississippi."
If producers visit Indian communities, which is rare,
they may hire the first person they see who has the look
they want, Martin said. "Then, when they find out that
not all Indians can act-right after it hits them that not
every Indian acts or speaks like Tonto-they hire a non
Indian, dress him up in beads, feathers and a horsehair
wig, and presto, instant Indian.
Indians are hot now," Martin said. After Dances With
Wolves garnered 12 Oscar nominations, the American
Indian Community House received casting calls for
three feature films and one TV pilot related to Indians.
"Producers do seem to be making a sincere effort to
cast Indian people in Indian parts, but, ironically, even if
Indian actors are found, union rules require that they
compete with non-Indian actors for Indian roles."
In the midst of such problems, Martin says he looks
forward to the day when he will receive a phone call
from a casting director who says, "I have a part-a
dentist-and the race is not specified. Do you have
anyone you can suggest?"
As director of the Communications Arts Department
at the Institute of American Indian arts in Sant Fe,
N.M., Burdeau says, "It's a difficult road for filmmakers
with vision." The institute offers Indian students a
unique opportunity for hands-on training as writers,
directors and producers.
"We've felt for a long time that the system was not
geared to the cultural perspective of Native Americans,"
Burdeau said in a recent Los Angeles Times interview.
He believes that Indian filmmakers, who come from a
long performance tradition, will bring a fresh viewpoint
to both historical and contemporarry issues. They will
not simply make films that tell Indian stories, he said,
but can contribute "a cultural perspective that has
something different to offer in the way of communica
tion." Burdeau stresses the importance of understanding the
technical side of film and video work. A 20-year veteran
of public and commercial television production,
Burdeau notes that when he got started in the business
"there were only five Native Americans in the whole
country involved in video work of any kind." Now he
estimates, "There are more than 200 Native American
writers, technicians and performers."
Burdeau and co-producers Avery Crounse and Jed
Riffe have raised funding for "Ishi," the first full-length
feature film produced with a Native American produc
tion staff. The film, set during the turn of the century, is
about the life of a Yahi Indian, the sole survivor of his
tribe, in California. In addition, a two-hour special,
"Surviving Columbus," co-produced by Burdeau and .
Larry Walsh of Albuquerqu's KNME-TVColores, will
air nationally in 1991 on PBS.
Although Hollywood is still largely blind to Indian
acting talent, Gary Farmer of the Six Nations Reserve at
Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada, landed the part of Hopi
Deputy Sheriff Albert (Cowboy) Dashee in "The Dark
Wind." "I don't fit the impression of what most Ameri
cans think of as a typical Hollywood Indian," Farmer
said. "I have a round face. I'm tall--a large, hairy man,
not sleek or hawk-nosed like a warrior."
Dashee works with Navajo Tribal Police Sgt. Jim Chee,
played by Lou Diamond Phillips, to solve a bizarre
mystery involving a missing shipment of cocaine on Hopi
land. Dashee also helps interpret Hopi ways to Chee.
The film is no rehash of ancient history.
"I am interested in contemporary film and act in a
contemporary sense," Farmer said. In theater since
1974, Farmer played the lead in the 1988 film "Powwow
Highway," which takes a lighthearted look at the serious
subject of life on the reservation, from poor housing and
bad job conditions to deprivation of tribal cultures and
history.
Although "Dances With Wolves" used indig- '
enous languages, it was a period film. "The Dark Wind,"
Farmer points out, is a contemporary movie. "For me,
the most poignant thing about 'The Dark Wind' is that it
will be the first time American audiences will hear
Navajo and Hopi spoken in a movie theater."
"The creative elements and sometimes, the honor,
seem to go out the window when it comes to finance,"
Farmer said. "That is a direct conflict with the way
indigenous peoples see things. We just don't have the
same priorities."
"There are some amazing native image makers out
there," Farmer said. "They have embraced the new
technology and bring a whole new approach to filmmak
ing. There's a lot of future for Indian films--a lot being
done to create our own."
ATTENTION ARTISTS
We are looking for talented artists to submit Native
American drawings for the 1992 Powwow Logo. The
contest will run from this date until January 31, 1992. At
that time the contest will be closed and a selection
made at the following Powwow meeting.
The winner will receive $50.00 and a satin jacket. Send
your entries to:
ATTN: JancllHallcr
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
9615 Grand Ronde Rd.
Grand Ronde, OR 97347