Dr. McMaster at the podium

A few weeks ago I made my way down to the National Museum of the American Indian where First Nations scholar and art curator Gerald McMaster reenacted the multi media presentation originally commission by the trailblazing imagineNATIVE film and media arts festival out of Ontario Canada. I missed it back in Toronto so I was pleased to see he was re-presenting here in New York City.

A still from Nanook of the North

A still from a Zacharias Kunuk film

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The presentation was an historical overview that spoke to the performative, and quite perverse, nature of reenacting indigenous history for commercial entertainment. McMaster took us through the careerist strategies of painter George Caitlin, who recreated his many Indian paintings with a live show he took on the road to Europe, and William F 'Buffalo Bill' Cody, who product the long lasting 'Wild West' frontier show and wisely employed the likes of real live 'wild Indians of the Plains' such as Sitting Bull and many others who actually participated in Custer's demise. To be sure Buffalo Bill made heap big bucks off his all-Indian cast. The most pressing point McMaster's made, however, was that this reenacting of Indian history began in earnest at a time when the native people of North America were suffering under relocation and education policies that would see them further dispossessed of their tribal identities, and he pondered as to why the Native people would want to participate in what amounted to a parody at all.It was a point well made by his use of archival film footage of two seminal works that have echoed throughout the years: Edward S Curtis' In the Land of the Headhunters and Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North. He then juxtaposed the way in which contemporary indigenous artists have mined reenactments to humorous, and sometimes histrionic effect, with non-Native contemporary artists who seem merely to (un)ironically, certainly not humorously, recreate genre portraits and landscape made famous by Caitlin and Curtis. To do so he used Native artists such as Kent Monkman, Dustinn Craig, Terrance Houle, and James Luna contrasted with Andrea Robbins and Max Bescher, Orlan, and Edie Winogrand. If you can tell I am no fan of the non-Native artists listed, except Orlan’s plastic surgery series – please do Google her and see why for yourself!

Though the auditorium was far from packed it was certainly a decent turn out. I was there not only to report for NAICA’s Longviews blog, but also to write for Current – the New York Foundation for the Art’s online magazine. You can check that essay out here: NYFA Current

If you are an artist living in New York state it is a seminal resource for grants, job and exhibition opportunities. You should become a member, which is free, by registering online.

On Friday night, November 14th, at the American Museum of Natural History here in the NYC the Margaret Mead Film Festival began it’s program with a screening of a restored print of controversial photographer Edward S Curtis’ In the Land of the Head Hunters. The film was accompanied by an all-indigenous live orchestra put together by violinist, Laura Ortman.

A slide show and opening presentation by the descendants of the original cast preceded the screening. It was quite touching to hear the positive words of the current chief of the Kwakwakaa’wakw people who were Curtis’ collaborators in the film. He expressed gratitude for the film’s resurrection and the exhibition to a near capacity crowd in New York City. I was surprised to hear him say as much considering many believe, myself included, that Curtis’ work with the native people of North America was exploitative. However if you could see your great great uncle when he was a young strappin’ man dancing around a prayer fire in a vintage print, even if a jingoistic quasi-racist white man made it, I guess you’d have a different opinion.

As an interested observer, especially of narrative tropes in film history, I was surprised to see that the essential plot of Curtis’ film was “Boy meets Girl, Boy gets Girl, Boy loses Girl, Boy gets Girl in the end.” What we have here is the first iteration of a chick flick, but with an all Indian cast. Though Curtis’ photographic works have always been viewed as documentarian he never intended to make a documentary film, but rather a narrative that would stand out in the glutted market of the “Indian Pictures” popular at the time. He sought to do so by promoting his film as “more authentic” by dint of the on location shoot and the all-Native cast. Though critically praised at the time it was a commercial flop. I guess we had to wait for Kevin Costner to give us Dances with Wolves before any film boasting an authentic Indian location and cast could be commercially viable?

The score is of special interest because it is evocative of the time when a live orchestra played along with the film. This particular score, produced by John J Braham – an Englishman closely associated with vaudeville and Gilbert and Sullivan operas, was supposed to have been directly influenced by Kwakwaka’wakw music. Trust me it wasn’t. It was amusingly vaudevillian, at times laughable, but for the improvised indigenous and percussive elements added by the all Native orchestra. I spoke with a few of the members afterwards. Saxophonist, Vince Redhouse, told me he thought at times he was playing to cartoon episode of Mighty Mouse instead of a landmark silent film. In all fairness the original score was missing key musical elements (e.g. the conductor’s score) therefore matching the score to what is in fact an incomplete film (stills from an unearth second print were added to fill out the more complete, but damaged version) is somewhat impossible and entirely dependent on the conductor’s interpretation. And, that brings us to the Coast Orchestra.

Laura Ortman first heard about the resurrection of the film from a contact at the National Museum of the American Indian. Believing it a crucial point to have an all-indigenous orchestra perform the score along with the film she set out to find a talented pool of classically trained musicians. Though a daunting task (classical music and Indians does seem like an oxymoron) Laura was not discouraged, and though the going was slow, she did prevail. To that end, if there were any doubts that Native musicians are just as talented playing classical instruments as they are hand drums, this group of highly trained sophisticates should put them to rest.

The orchestra, led by conductor Timothy Long, was precise in it’s interpretation of the score, yet belied an indigenized sensibility to the arrangement by adding percussive instrumentation where there was none in the original, as well as, traditional native singers. In fact, the original score called for a thirteen-piece orchestra but Laura was only able to find ten high quality, and willing, musicians. However they managed to fill out the score by adding piano accompaniment and re-working the wind arrangements by replacing the trumpet with saxophone to provide a more evocative sound. Though at times the original string arrangements were silly (only because of the obvious vaudeville roots) the overall effect was provocative and certainly laid to rest any notions that Native people are only attracted to instruments like, the flute, or the aforementioned hand drum.

This was a landmark experience, not only for the mostly Caucasian audience, but for the musicians and descendants of the Kwakwaka’wakw because they circumvented the long held dogma that places native people in an a-historical past settling themselves fully in the 21st century, and without having to sacrifice their cultural and creative inclinations. Let’s hope to hear more from this talented group of musicians.

For more information on Edward S Curtis and his film please visit: www.curtisfilm.rutgers.edu

For more information on the Coast Orchestra please visit: www.myspace.com/thecoastorchestra

To listen to Longview’s interview with violinist and Native music advocate, Laura Ortman, Click the player below.

To see photos from this event visit our gallery page by clicking “gallery” up top of the blog.

All photos: M Colon

Music’s Finest Come out to Pay Tribute San Francisco, CA
The American Indian Film Institute (AIFI) proudly announce a special film and music tribute “Remembering Floyd Red Crow Westerman (1936-2007)” presented November 13 at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Westerman was an accomplished singer/songwriter whose 1969 debut album“Custer Died for Your Sins” earned critical acclaim. He also was a human rights activist who performed with Sting in the rainforest benefits; and actor receiving world-wide attention and acclaim as “Ten Bears” in Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves. His film and television credits include Swing Vote, Grey Owl, Hidalgo, Walker Texas Ranger, X- Files, Murder She Wrote, Northern Exposure and Dharma & Greg. The music tribute will be directed by Indian songwriter/performer Keith Secola and hosted by comic Charlie Hill and Max Gail.

Preceding the tribute will be the World Premiere of documentary feature “Coloring the Media” directed by Carlisle Antonio. The film explores what it means to be Indian in the new millennium while dealing with established prejudices by mainstream media and include exclusive interviews with the late Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Robert Redford and John Trudell.

Floyd Red Crow Westerman Music Tribute:

Keith Secola, dubbed by critics both the “Neil Young of the Native rock world” and the “Native Bruce Springsteen”, has in many people’s viewpoints achieved legendary status for his NDN Kars (”Indian Cars”), a popular song that is frequently considered a Native American anthem. Secola has released five well-received independent CDs since the early 1990s, and he has garnered three Native American Music Awards.

Charlie Hill: He has been a stand-up comic for over 30 years. He spent the early part of his life in Detroit before his father moved the family back to Oneida, Wisconsin. Hill later attended the University of Wisconsin where he studied theatre and acting, honing in on his comedic skills which manifested themselves in political activism on campus. In his own words: Much of my humor focuses on my experiences as a Native American performer in the national spotlight, but my stories and observations cross cultural lines to lighten and enlighten audiences everywhere; they are the ones who view laughter as a healing tool.

Max Gail: known to many as “Wojo” from the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series “Barney Miller,” has worked in films, TV and theater over many years.Gail starred in a one-man play about Babe Ruth on Broadway which was taped and shown on PBS. He runs his own production company, Full Circle, which has produced documentaries on such topics as Agent Orange, nuclear power, and Native American issues. He has even recorded an album of songs and currently has a book of poetry in the works.

John Densmore: An original and founding member of the musical group The Doors, John co-produced and wrote eight gold albums and toured the United States, Europe, and Japan. His autobiography, Riders on the Storm, was on the New York Times bestseller list in 1991 and he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. He is currently collaborating with other musicians and playing with the group Tribaljazz.

Micki Free: Micki has spawned countless hits with the legendary super group Shalamar, and included a career that would rival many in entertainment business history; Three-Time Grammy Nominee, Grammy Winner, Grammy Board of Governor candidate, Multi-Platinum Recording Artist and Five-Time Native American Music Award Winner.

Pete Sears: Pete Sears’ career has spanned more than four decades: he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock of the 1960s, folk, country music, arena rock in the 1970s, and blues. He usually plays bass, keyboards, or both in bands. Sears is well known for his time spent with Jefferson Starship from 1974 to 1987.

Jennifer Kreisberg: Mother, Singer, Composer, Producer, Teacher, and Activist – Jennifer (Tuscarora, North Carolina) comes from four generations of Seven Singing Sisters through the maternal line, and has been singing since she was young. She is known for her fierce vocals and soaring range. Her lilting, breath-taking harmonies will delight your ears. Jennifer has been singing with the critically acclaimed Native women’s Trio ULALI since she was seventeen. Her voice has perfectly woven the high strand of Ulali’s renowned harmony with incomparable skill, and grace for over seventeen years, helping to create a new sound in Indian Country. Adding to the group, her sharp wit and stage presence infused Ulali’s shows with strong vocals, humor and camaraderie with the audience.

Chad Watson: a Missouri native who began learning the bass from his father and continued to study at the Music Conservatory of the University of Missouri, Kansas City. He extensive career in the music business spans four decades during which he has performed with and produced a wide variety of artists, including the Charlie Rich ensemble, the Janis Ian trio, Freddy Fender, and New Age pioneer, David Arkenstone.

Jeremy Goodfeather: is a San Francisco-based singer/songwriter who plays a dynamic acoustic set of original, heartfelt music with a simple, straightforward vibe. He pulls from a wide range of influences and styles to create an organic sound that can be rock, blues, reggae, funk, jazz, country or anything else that it takes to tell a story with music. Jeremy was awarded an Individual Artist Grant from the San Francisco Native Arts Commission in May 2008.

There may be chaos in South Ossetia, a looming, uber-dramatic US presidential election on the horizon, and a female Vice-Presidential candidate with a love for guns and Yup’ik Indians, but the only politics I want to talk about are from 2006.

Today Jack Abramoff was sentenced to four years in a federal prison. Little Jack was convicted in 2006 on charges of fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials, tax-evasion and all-around naughtiness in connection with a defrauding scheme to dupe casino-rich Indian tribes and encourage former congressional staffers to violate a one-year lobbying ban. In addition to his jail time, the former Capitol Hill power-lobbyist was also ordered to pay $23 million in restitution to his former tribal clients. Is there a payment plan involved with this, I wonder? It better not involve wire transfers, because Jack cannot be trusted with those. In fairness to Abramoff, his public apology and address to the judge did seem genuinely contrite. But then again, what other choice did he have? One doesn’t expect him to appear in court wearing a ten-gallon hat and laughing like Yosemite Sam with $1000 Choctaw poker chips spilling from his pockets. That would be really awesome, but I’d hardly expect it.

There is one thing to thank Abramoff for; (other than some really good Daily Show episodes) his tentacled scandal led to a massive investigation on lobbying practices in a then GOP-governed House and Senate.

[Dolores Jackson, a member of the Saginaw Chippewa, and apparently the only Indian that Abramoff didn't rip off. Or maybe she's on his payroll.  p.s. I want that t-shirt]

McClatchy Newspapers states that “when Abramoff pleaded guilty in 2006, as many as half a dozen lawmakers, including former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (love him!) of Texas and Rep. John Doolittle of California, were said to be under scrutiny for their dealings with his former lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig. Prosecutors have convicted 10 people, including five former congressional staffers, former Interior Deputy Secretary Steven Griles, former Justice Department lawyer Robert Coughlin and former Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio.”

This shakedown, a direct result of Abramoff’s seedy lobbying practices, resulted in the complete turnover of Congress in the 2006 election year. Granted, the Democrats now in office haven’t done much of anything and some of them have probably been hitting on underage House pages, but at lease they get to fill those fancy seats instead of some easily-swayed-by-free-golf-trips Republican, right? (I should probably visit factcheck.org before stating any of the latter.)

Anyway, in the fall of 2006, NAICA did an overzealous (and probably misinformed) exposé on the adventures of Little Jack and his friends on Capitol Hill. It is very long, grammatically incorrect at times, and much too campy. But it does have ridiculously Photoshopped pictures, which is something the Washington Post has really been dropping the ball on recently. Check it out!

Sàmi director Nils Gaup may be unfamiliar to most of us, but he is a legendary director in Norway, his native country. For those who love Viking tales and the like he is also the director of the original Pathfinder, and not that ridiculous mess that was in the theaters last year either, but the better version made in Norway-though I wonder where they got their Indians?

Gaup showed clips from his latest film, The Kautokeino Rebellion, at a charming Norwegian restaurant called Smorgas Chef where a prie fixe dinner was served in his honor. This event was coordinated by the Film and Video program at the National Museum of the American Indian which has had a collaborative relationship with the Sàmi people and their film festival.

The film was shot in 35mm scope and in the dead of winter in the region where the rebellion took place which is also the birthplace of Gaup himself. He related that the story, which took place in the late 1800’s, was one that is well-known in his region. Though a story of heroism it is a tragedy which relates the massacre of a group of native Sàmi people who rose to fight against the exploitation of their resources and culture by the Germanic Norwegians. We saw clips from the beginning and ending portions of the film as he is hoping to get a release here in the U.S. But, you could see the film is masterfully shot, it truly was beautiful even on a small screen. The story is a tense drama made all the more dramatic by not getting to see the entire thing, and, of course, it is a true story, but one with nearly universal themes of cultural and economic oppression and alcohol abuse. If the film does get distribution in the United States it will be limited but I believe critics will favor the film for it’s craftsmanship and truthful story-telling. As Mr. Gaup said, “There is no happy ending here.”

Check out my brief interview with Nils Gaup to learn more about the film and himself.

*Note
a large group of people who had been at the screening and dinner enjoyed each other’s company at a bar none of us would probably ever go to but for being recommended to us. It was close by. Trust me, I doubt any of would choose to listen to the music you will hear in the background if the situation allowed for us to select the music ourselves. You are warned! HA!

Photos: Maria Colon

It is hard to be a writer sometimes. Not that I have the oeuvre to really claim this personally, but I think I can safely make this assumption based in part by films I have seen involving typewriters, piles of balled-up papers and ashtrays filled with chain-smoked cigarettes. I can also base this statement on the story below:

Journalist Paul Tolme: “When I traveled to South Dakota in 2005 to write a story about black-footed ferrets, I never imagined my words about the little weasels would one day appear in a trashy romance novel. I just wanted to write an informative and entertaining piece about these endangered prairie carnivores. Three years later my story (”Toughing It Out in the Badlands“) is at the center of 2008’s sexiest plagiarism scandal.”

The scandal involves a novel by prolific romance writer, Cassie Edwards, entitled Shadow Bear. I have included the synopsis below for your convenience:

“South Dakota 1850. Before he died from the Indian arrow that pierced his body while he was hunting gold outside Fort Chance, Shiona Bramlett’s father, the colonel, revealed a shocking secret. Now, armed only with her father’s map and her courage, she’s determined to honor him-and to fulfill her own destiny.

After a fierce prairie fire, Shadow Bear, Chief of the Grey Owl Band of the Lakota tribe, is desperately looking for his missing brother Silent Arrow. His search leads him to a beautiful woman in desperate need of help. Shadow Bear loathes the white man-but he cannot help but protect her. With a passion that is undeniable, they must learn to put their mistrust aside and share their secrets before all is lost.”

Perhaps it was the pressure of maintaining her reputation as a prolific novelist that forced Cassie Edwards into the dark corner of plagiarism? Perhaps it was a deadline? I can only imagine her desperation at the thought of trying to gracefully follow up yet another love scene. What in-the-hell would Shadow Bear and Shiona talk about after their wild tryst in his tipi? And then, like manna from heaven, an answer. After what must have been hours of frantically googling “South Dakota,” she found the topic that would save her from the sloth-like terror of post-coital writer’s block: the black-footed ferret.

Shadow Bear: They are so named because of their dark legs.

Shiona: They are so small, surely weighing only about two pounds and measuring two feet from tip to tail.

Shadow Bear: What I have observed of them, myself, is that these tiny animals breed in early spring when the males roam the night in search of females…Mothers typically give birth to three kits in early summer and raise their young alone in abandoned prairie dog burrows.

Shiona: I read that ferrets stalk and kill prairie dogs during the night. Using their keen sense of smell and whiskers to guide them through pitch-black burrows, ferrets suffocate the sleeping prey, an impressive feat considering the two species are about the same weight.

Shadow Bear: In turn, coyotes, badgers, and owls prey on ferrets, whose life span in the wild is often less than two winters … They have a short, quick life.

When it comes right down to it, I can sympathize with Edwards completely. I remember a 6th grade research paper I did on the Beatles, which may or may not have included some lifted sentences from Encarta. I honestly can’t remember for sure anymore. But I do remember the quiet agony of trying to describe Ringo’s troubled childhood in meaningful-yet-concise sentences before 10pm. I got an ‘A’ on the paper, but it was still really hard.

What I’m trying to say is that Cassie Edwards should be forgiven for her literary faux pas. We all lie and cheat and even steal, whether it be words or post-it notes from the office supply closet. Nobody is without guilt. But on today of all days, Valentine’s Day, I think we should forgive Edwards and remember what she was ultimately trying to do: write about the triumphs and trials of love … and the sweaty, rippling muscles of Lakota warriors.