In a few short hours here in Irvine, California, Cirque du Soleil, Totem, performers will charge onto their stage with dramatic makeup, costumes and music.
Behind-the-scenes and inside the “Village on Wheels” as it’s called, there is a flurry of activity.
Look above and you’ll see trapeze artists perfecting their moves.
Down below, artists stretch on thick gymnastic mats and tell jokes, while others visit the medical tent to soothe their muscles through massage.
The makeup team is busy painting faces as costumes are being rounded up by the performers.
At the makeshift lounge, there are couches and a flat-screen tv, where performers can watch the previous night’s show and make the necessary notes.
It’s all in a day’s work at Totem, Cirque du Soleil’s show about the evolution of humans.
We caught up with one featured Latino-Native American performer, Eric Hernandez, the show’s Hoop Dancer. Hernandez hails from Covina, California, so Totem’s show this week is a homecoming of sorts for Eric.
Eric has been hoop dancing since he was 10 thanks to his uncle Terry Goedel, a world champion hoop dancer.
And although Eric never imagined he’d being hoop dancing for a living, one look at his performance and you can see why Cirque du Soleil came calling.
MAHWAH, N.J. — The past week has been unsettling for the Ramapough Mountain Indians, who live on this northern stretch of the Appalachian Mountains that overlooks the Manhattan skyline and wealthy parts of Bergen County. The new movie “Out of the Furnace,” featuring a star-studded cast that includes Christian Bale and Woody Harrelson, also features numerous negative references to the Ramapoughs. They include a fight-ring subplot.
Keith Van Dunk, 27, a member of the tribe, took a break from feeding the chickens at his father’s house up on Stag Hill here on Sunday morning and gestured at the surrounding woods.
“You see any fight ring up here?” he said. “Absolutely not.”
Tribal leaders and local elected officials held a news conference last week, speaking out against a film that they claim portrays them as trashy backwoods bumpkins involved in drugs and violence. One Ramapough henchman in the movie even bears Mr. Van Dunk’s last name.
The references constitute a “hate crime” that has “stained the community and stirred up animus” by increasing marginalization and stigmatization, said the Ramapoughs’ chief, Dwaine C. Perry, 66, in an interview.
In the past few days, he said, there had been several instances of Ramapough students in local high schools being picked on by classmates who had seen the film, including one case in which a teacher had to intervene.
At a showing of the movie last weekend, someone hurled slurs at a Ramapough woman in the theater, he said. There was also a fight at a local mall that tribal members said was stirred up by the film.
“The film contains ugly stereotypes that stain you for life,” Chief Perry said. “The undertones are racist and personal. It’s a hate crime when you look at the psychological impact on the kids.”
Contacted for comment, the film’s production company, Relativity Media, released a statement saying that the film is “entirely fictional” and not “based upon any particular person or group of people.”
“As is the case with most films, the filmmakers conducted research and drew upon their own personal life experiences in creating an original screenplay, and the story and the characters are entirely fictional,” the statement read.
Scott Cooper, who directed the film and co-wrote the script, was unavailable for comment Wednesday night. But a Relativity Media spokesman said that John Fetterman, mayor of Braddock, Pa. — the other main setting in the film — had nothing but praise for the way the movie portrayed Braddock. Mr. Fetterman called it a respectful depiction that was “eloquent, forceful and honest,” in a guest column he wrote for Variety magazine.
Several characters in the film have last names that are prevalent Ramapough names, including De Groat and Mann. The film was not shot in the area, but the Bergen County Police Department is portrayed as the local authority.
Mr. Van Dunk said he refused to buy a ticket to the film, but he consulted the IMDB website and saw that several cast members were listed as “Jackson White.”
The term “Jackson White” is a slur used by outsiders to deride the Ramapoughs, Mr. Van Dunk said, referencing the tribe’s descent from Native Americans, whites and runaway slaves who settled in the mountains in the late 18th century. The term dredges up decades of a long, ugly history of discrimination and marginalization.
“To me, it’s like calling a black person the N-word, and my father is black,” said Mr. Van Dunk, who works for a moving company in Hackensack. “In high school, kids would call me a Jackson White in the hallway, and if I stuck up for myself, they’d say I’m living up to the stereotype.”
Before the opening of the film, which was the third-grossing film in the country last weekend, The New York Post published an article saying that it depicts the Ramapoughs as “New Jersey hillbillies.” The article characterized tribe members as unsophisticated, intermarrying types who are ridiculed, who hunt and eat squirrels, and who drive all-terrain vehicles on dirt roads.
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette Tommy Joseph, a member of the Tlingit people of southeast Alaska, uses a reverse bent knife to carve a 16-foot totem pole that will be permanently installed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
The story of a raven, two fishermen and a salmon was emerging from the trunk of a Washington red cedar last week under the skilled hands of master carver Tommy Joseph. Today, he will complete the carving and on Saturday a public “Celebration of the Raising of the Totem Pole” will be held as it’s installed permanently in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
Mr. Joseph, a member of the Tlingit people of southeast Alaska, was born in Ketchikan and lives in Sitka. He began carving the totem pole, which was commissioned by the museum, on Nov. 26 in the R. P. Simmons Gallery, where he will be until 5 p.m. today.
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette Tommy Joseph, a member of the Tlingit people of southeast Alaska, talks about his totem pole sculpture.
The totem will be unveiled this weekend at the entrance of Polar World: Wyckoff Hall of Arctic Life and the Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians. The all-ages event will begin at 10:30 a.m. with Tlingit song and drumming by musician Morgan Redmon Fawcett. Following the celebration, Mr. Fawcett will play Native American flute, and guided tours of Alcoa Hall and other activities will be offered (included in museum admission).
The 16-foot tall totem pole is a blend of traditional and contemporary practices. The formal qualities of the bold stylized components, and the fact that they memorialize a story told by a Tlingit elder, are timeless. Mr. Joseph carves with hand tools that would have been recognizable generations ago, including an adz, gouges and knives, some of which he made. However, the vivid paints are latex.
When the museum commissioned the totem pole, it requested a story that included a raven but was otherwise unrestricted. That gave Mr. Joseph, 49, an opportunity to fulfill a project that had been on his mind for three decades.
“They told me I could pick any story. This story has never been told before. When I first heard it, I wanted to tell it,” Mr. Joseph said last week.
The description he gave the museum was of two young men on a hunting trip:
“While out on the open ocean with a storm approaching, a young man spotted a large seal and fired at it. He was happy to see that his aim was true, and he piloted his boat over to haul in his catch. The young man grabbed the seal by its tail, but it began to thrash about. So as not to lose it to the ocean waves and the approaching storm, he bit down on the tail, gripping hard between his teeth while grabbing the seal’s flippers with his strong hands and arms.
“In a boat not far away, the young man’s hunting partner and Clan brother was watching this entire scene unfold. He fired a shot into the seal, saving the catch. The hunt was a big success, and both men were able to bring food home to their families, along with an adventure story that would live on for generations to come.”
But there’s more, a personal connection. The men in the boats were Mr. Joseph’s father and the elder who related the story in the mid-1980s. Mr. Joseph’s father was lost at sea when he was 6.
“The museum wanted a traditional raven story,” Mr. Joseph said. “But what is a traditional raven story? It’s a story an elder told. Raven is my Dad’s moiety [descent group].” Mr. Joseph is of the Eagle Moiety.
The raven, at the bottom of the totem pole, appears in Tlingit legends, myths and creation stories. The middle figures are the hunters in dugout canoes. The top figure, a dog-salmon, completes the circle of life, the seal eating the salmon and the people, the seal.
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette One of the painted “trappings” on the Raven portion of the totem pole Tommy Joseph has been commissioned to carve for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
“Alaskan natives still eat seals today,” Mr. Joseph said. “They’re part of our subsistence lifestyle.
“A totem pole is a visual tool for telling a story,” he explained. “The whole purpose is to be a reminder of the story. [Subjects include] migration, individuals, groups of people, events, history, clan history; grave markers, mortuary poles that memorialize people.”
Mr. Joseph first became infatuated with wood when he made a halibut hook out of yellow cedar in a third-grade woodcarving class. His art includes Tlingit armor, masks and bowls in addition to totem poles. He sells them at his Raindance Gallery in Sitka along with work by other Alaskan native artists.
Funded by a Smithsonian visual artist grant and a USA Artist Fellows award, he traveled to 20 museums and collections in the U.S. and abroad in 2009 to study Tlingit armor. The Alaska State Museum, Juneau, presented the first exhibition of Mr. Joseph’s armor this year. In July, he gave a TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk on constructing Tlingit armor.
At his gallery, he teaches carving in affiliation with the University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka Campus. “I always hope there’s going to be some of our young people who will be interested. But to keep [the tradition] going, I’ll teach anybody of any age who wants to know, as long as they’re old enough to work safely.”
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette Tommy Joseph works on the details of his totem pole.
For 21 years he ran the wood studio of the Sitka National Historical Park’s Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center. While there he observed leading wood conservators from the National Park Service and now he conserves, restores and replicates totem poles for the Park Service and other institutions and individuals.
“It’s a huge honor for me that [this totem pole] will be in the Carnegie Museum forever,” Mr. Joseph said. “I have the coolest job around. I get to go to work every day and make stuff, and share it with everybody.”
Tlingit artifacts including baskets, halibut hooks and objects relating to the totem pole creation process may be seen in the Simmons Gallery today through Friday. Information: 412-622-3131 or www.carnegiemnh.org.
Post-Gazette art critic Mary Thomas: mthomas@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1925.
All kinds of platitudes are applicable here, like, “Lead, don’t follow” or “To thine own self be true.”
Notah Begay III, perhaps the most ubiquitous Native American in contemporary society, subscribes to many of them—“The whole thing comes full circle,” says the good-looking man who tells a rags-to-riches story about becoming the first Native American on the Professional Golf Association Tour.
Now an NBC golf analyst, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Begay grew up with the sport after being introduced to the game by his father. How he got from a scrawny kid youngster in Albuquerque to a resounding success on several fronts should provide initiative to other young Natives chasing a dream.
“At the age of 6, I started collecting and recycling aluminum cans to raise enough money to buy a bucket of balls. By age 9, still a skinny little Indian kid, I introduced myself to the club pro and told him I’d work for nothing if I could practice on off-hours. From then until I went to college, I’d show up at 5:30 every morning and put in a couple of hours performing meaningless tasks like emptying trash, sweeping floors and parking golf carts. Then I’d get to practice from 8 a.m. till 6 p.m. every day—at no charge. I thought it was the greatest job in the world, because I got to hit as many golf balls as I wanted.”
By age 17, he was the No. 1 junior golfer in the country (with friend and later Stanford college roommate Tiger Woods at second). “There weren’t a lot of brown guys out there at the time, just me and Tiger,” he says.
Graduating with a degree in economics, Begay went on to immediate professional success, winning four tournaments before he got injured. Then depression set in with a stint in jail for drunken driving. “Sometimes fate presents opportunities,” Begay said. “I landed on my feet and made the appropriate changes in my life to become better.”
Today the 41-year-old star gets to talk about the sport he loves as a commentator as well as designing new golf courses—like the Pascua Yaqui tribe’s 18-hole course set to open next month in Tucson.
Begay’s fame and fortune allowed him to expand his horizons through entrepreneurship (KivaSun Foods) and philanthropy (The Notal Begay III Foundation, a.k.a. NB3F), both directly connected with Native health.
In 2010, he and a partner invested in a company selling bison meat, “a challenging project,” he says, and one that again called on him to persevere.
“I thought because I was Notah Begay that I could do anything, and I found out quickly that’s not the case. In the extremely competitive food industry, nobody cares how far you can drive a golf ball, they just care if the product tastes good and is priced right.
“There were some dark days with the company nearly at the point of being down to our last dollar. We hung in there, solved problems and formed industry partnerships [sourcing bison from the 57-tribe InterTribal Buffalo Council]. Today we’re looking to surpass $5 million in sales and should approach copy0 million in sales in the next two years.”
Which brings us to the concept of cultural full-circle. “All the stuff in the for-profit world transferred into our non-profit work with the NB3 Foundation,” he says. A percentage of KivaSun sales gets donated to NB3 to support Native American health efforts through sports and education. “This is a lifelong commitment for me,” Begay says. “I’ll be doing it for decades to come, because that’s how long it will take to provide services to our Indian communities to address childhood obesity and the diabetes epidemic.
“If we don’t start making changes in our lifestyle choices, our people’s lifespans will continue to get shorter. Native American lifespans are the shortest of any U.S. minority group, and it doesn’t have to be that way.”
Asked to offer up something the general public doesn’t already know about him, Begay says he tries to set an example for others by being a good role model. “Marriage and fatherhood are not static commitments, and I work diligently to be a better husband and father. Home and family is the starting point of my day—it’s where I get my strength. And if I can’t set a good example within my own home, how can I help anybody else’s child?”
The man-who-made-it offers a message to Indian children trying for their own successes: “Don’t limit your dreams. Educate yourself, take care of yourself, push yourself to fulfill your goals.”
MARYSVILLE, Washington (December 11, 2013) – It is that time of year again – Marysville Fire District asks you to help keep the wreath green!
Starting on November 28 as you drive by any of our fire stations you will notice a giant wreath covered in green bulbs. It is part of our annual “Keep the Wreath Green” program.
As part of the program, the green bulbs are changed to red whenever there is a structure fire in the Marysville Fire District. The bulbs are changed to white when a firefighter anywhere in the United States dies in the line of duty.
It is the our way of reminding people that although there is a lot to keep people busy during the holiday, fire prevention should be on our minds every day.
The Keep the Wreath Green program runs through New Year’s Day, and will serve as a reminder to those who pass the fire stations, to keep this holiday season a safe one.
For information about how to keep your family fire safe this holiday season, visit our website at www.marysvillefiredistrict.org.
BELTON, MISSOURI – As if the first sign was not bad enough, an attempt to fix an obvious racist message on the portable sign at the local Sonic Drive-In in Belton, Missouri on Sunday was not much of an improvement.
The Native News Online ran a story yesterday and an Opinion on the inappropriate racists sign late Sunday night. At the time, it was not known to the Native News Online staff that there were two versions of the sign in front of the Sonic.
Version I:
“‘KC CHIEFS’ WILL SCALP THE REDSKINS FEED THEM WHISKEY SEND – 2 – RESERVATION.”
Apparently, someone told the author of the sign, it was offensive to American Indians.
Version II:
“‘KC CHIEFS’ WILL SCALP THE REDSKINS
DRAIN THE FIREWATER — OUT OF THEM”
The second version – while slightly blurry – was posted on a Twitter account. Social media has kept this story alive.
The Native News Online staff contacted Sonic Drive-In earlier today for confirmation that photograph was legitimate.
The response from Sonic’s Patrick Lenow, vice president of media relations for the 3,500 chain:
“There were two offensive, wrong messages posted. Our understanding is that the first was displayed for about 15 minutes and a poor attempt to rectify it was posted for about 10 minutes, so both were part of the same incident. Both messages are unacceptable and contrary to the values of our company. Sonic and the local owner are sorry that such unacceptable messages were posted for any duration and are working through a process to prevent any type of reoccurrence.”
When the Native News Online yesterday contacted Mr. Lenow and Robert Stone, franchisee of the Belton Sonic, neither of the two revealed there were two different messages.
Mr. Stone indicated he would not fire the employee who posted the sign, but would educate his entire staff about what is appropriate.
The US-based Annenberg Foundation said it had spent a total of $530,000 (£322,000; 385,000 euros) at the auction of masks and other artefacts.
Of the 24 masks, 21 will be given to the Hopi Nation in Arizona and three to the San Carlos Apache.
The auction of 70 similar artefacts in April caused an outcry.
The tribes had sought to block their sale and the US embassy had asked for the latest auction to be suspended.
These Hopi masks were auctioned on Monday
The Tumas Crow Mother was another Hopi mask put on sale.
But French judges rejected legal challenges to both auctions, finding that the artefacts had been acquired legally.
The auctioneers argue that blocking such sales would have implications for the trade in indigenous art, and could potentially force French museums to hand back collections they had bought.
Mask being auctioned in Paris, 9 December BBC News/Reuters
On Monday, the Hopi and Apache masks, together with other items, raised $1.6m, the Associated Press reports.
Pierre Servan-Schreiber, the Hopis’ French lawyer, bought one mask for 13,000 euros and also intended to return it to the tribe.
Responding to news of the Annenberg Foundation’s purchase, Sam Tenakhongva, a Hopi cultural leader, said: “This is a great day for not only the Hopi people but for the international community as a whole.
“The Annenberg Foundation set an example today of how to do the right thing. Our hope is that this act sets an example for others that items of significant cultural and religious value can only be properly cared for by those vested with the proper knowledge and responsibility. They simply cannot be put up for sale.”
Jack McNeel The Pend Oreille River, near Kalispel tribal offices, supplied salmon and steelhead to Native people but that ended when Grand Coulee Dam was built.
Will fish passage be restored from the Columbia River to Canada? Will a 15-tribe coalition significantly influence an international treaty that will last a lifetime? Can Canada and the U.S. agree to financial impacts affecting each country? Will ecological concerns get equal consideration with electric power rates?
These questions are part of the Columbia River Treaty recommendation that is due to go to the U.S. State Department in mid-December. Congress won’t be making any decisions at this point, in fact 2014 is the first year either Canada or the U.S. can notify the other whether to eliminate the treaty, retain it as is, or to modify it. Even then there is a 10-year clock for both countries to analyze and prepare for international negotiation. Despite that time lag, the next few months should decide the U.S. position on these critical questions, many of which effect Native people on both sides of the border.
The original treaty, ratified in 1964, had two primary purposes of flood control and hydropower but tribes had virtually no say in the development of the treaty. Much has changed in the past 50 years. One significant change is the many years of experience tribes now have in international treaty work, especially regarding the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Fifteen of the northwestern tribes have now formed a coalition to work together in obtaining considerations of importance to them in a future long-term treaty.
Joel Moffitt, Nez Perce and Chairman of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, spoke before the Senate’s Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on November 7, first pointing out the Columbia Basin Tribes are working with the U.S. Entity and other sovereigns and do not have their own alternative technical or draft proposals as might have been suggested by others.
Moffitt summarized what the Columbia Basin Tribes see as critical elements: Integrate ecosystem-based function as a third purpose equal to hydropower and flood risk management; Enhance spring and summer flows while stabilizing reservoir operations; Pursue restoration of fish passage to historic locations; Pursue with Canada post-2024 operations to meet flood risk management objectives, and finally, and important to power interests, balance the annual payment to Canada known as Canadian Entitlement.
He explained the impacts to “Columbia Basin Tribes, First Nations and other communities all the way up to the headwaters,” began with the construction of dams even before the present treaty. “The tribes have also been excluded from its governance and implementation. The Treaty does not include considerations of critical tribal cultural resources.” He went on to add, “The tribes believe that a modernized Treaty needs to address the Columbia Basin using a watershed approach that integrates ecosystem-based function, hydropower, and flood risk management on both sides of the border.”
Moffitt explained that this approach, among other things, should increase recognition and preservation of tribal first foods, increase salmon survival, increase resident fish and wildlife survival, and allow fish passage to historical habitats now blocked.
Matt Wynne, tribal secretary for the Spokane Tribe and a member of the 15-tribe coalition, commented, “The part that the Spokane Tribe is really interested in seeing to fruition is at least a study on anadromous fish passage above Grand Coulee Dam.”
Wynne added that he was happy with the overall draft recommendation. “It looks a lot more for Indian country than it ever has before. This was a really good move in a positive direction with the 15 basin tribes coming together and working together to have the ecosystem-based function as an element of the treaty. I’m really proud of how the 15 tribes have worked together.”
The public was introduced to the draft recommendation earlier this year and were encouraged to comment. Time has now expired for public comment but those comments were considered by the Sovereign Review Team in developing the regional draft which is going to the State Department.
The major conflict within the region is between the “power group” with the single focus of trying to reduce power rates for Pacific Northwest rate payers and the tribes and conservation groups who advocate an equitable role for eco-based functions which include fish passage to Canada. While the recommendation is near completion there is still a power struggle to better reflect the work of the region as opposed to the single focus of the power group.
Washington State’s Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell sits in a very pivotal seat at a pivotal moment. She chairs the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and is no doubt being lobbied hard by both groups. With 15 U.S. tribes involved and similar numbers of First Nations bands in British Columbia, Indian country has much at stake.
The music video for Chase & Status’ dance track “Alive,” directed by Welsh filmmaker Josh Cole, has inspired a tremendous reaction from Indian country. Just read through the comments on the ICTMN facebook page and you’ll get the picture — some viewers have praised the clip for its tale of drug abuse on the rez and spiritual redemption, while others feel it’s exploitative and disrespectful of the ceremonies it depicts. The video, which shows dramatized drug use, crime and ceremony, was shot on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Cole has received considerable attention in Indian Country.
Cole filmed the video on the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana, and worked with Blackfeet tribal members during the course of its creation. On the day of the video release, ICTMN reached out to Cole to get his thoughts on some of the questions and comments coming from the Native community on social media.
Concerned he might be misrepresented, Cole requested that ICTMN could present his words in their entirety. He provided links to some other videos he has made which we have chosen to embed in the text of the story. Cole’s answers to our questions are as follows:
How did you first come up with this concept of using a Native Reservation story for this video?
As a reformed drug addict I follow stories around the world where the worst drug abuse is common. It’s my mission with my career to try to steer people into recovery as a thanks to those that helped me with my own addiction. As such I was shooting a story about a reformed Hispanic gangster turned graffiti artist in LA and I met a Native American rapper who grew up on a reservation.
I was shocked to hear stories about the reservations — in Europe there is no concept generally about contemporary Native Americans. I then started researching and put together a story based on the stuff I was told about. I decided I would really like to tell Europe how difficult it is for Native Americans in modern America because most people have no idea who they are. All my work is about the beauty that comes from hardship and I wanted to tell the story of the spiritual awakening of a drug addict in a Native American community.
How did you explain this concept to the Blackfeet community?
Several members of The Crazy Dogs Society in Browning are reformed alcoholics, I showed them my script and they really connected to it. They explained that it was basically their own story and also that they regularly help those with addictions through ceremony. I told them that I would like to make it something they would be proud of, that told the story properly, so we had a few days discussing my script and changing it to make it more realistic.
During this time I met several community leaders including many people on the Tribal Council including the Cultural Attaché of the Blackfeet Nation. Every time we met anyone we explained what we wanted to do in great detail and then each person was emailed a copy of the script. We explained the story dozens of times and the Tribal Council gave us their blessing and also gave us a shooting permit to shoot anywhere in Blackfeet territory. The community basically backed the project and we were repeatedly told by various people how much they thought this story needed to be told. I feel I could return there any time with my head held high. I’m also told the film has been very well received by people living not only on the Blackfeet Reservation but also on other reservations. You can see this by reading the comments under the video on Youtube. I should also say that this was a very low budget production — we were all working 20+ hour days to make it work and everybody involved really believed in the project. It still moves me when I think how much the people of Browning came together to help with this production.
What were the reactions about filming a “ceremony?”
I was extremely sensitive when talking to the Crazy Dogs about the ceremonies and always said that we could shoot an alternative scene. They spent a day or so discussing it with all members and they decided collectively they wanted the scene to be in the film. They felt like they wanted it to be shown and I gave them many opportunities to make sure they were happy. It meant a lot to me that they wanted to show this to the world. They told me that they wanted to use the video to help to heal the youth of the Blackfeet Nation. I should also say we didn’t film an actual ceremony — both the sweat lodge scene and the Sundance scene were mock ceremonies set up by the Crazy Dogs themselves to their exact specifications. I had no control whatsoever over the look or sequence of the scene, nor did I want it. I also had no interest in filming an actual ceremony — at every step of the process I was led by the advice of the Crazy Dogs and I am ever grateful for that and I feel no guilt in portraying this as I was led by a much greater knowledge than my own as I am with most of my work.
What were the reactions about this young man turning toward good then becoming a “martyr” as you put it?
I felt that the film needed an emotional finish. When people are moved they remember what they have seen. Plus it actually is somewhat of a happy ending because he is reunited with his girlfriend in the afterlife. There’s also a message in there about the way your past follows you — that no matter how much you reform you can’t always avoid who you were before. I have lost many many friends to the illness of addiction and this is often my experience.
What is the song about without the benefit of a video connected to it?
It’s a very simple message about the dangers of drugs. I nearly died myself through drug abuse and most of my narrative work contains these themes. It’s also a call to addicts to reform before it’s too late and to lead a more spiritual life.
Many native people are concerned about using Native Americans in a romantic way as a form of poverty porn or sensationalism, what is your response?
I strive against this type of imagery myself and I don’t think my work inspires pity at all. Everywhere I shoot I work very closely with the actual community to tell their story in the most authentic and meaningful way possible. Everywhere I’ve ever shot I can go back to and work again. I’m about to return to Ethiopia in January to work with the same community I shot with 2 years ago to produce a similar piece highlighting the plight of prostitutes in the capital and the beauty of the Rastafarian religion there. My extensive work in Africa generally shows very positive images and the energy of the slums:
The same with my film in the Philippines which shows positivity despite hardship- the true spirit of the country:
My work with the gypsy communities in the UK and Eastern Europe spans 10 years and tries to offer more positive images of this misunderstood people:
I also believe that my portrayal of Browning is not negative. It is ultimately a story of redemption and shows the elders of the community coming around the boy to heal him. If you don’t show the darkness in a realistic way the young people I’m trying to reach will not take it seriously. However, there is an element of drama to all my work as I want all my work to reach the masses – but it is always subverted as I believe I have done here. You have to remember that in the States the concept of Native Americans living in severe poverty is old news but in Europe people have no idea. None! I think this is something people here should know about. So this video serves a dual purpose – to show Europeans some of the conditions on reservations and also to give a Native community an opportunity to show both its darkness and its beauty.
There were social media interactions between yourself and others regarding the cavalry – what happened there?
I had been staying in Browning for a week or so meeting members of the community and my crew who are mainly from Wales arrived to shoot. I posted a picture on Instagram and stupidly wrote “The Welsh Cavalry arrive in Montana” which is a common phrase in the UK similar to “reinforcements have arrived”. When I was attacked on twitter by a number of activists somebody found the tweet and tried to spread the word that I was being racist. A shame really but I understand — in hindsight I should have realized the implications of using the word “cavalry” but it certainly wasn’t meant in a negative or humorous way at all.
Any last remarks?
Just want to thank again the Blackfeet Nation and the Crazy Dogs Society for all the love we were shown.
ARLINGTON — An unexpected Christmas present arrived early this year to three local food banks: $100,000 in cash, a donation from The Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians.
Sue Keezer, board chair of the Arlington Community Food Bank, said the charity had put in a request for a $25,000 grant this year from the tribe. The tribe has always been a strong supporter of the food bank, she said, and this has been a tough year both in a reduced amount of donations and an increase in need.
“They called us on Friday and they said they had a check for us, but it was only for $7,500,” Keezer said.
She went to pick up the gaily wrapped check Saturday morning. When she took off the wrapping, however, she was shocked.
“I’m just speechless, it’s just overwhelming, really,” she said.
Eric White, vice chairman of the Stillaguamish Tribal Council, said the tribe broke with its usual giving pattern this year to present an early gift to the three food banks, which included the Stanwood/Camano Island Food Bank and Northwest Harvest.
White said the tribe was motivated not just by general holiday spirit but also from hearing about a lot of people in need. While the tribe has supported the Arlington food bank in the past, they reached out to the other charities as well to help more people with their $300,000 gift.
“In our community, we have a lot of tribal members that live in Stanwood, so we reached out to Stanwood,” White said.
“It is undoubtedly the largest single donation we’ve ever received,” said Rick Bentley, executive director of the Stanwood/Camano Island Food Bank.
“When we get $5,000, that’s big news,” Bentley said. “One hundred thousand dollars is almost beyond comprehension.”
The Stillaguamish Tribe typically receives applications for charitable donations through the end of December, with donations given out in January. A second round of donations goes out in July. The tribe donated approximately $3 million to various charities in 2012, White said.
The Stillaguamish Tribe also gives out Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas hams to food banks. This year the Arlington food bank gave out 373 Thanksgiving baskets, Keezer said.
“Without their donations last year and this year we wouldn’t have had enough turkeys for our Thanksgiving baskets,” she said.
“This community has never let down this food bank,” she said.
Keezer said some of the money will help get through the holiday season and complete construction of a new permanent facility at 19118 63rd Ave. NE. The food bank is renting space owned by the Arlington airport.
The board will meet soon to make plans for the bulk of the donation
by Norma Rubio, NBC News, @nrubio, 12/09/2013
These Hopi masks were auctioned on Monday
