I think I pissed off quite a few people in my Art 109 class yesterday, I'm only taking the class to boost my GPA and keep it where I want it to be. So we saw this film called "Imagining Indians". The film featured Native Americans mostly voicing their displeasure with their portrayal in American films, specifically Dances With Wolves. They feel that there were certain sacred rituals which were shown in the film. Some Native Americans said they shouldn't have known the rituals AT ALL and others said they should've been done accurately if at all. They say they were inaccurately portrayed and treated poorly and we the public, are hearing their side of the story.
Now before I start let me re-iterate what I first said before saying my opinion in class. I first said that while I find it disgusting to know how this land was taken and do feel Native Americans have been treated poorly and also portrayed inaccurately and at times insultingly on film. Then I went on and voiced my opinion, which was as follows. The council for this specific Native American tribe/people voted unanimously to allow the film to be produced, even got a final private screening before it was sent out to the public, got paid $20,000 and 1.5% of movie profits. While the deal was clearly a very poor one as everyone in the class immediately agreed, the council for this tribe MADE the deal. Clearly if the execs for Dances With Wolves didn't need the permission of the tribe to portray them then they wouldn't of, but clearly they had to cover their ass on a legal end before proceeding with the film. The council for the tribe could've said no but instead they put a price on their rituals (which tribe members hold highly sacred but the council members seemingly not so much). AFTER the movie is shown, they come out saying they've been wrongfully portrayed, being exploited and going as far as calling it RELIGIOUS GENOCIDE
Do they know the meaning of the word?My thoughts are this, Native Americans in that specific tribe we saw the film on, seem to be highly taken advantage of by their council members. Yes, they are inaccurately portrayed and if they feel their culture is being exploited then why did the council give permission? The council for the tribe is to blame here, not the execs for Dances With Wolves. If the tribe wanted to be properly portrayed then they should've stipulated as such, but no they let it go and accepted the deal. Now they want to cast hate over the execs of Dances With Wolves saying they took advantage of the Native Americans as Americans always have. I found it to be sort of a stretch, as I don't believe Native Americans to be stupid yet they always victimize themselves in the film, making it seem as if they don't even speak English but were still forced into a deal (this isn't the era of Exploration).
A few people in the class were pissed at my statements, one girl (white) even said,"How would you feel if the whiteman took your land and took advantage of your culture?" I responded with, "Actually in my country that's exactly what happened, and I STILL blame my weak government and even weaker sense of national pride and a duty to improve it. If you don't let foreigners in, they'll have to leave. National Graphic has tried to capture some African tribes and were denied permission to see certain rituals or altogether, the way the tribe lives. Then one other chick intervenes and says to her eternal credit the following, "I actually had the privilege to meet a blood line Chumash indian and he told me they have nothing and still hate the Americans to this day as they live like peasants." My response was my last, I said,"Chumash? Are you serious, you know they have a casino right? You know federally recognized tribes don't pay taxes right? You know the main heads for the Chumash are swimming in pools of money meanwhile their people earn meager salaries right? Non-resident Native Americans don't pay taxes from casino income and that's straight from the FTB, you know Franchise Tax Board." The people who disagreed with me had no rebuttal, nor did anyone else. The class ended and I left with some angry stares looking at me and actually more than a few acknowledged they agreed with me.
Bottomline RGM fam (if anyone is still reading this), you can't be fooled by your emotions. In the movie they show the legal docs signed by the tribe council that agreed UNANIMOUSLY and knowingly signed permission to have "sacred" rituals on film. I put sacred in quotes because it seems the tribe council put a price on something which its own people feel should never have been put on film anyway. Lastly, there were NO tribe council members on the film nor higher ups of the tribes, simply disgruntled Native Americans looking to blame the "whiteman" for something they should blame their own figure heads.
If you're still reading you're the ****, if not, I understand, I do rant often.
Fultz, Ball or Bust
