Reel Injun – Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse is believed to be born c. 1840 near Rapid city, South Dakota. He was an Oglala Sioux Indian chief who fought against the removal of a reservation in the Black Hills. In 1876 teamed up with the Cheyenne forces in a surprise attack against Gen. George Crook. Crazy horse was famous for carrying his party into victory in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. His full name was Tashunka Witco. Although there are variety of stories on how he got the name Crazy Horse, one of the stories say that his father also had the name Crazy Horse and the name was passed on to him after him demonstrating his skills as a warrior. Even when he was young, he stood out. He was fair-skinned, had brown, curly hair, which isolated him from the others. Crazy Horse was born during a great time for the Lakota people. Lakota was a division of the Sioux, and represented as the largest band of the tribe. Their land ran from the Missouri River to the Big Horn Mountains in the west. Their contact with whites were very minimal. They were at their peek of power in the 1840s. in 1850s, the whites started to push into the west searching for gold and a new life. Military forts were established which introduced more settlers and diseases. In 1854 the Grattan Massacre occurred. It started when Lieutenant John Grattan shot a chief in a Sioux camp. Crazy Horse led his party of 80 men against Captain William J. Fetterman. It became to be known as the Fetterman Massacre, which was a huge embarrassment for the U.S. military. Even after the Fort Laramie Treaty was signed in 1868, Crazy Horse continued his fight. He was ruthless when it came to the white foes. He refused to be photographed and never committed his signature to any document. The aim of his fight was to take revenge on the Lakotas life. Crazy Horse and Chief Sitting Bull refused the government when they said to leave. On June 17, 1876, Crazy Horse led a force of 1,200 Oglala and Cheyenne warriors against General George Crook and his army, successfully making them retreat. A week later Crazy Horse teamed up with Sitting Bull to win against General George Armstrong Custe in the Battle of the Little Bighorn which was the greatest victory ever by Native Americans over U.S. troops. Not only was he a legendary warrior, Crazy Horse became the symbol of strength who fought for his peoples rights and freedom.

Hayden, Kenneth W. “Crazy Horse.” N.p., Dec. 2002. Web. 9 Apr. 2015. <http://www.historynet.com/crazy-horse&gt;.

Crazy Horse.” Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 09 Apr. 2015.

<http://www.biography.com/people/crazy-horse-9261082#video-gallery&gt;

We Were Children – Residential Schools

School now days are all about homework, studying, friends and extracurricular activities. However, it wasn’t always like this. The term “Residential Schools” usually refers to the custodial schools established after 1880. The schools were originally created to educate and change young aboriginals to fit into Canadian society. Teachers in our time respect everyone equally, even the students. We also have the freedom to basically do anything you want except for some reasonable restrictions. For the aboriginal youth in the Residential schools, you were not treated very fairly. You were randomly picked up one day from your home and you were assigned a bed to sleep in until you were 18. The nuns would change you into how you should be; they would cut your hair into the appropriate haircut. While you were in class you were NOT allowed to speak your language and would be punished heavily upon doing so. The children were taught and forced to use “god’s language” (From the film We Were Children) which was English. Eating was also very strict. You would have one and only one meal witch had no vitamins nor was it very tasty. Upon entering the school, all students were given a number that applied to everything: dining seats, class seats and bed. The school isolated the children, their culture was removed from them. Many nuns and priests were “unjust”. The “unjust” priests and nuns would punish children like locking a boy in a dark room with nothing but food, many children were sexually assaulted, which led them to depression and thoughts of wanting to kill themselves. This was terrible for the children as their youth and religion was taken away forever and traumatized. The last residential school was closed in 1996. Many of the children ended up being druggies and alcohol addicts which caused some fatal damages. If I was one of these kids in residential schools, I would have been traumatized and probably would’ve had thoughts of suicide. Although this does inform people of residential schools, I do think it would have been better for the survivors if we just forgot about residential schools and let it go. This movie would have reminded them of the past as you can see in the interviews and I do not support the creation of this film.

Anishinabek Educational Institute “Indian Residential Schools Commemoration Project.” , n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2015. <http://www.anishinabek.ca/irscp/index.asp&gt;

Miller, J R. “Residential Schools.” Historica Canada. Ed. Tabitha Marshall. Canadian Heritage, 10 Oct. 2012. Web. 9 Apr. 2015. <http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools/&gt;.

Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii

Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii directed by Kevin McMahon is a documentary following an indigenous group, the Haidas, on their journey that takes them to Chicago and, mainly to a reconciliation with the descendants of the scientists who robbed their ancestors centuries ago. The thesis of this film was to highlight the process of repatriating the ancestral remains back to the Haida people. The thesis is even further proven with film techniques and memorable sequences. In one of these scenes, the Haida people travel to a museum in Chicago to visit their ancestral remains and relics that the scientists stole long ago. Combined with close ups and music, you can feel the interest, depression and nostalgia from their facial expressions. In another, the museum organized an event that invited everyone in the museum to do the “Haida dance”. The lively music really lets lightens up the dark mood the documentary was creating and helped the Haida group to “fit in”. From the beginning, the Haida people did not look like they were comfortable being in Chicago. It was really generous of the museum to organize them to help the Haida people fit in. The Haida people went through a fascinating process of relearning their culture and an journey to bring home to remains of their ancestors.

Celebrity support in Reel Injun

March 27, 1973 was the date Marlon Brando declined the ‘Academy Award for Best Actor’ award for his performance in ‘The Godfather’ where he boycotted in protest of the treatment of Native Americans by the film industry. That date was also the day Sacheen Littlefeather presented a declination speech on behalf of Marlon Brando. Sacheen prepared a speech to say at the ceremony to say in his behalf, but when she got there to speak, the producer told her she only had a minute to talk before he called the cops and got her arrested. While talking, there is a diversity in the cheering and booing. The interviews from the man and the woman helps make an emotional connection. You can tell she is having a hard time but proceeds to say “I hope we will in the future our hearts and our understandings will meet me with love and generosity”. I respect Marlon Brando very much because he declined an award majority of the actors would’ve taken without hesitation to take a stand for the Native Americans who were being treated unfairly by the film industry. He is someone that should be looked up to by all people in the world.

Stereotypes in Reel Injun

Majority of the different races can walk just about anywhere without being discriminated or stereotyped. However, that was not the same in the past. In the film “Reel Injun” by Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge, and Jeremiah Hayes tells the story of the “hollywood indian”. The film explores the portrayal of North American Natives through the history of cinema. It shows all the creation of the stereotypes through past films; in the documentary it shows stereotypes such as the “noble savage” to the “drunk Indian”: stereotyping that all Indians cannot hold liquor.

The voice over of his adventures interest me because I am not really Canadian because I was born a different country with different physical properties than the “pure Canadians”. Although I am different, I am not treated differently from most of the people I converse with everyday. Personal thoughts aside, the directors use of sound effects and animation intrigues me in wanting to know more about the Native American stereotypes and how they were created. Also, the scene where children at school were showed one of the films about Native Americans show they are just trying to teach people about “Indians”.

School is cool

Teenagers like me can go to school everyday without fear and enjoy school. After watching the documentary We Were Children, I came to realize how ungrateful we are for the safety and freedom we have in everyday life at school. I was aghast when I found out how the children in some residential schools were treated. In the film, one of the children named Glen asked if he could go home and see his mom. In response, he was tricked into being locked in a small dark room with nothing but a plate of food every once in a while.

Before this documentary I had no idea of how painful and depressing it was for the kids to go to school in the past. The filmmakers do a great job of using sad music to forge a emotional connection with the watcher. Although “We Were Children” gave me knowledge which led me to respect the survivors of the residential schools, I am not sure if documenting their tragedy was a great choice. If i was one of them, I would not want to participate in any activities that reminded me of the traumatizing events.

However, the documentary kept me wondering, how did the survivors live after it was all over? How did they feel? What happened to all the unjust priests and nuns?