I was a pretty lucky kid. I grew up with a father who had an interest in Native American history. And despite the inherent contradiction that my father also influenced me to be an avid Cleveland Indians fan, I've always been thankful that he brought an awareness of Native American history into my life. We would go on cross country trips out west and when I was about 14 we drove on down to Southern Ohio to see what remains my favorite theater experience to this day, "Tecumseh!". The play was based on one of my father's favorite books, Allan W. Eckert's "A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh."
"Tecumseh!" is about the tragic Shawnee chief of the same name and is told in what I remember to be a breathtaking outdoor amphitheater with real horses and gunpowder. It was awe-inspiring, even for a fourteen year old who thought she was too cool to go on vacation with her family. And while I'm sure my critical thoughts on the piece are influenced by my age and ignorance of all things theater at that time, I think I can safely say that the story was amazing, the tragedy of which has always stayed with me.
Tecumseh, for those unfamiliar, had a great plan to unite all of the different tribes against the incoming white men, and in the early 1800's he set out to do this. He was close to success when his brother, known as "the prophet" (he was a false one of course) got jealous and more or less ruined any chance of a unified front. And thus, here you and I are today. Of course it's more complicated, but I've always wondered what would have happened had Tecumseh been successful.
Native American history, especially stories like that of Tecumseh, are not something we spend much time on in this country. Outside of quick history lessons in grade school and the like, it seems there is a general wish to forget what our being here means. And worse, beyond our lack of study of the past, almost no effort is paid to the current circumstances of Native Americans in this country.
That lack of attention is why my recent viewing of films like Beth and George Gage's American Outrage and Randy Vasquez's Something's Moving got me pretty excited. Dialogue on the issues they deal with is so necessary and the prospect of that dialogue is in turn quite inspiring.
American Outrage focuses on the Dann sisters and their fight to keep their Western Shoshone lands. In 1863, the Shoshone signed a treaty with the US allowing them to pass on their lands. That treaty, The Treaty of Ruby Valley, was a treaty of good faith and in no way signified that the Shoshone were giving up their lands. However, in 1974, Mary and Carrie Dann, elderly Shoshone grandmothers, found themselves accused of trespassing on their own land. The lengths that the government went to to remove the Dann sisters and their livestock from their property is astounding.
As it turns out, the Dann's land was on top of a gold mine, making their removal very profitable for some of the world's largest gold companies. The film points also points out the great irony that as the US was taking Shoshone lands for their gold, they were also distributing the new Sacajawea coin. Sacajawea, the woman who led Lewis and Clark safely across the West, was also a Shoehone.
Vasquez's Something's Moving on the other hand, a shorter version of a feature he hopes to make, deals with something less tangible and more rooted in the past, Catholic Indian boarding schools. The schools, as Vasquez himself found out, have caused years of psychological trauma for Native Americans:
"I'd been open to learning more about contemporary Native issues and I read a book by Ward Churchill regarding boarding school history and the lingering effects in Indian country today. I remember reading it on a plane and being shocked.
That was early 2003 and I've been educating and broadening myself on the subject ever since, talking to former students all over the country. My research led me to post traumatic stress disorder as it related to boarding school survivors and through a Harvard psychologist I was introduced to Walter Littlemoon in Wounded Knee. He agreed to work on a documentary about his experience at boarding school and it all started from there."
His film now focuses on many different regions but what remains at the heart of it is the need to speak, the need to bring certain things to light, which seems to be happening given the reactions that Vasquez has seen:
"The reaction to the fundraising trailer has generally been, by non-natives, 'I never knew about this' complete with slack jaw. A lot of Native people just nod and say 'yeah, the boarding schools...whoa.' Much of the younger generation though don't know about them either."
And while both the situation of Littlemoon and the Dann Sisters are no doubt depressing, what's exciting and inspiring is that both projects exist and that both are being seen. Something's Moving is a part of the Media That Matters Film Festival, an online collection of films that travel the country and promote taking action, and American Outrage is featured in the upcoming New York chapter of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival.
And while I wish every little girl (and boy) could go and see" Tecumseh!" and witness firsthand a story that has never left me, I'm also fully aware that Ohio will never be a hot spot vacation destination. Which in turn makes the work of the Gages and Vasquez that much more important. I'm glad that as technology continues to develop and allows us to delve deeper into unheard stories, we are beginning to consider what happened all those years ago and how it continues to affect Native American populations today. Giving a voice to those who had theirs taken away, along with so much more, is a step in the right direction.
It's interesting to see, as I get older, how things like "Tecumseh!" have shaped who I am, and in many ways I have my father to thank for the good that I know came from that theatrical experience. Though, luckily for me his fascination with all things Tecumseh came after my birth, as he once told me that given the chance he would have made my middle name Tecumapese, in the spirit of Tecumseh's sister.
Gina Tecumapese Telaroli, now thats a mouthful.
This was originally posted at blogs.takepart.com.