More Than Frybread Mockumentary Going Rez to Rez

By Jack McNeel: March 24, 2012

This looks like it is going to be one of the better mockumentary that I have heard about or watched in a long time. I understand where he is going with this. It is generally a really good idea and the video at the end of the article makes it so much better. The amount of 'cheesy-ness' is amazing. It hits the right spot for a mockumentary. I seriously hope that this film comes out soon for the whole public to see and not just bouncing around reservations then disappear.
The film is about a fake Frybread Competition that is bring together several different tribes as they compete for a trophy to be the best frybread maker. I think that this is a amazing idea for a film, because it brings together several tribes. Frybread is a major part of several tribes and the film is going across several reservations to help connect all the individuals. Weirdly enough frybread really isn't an original traditional food for Native people, but it has become one over the years. The pride that people take in making it is rather interesting. I love how this film is going to explore the cultural identities of people who live on reservations and the connection they have with frybread.

Below are some questions about the film that I thought would explain better.

"What is your background in this field?
I go out to the rez, non-Native, a missionary and just got a degree in anthropology from Northern Arizona University. It’s kind of funny. Three strikes against me right from the start to work with Native people. But it’s fine, I love working on the reservations.

Why did you choose frybread as a subject?
I wanted to make a movie that got us outside the Navajo reservation. I wanted something where we literally had an excuse to shoot on another reservation and make new friends and I thought frybread was a good thing to bring people together. I didn’t realize how frybread is kind of universal so we’re getting people from all over the U.S. and Canada to come and view the film.

Frybread is more important than life or death in Indian country. Have you found anyone offended by making light of it?
We had a world premiere February 3rd and sold out a show of 900 seats and almost sold a second show out the same evening. I think we’ve had one lady that’s seen it that came up with concerns, one out of possibly 10,000 people now that have seen it.

What other reservations are you hitting on this tour?

We’ll hit 11 reservations. On the journey up we started at the Hualapai Reservation, then Umatilla, Yakama, and Nez Perce. Now we’re here [at the University of Idaho] and then we’ll hit Colville, Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Rocky Boy in Montana and then Fort Duchesne, the Uinta-Ouray, and we finish up in San Carlos. We’ll be gone 15 days and 14 of those days we’ll be showing the movie on 11 reservations in six states.

Final question, why does a white guy make Native films?
I get that question all the time. I came to a better understanding a few weeks ago, someone talking about a hybrid. It’s an interesting idea. That’s the kind of film making I guess I’m involved with, hybrid film making. Here’s this outsider coming to Native communities and working together. I feel we can make a better movie doing it that way."

Oglalas Ask Courts to Cap Whiteclay Beer Sales

Street scene in Whiteclay, Nebraska.
By Stephanie Woodard: March 19, 2012

The Oglala Sioux Tribe was the original lawsuit against the Whiteclay for an estimated sum of $500 million in damages against the tribe. The alcoholism is running rampid through the tribe and it said to affect 85% of individuals on the reservation. The lawsuit was soon amended to try and put a cap on the amount of alcoholic that whiteclay could sell to tribal members. Apparently the alcoholic is either consumed illegally on and off the reservation.

"With Nebraska’s top legal advisor indicating the state would not enforce its own liquor laws, the tribe was left with “no adequate remedies at law” to stem the ongoing flood of alcohol across its borders, says its most recent complaint."

What else are they suppose to do? How can the tribe stop this huge company from selling alcohol illegally to the people who live on the reservation. Even if the alcohol suppliers stop, then bootleggers are sure to show up. I feel like cutting out the alcohol completely is not the best way to go about this plan of action. I understand that it is for the bettering of the community as a whole, but you have to fix the people and their issues first. If the alcohol stops coming, that doesn't mean the people will sober up. It means that they will go elsewhere to find alcohol. You can't stop an alcoholic from having a drink, unless the alcoholic wants to stop themselves. I understand there is good behind this lawsuit and the idea is there, but it will not completely stop the problem. Maybe with all the money they will get from the lawsuit it will be put towards treatment programs. I'm interested in seeing how this ends up.

"Bootleggers set up shop across the border in Whiteclay, Nebraska, almost immediately and began to peddle booze onto Pine Ridge, which to this day suffers crippling rates of alcoholism and alcohol-related public-health issues, overwhelming the tribe’s health-care, social-services, education and justice systems."

Most of the children are born with fetal alochol syndrome. That is a huge problem. Someone needs to help educate these people for them to understand what they are doing. I think that alcohol abuse can be one of the worse forms of abuse because you it is legal to get. It's easy to abuse something when there is no sigma against it and you can stop at any store a buy it. If you have nothing better to do then drink, why wouldn't people? They need better opportunities to prove themselves. Where is the will power to be better than the last generation? I get that they have been pushed to the side, but it is time to stand up! Isn't it?

Canadian Singer Grimes Honors Missing Aboriginal Women in NYC

Grimes, a.k.a. Claire Boucher, will hold a silent auction of her artwork in New York City to benefit Sisters in Spirit and its programs supporting missing and murdered aboriginal women.
By ICTMN Staff: March 10, 2012

Claire Boucher, the Canadian singer and artist known as Grimes, is going to preform in New York City at the Mercury Lounge on March 23 and at Glasslands Gallery on the 24th. The same weekend she will debut a visual arts show that she has curated and hold a silent auction to benefit Sisters in Spirit, Canada’s group that combats violence against aboriginal women.

The exhibit will be at the Audio Visual Arts (AVA) gallery, in the East Village, and sponsored by the website Refinery29.

She sat down with The New York Times recently to declare that she shies away from designer clothes and likes to show “the beauty of women, but with a dark side,” she said. “I like creating beauty out of scary things."

I think it is an amazing thing that she is going to dedicate a part of her time and energy to raising awareness about what is happening to aboriginal women. I think it is about time that someone famous point at what is happening. For some reason no one cares to listen, until someone famous points out an injustice. It is the way that society works and it is depressing. I don't understand why it takes someone that we consider "famous" to get anything done for a group of people. No one would have noticed the struggles before, but now it has a spot light on it. I guess it can be considered a curse and a blessing in the same breathe. Finally someone is taking notice of the issues that are happening, but it took someone "famous" to point it out. People that aren't famous should care about these issues. What if it was you? You were the person standing there being hurt and wronged and no one lifted a finger to help you...then someone famous pointed at the problem and everyone rushed to your side. I understand that is can be frustrating, but I guess some help is better than no one knowing at all.

Pine Ridge Residents Halt Canadian Mine Equipment Transportation Through Reservation

Pine Ridge Reservation residents sit in the middle of the road blocking tractor-trailers carrying mining equipment from passing through the reservation.

By Vincent Schilling: March 9, 2012

One morning a Wanblee resident was forced off the road as huge semi-tractor-trailers made their way through the Oglala Sioux Nation’s Pine Ridge Reservation. The woman made a few phone calls to other residents and within a short time a parade of cars came to stop in Wanblee, just inside Pine Ridge. Tribal residents set up an impromptu blockade and did not allow two trucks bearing the logos TOTRAN Transportation Services, Inc. to progress any further. After a six-hour standoff, several tribal members were arrested and tribal police escorted the trucks on their route.

It was not clear if the trucks were equipment with parts for the Keystone XL Pipeline project, although the drivers of the semi-trucks said they were heading to Canadian mines. According to the paperwork of the drivers, their two oversized vehicles were hauling equipment called “treater vessels” (equipment that uses intense heat to separate gas and oil and other elements) from Houston, Texas to Alberta, Canada.

One of the residents contacted Poor Bear, a leader in the community. While Poor Bear was in transit to join tribal members at the blockade he spoke with JR LaPlante, the Secretary of Tribal Relations for the Governor of South Dakota Dennis Daugaard and that LaPlante admitted to the arrangement.

“He said, ‘Mr. Poor Bear, I want to apologize. The South Dakota Department of Transportation and… ’—and then he named a couple senators and himself—‘had a meeting a couple weeks ago to reroute these trucks that are holding these pipes and water tanks that are going to Canada for the Keystone pipeline,” said Poor Bear. “He said, ‘We had to reroute them through your reservation.’”

Poor Bear says the tribe is setting up a meeting with Daugaard and LaPlante and the Department of Transportation, scheduled for either March 13 or 14. At that meeting Poor Bears says he plans to inform the state that the trucking company owes the Nation $100,000 for using Nation roads, since the Canadian Corporation was going to pay a $50,000 permit fee for each of the two trucks to pass through the state of South Dakota.

The people appear to be outraged by the fact that the trucks are moving through their land. I understand they they probably want to stop the project all together, so using their land to get to the project is against their beliefs. I don't think the trucking company should have just used the roads in the first place without contacting the Native people that live there. It is their homes that these trucks are going to be passing thought. I would consider it a safety issue if nothing else. I can't believe the company would feel so entitled to using other peoples lands. I hope they end up having to pay all that money to the reservation.

Guest Post | A Native American Student Responds to a Times Article About His Home

A rambling stretch of scrub in central Wyoming the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined, Wind River has a crime rate five to seven times the national average and a long history of homicides.
By Katherine Schulten: February 20, 2012


The original article was by a man named, Timothy Williams called "Brutal Crimes Grip an Indian Reservation" when a Native American Student caught a glimpse at it, Willow Pingree.

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Willow Pingree, a student at Fort Washakie Charter High School on the Wind River Indian Reservation

Willow frowned upon the article and commented,

"I have lived on the reservation since I was born. I will be only twenty in July, but as far as I’m concerned, I’ve seen my share of good and bad things on this reservation. Not EVERTHING about this reservation is bad. Sure there is a huge problem with domestic violence and alcoholism, but we try to work together as a community to fight it. We have not given up. … What many people who are not from this reservation, or perhaps any in particular, don’t understand is that there is a strong spiritual bond that we have with our culture and our homeland. Alcoholism has spread like the Black Plague of the European countries, but we do what we can to fight it. … It is a sad thing that people are quick to judge about a place where they have not lived."

This actions caused the principle of the school to invite the reporter and Willow Pingree to sit down and talk about the issues. Willow wrote an amazing essay as a result. He defended his community against the attack the reporter had originally represented. He spoke about the issues that are facing the community and how his people are trying to better themselves. The article attacked his community acting as if there was no chance that the people would ever be able to govern or help themselves. Willow did not ignore the problems that his community are facing, but he instead addressed the way his community is trying to help solve these issues that are plaguing the community to put them in a negative light.

Below is a link to his essay. It is extremely well thought out and interpretive of the situations that are happening around his community.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/guest-post-a-native-american-student-responds-to-a-times-article-about-his-home/

Registration Open for Native American Language Fair

A young member of the Numunu Turetu Comanche Nation group enthusiastically sings Animal Songs at the 2011 Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair.
By ICTMN StaffFebruary 16, 2012

This article spoke about the two-day Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair! It takes place April 2nd - 3rd at Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. Students of all ages (K-12th grade) are encouraged to share their language in various ways.

I think this is a wonderful way to express the language and cultures of the Native people. It should be a great learning experience to encourage the Native languages to grow instead of being wiped out. It looks like it would be an amazing amount of fun to attend. I would love to hear and see all the languages and presentation from the students.

How can on place be so open to celebrating languages while another place is so against it? How are the populations going to get their languages back is no one encourages them? What the museum is doing is a beautiful thing. I think other states could learn from their example. Do not try follow the ideas of "killing the native, but saving the man." We should encourage people to be proud of who they are and where they came from. No one should be ashamed to speak their language, no one should have to worry about losing their language. I don't understand how something so innocent can be turned into something that everyone fears.

Student Suspended for Speaking Native American Language

 Miranda Washinawatok, 12, is a student at Sacred Heart Catholic Academy.

 Miranda Washinawatok, 12, was suspended from a basketball game after being reprimanded for using the Menominee language in class

By ICTMN Staff: February 7, 2012

Miranda attends Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Shawano, Wisconsin. She was suspended after saying two phrases in her classmate in her native language.

A teacher exploded at her asking, "How she would feel is he spoke in Polish and she didn't understand?" The school later stated that this was handled extremely poorly and she never should have got suspended. Schools are there to help students reach full potential and increase diversity, not punish someone for being their culture to school.

I don't understand why this became such a dig deal in the first place. People speak in different languages all the time to their friends in and out of school. I have never heard of a teacher acting so irrational. I wonder if anything is going to be done about his behavior in the situation? Is the school going to apologize to the young girl for the troubles it caused her? Are they going to remove the suspension from her school record?

I have no idea that her speaking in her native language to a friend had anything to do with the teacher who apparently butted into the conversation. I went to a Catholic school and never heard of a teacher just butting into a students conversation unless it was wildly inappropriate. I understand that people fear what they don't know, but this just appeared to be complete ignorance or maybe even worse, racist.