Tag Archives: Navajo

Navajo Film Showcase in NYC this Week

The trailer for Drunktown’s Finest, the opening night film at this week’s Diné Spotlight: A Showcase of Navajo Film, looks really good! The showcase is hosted by the National Museum of the American Indian in collaboration with the NYU’s Center for Media, Culture and History, and all films will be shown at the NMAI Auditorium. There will be an opening reception on Thursday at 5pm and several screenings will be followed by discussions with the filmmakers. Admission is free of charge but RSVPs are recommended (fvc@si.edu or 212-514-3737). Take the 4/5 to Bowling Green, R to Whitehall or 1 to South Ferry to the NMAI located at One Bowling Green near Battery Park.

Star Wars in Navajo

If you are in the NYC or Washington D.C. area this week, you may want to check out Star Wars in a whole new light … or sound. The film has been dubbed into Navajo and will be showing at the NMAI in D.C. on Friday, November 1 at 7pm and at the NMAI in NYC on Sunday at 2pm. Also, if you dress as your favorite character at the NYC location, you may win a prize (call the Film and Video Center at 212-514-3737 or e-mail them at FVC@si.edu to place your reservation). Both screenings are free and open to the public, but those of you heading to the NYC screening should plan around the NYC Marathon that day!

 

Miss Navajo

Trailer for Miss Navajo

I finally caught the documentary Miss Navajo, directed Billy Luther (who also directed Grab). It has been on my list for some time and I thought I would have to request it from the library until I noticed it on my Hulu stream, along with Barking Water, a feature directed by Sterlin Harjo. (Thanks to my man and apparently secret faithful reader, who corrected me when I put down Netflix when it was actually Hulu.)

Miss Navajo primarily follows Crystal Frazier as she competes for the title of Miss Navajo 2005-2006. Crystal is not the typical beauty pageant contestant, but then again, this isn’t a typical beauty pageant. In fact, although the earliest Miss Navajos might have been picked primarily on the basis of their looks (and Crystal is indeed beautiful), the title has come to represent a woman of substance who lives in beauty, so to speak, through her awareness, knowledge, and respect for her culture. Candidates must perform a talent or skill before an audience; they must answer questions on Navajo culture and history in the Navajo language given by the winners of previous Miss Navajo competitions; and, they must butcher a sheep.

Although the sheep butchering scenes were memorable, it was actually the interviews which most stood out in my mind. This was because I saw how much the young women struggled to speak in Navajo. Besides the fact that I think language is an important way to live a culture, I know there is a lot of concern and discussion over language loss and recuperation in native communities. And yet, I also have questioned myself about how important language or other culture markers, like clothing, really are. While not in Navajo, Crystal’s answer to one of the questions demonstrates knowledge and respect for both her cultures, intelligence, and a clever mind. So, I think that this film would be of particular interest to any classes studying the importance of language retention. (I should note that after the contest, Crystal says that she has made more of an effort to learn Navajo and feels more confident in her language skills. It does not sound like she is fluent yet, but I just read that a few years ago, she was considering running for Navajo Nation president in the future.) The film would also be an interesting way to discuss gender, beauty, and cultural representation.

I think I enjoyed the film mostly because of Crystals’ down-to-earth way and because I appreciated the effort that Luther must have put in tracking down all the older Miss Navajos and getting their input. It was interesting geting to know Crystal, her competitors, and learn the importance of the contest from past winners, but I would have liked to have learned more about the previous winners. In particular, I would have liked to get a sense of what they thought of the candidates’ lack of language skills or how the ideal of a Navajo woman has changed over time. It was nice to see how supportive previous winners were of the runners up, but I wanted more of an impression of how this pageant fits into the concerns of Navajo peoples in general. But, overall, an interesting watch and good way to introduce a debate about the importance of language in culture. I have also read about beauty pageants among Otavalos in Ecuador with a similar emphasis on language and culture, so I guess such a pageant is not totally unique. But, it’s still pretty refreshing that I got through this post without using the words “make-up” or “nail polish.” (Although Crystal did wear heals, which was interesting on a few levels.)

February & March 2012 Film Festivals

Just a quick note to let you know about two film festivals you may want to check out. The first ever PBS Online Film Festival will include a few films produced by the Native American Publication Telecommunication (NAPT), including I Survived, The Migration, and Horse You See. And, for those of you near Palm Springs, check out the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum’s 2012 Festival of Native Film and Culture which will include Smokin’ Fish. Their website lists the program, but you can also read more about the festival here. Let me know what you think!

Get Smokin’ and Movin’!

Smokin’ Fish trailer

For those of you in Sitka (AK), Whitehorse (Canada), Plymouth and Palm Springs, there’s a new documentary called Smokin’ Fish coming to a theater near you. The film revolves around Cory Mann, a Tlingit man, who returns to Alaska to smoke salmon the Tlingit way and it sounds like it covers a lot more besides. Tickets at the Plimouth Museum in Plymouth MA include a tasting, are $25 or $40 for couples. If you go, let me know how you like it! (It may be a while before I get a chance to see it since I missed the NYC screening in November and don’t see one on the upcoming screening list.)

I also just noticed that @nativemedia tweeted that Good Meat will be playing on air in Alaska this Sunday at 8pm. Good Meat follows an Oglala Lakota man as he returns to a traditional Lakota diet as a way to regain his health. Let me know what you think about both. If you are interested in more Native American books and films about diabetes and health, check out my recent tweets about the Eagle Series (also an animated series) and RezRobics!

 

Good Meat trailer

Weaving: “Skins” and “Edge of America”

A few weeks ago, I saw Skins again after a long time and also caught Edge of America. Both are Chris Eyre films. I like his work. His films tend to deal with poignant issues in nuanced ways, incorporating drama and humor, Western and Native culture, and sometimes, just when you think that there’s about to be a cliché, you see the potentially righteously self-righteous one get schooled on why their kettle is black.

Skins is the story of two brothers, played by Graham Greene (Rudy) and Eric Shweig (Mogie), who have taken divergent paths and their journey towards finding harmony, in one case within himself (from the native perspective, his imbalance is symbolized the trickster, personified as it were, by the spider who follows him) but also with each other. Around this story of family bonds, Eyre weaves context: the reality of living on the Pine Ridge Reservation, which includes a large rate of alcoholism. He does so in a subtle way, including news clips but also social commentary by the characters. I always tell folks that for me, a good presentation at a conference is based on humor. If you can make me laugh, you can make me enjoy what you’re telling me and I’ll know you’re going to hit me with some bright stuff. In a similar way, when movies make you laugh even about serious topics, you learn without it being preachy and, like a Facebook friend recently said, “I like the kind of humor that makes you laugh for a minute and think for ten” (or something to that effect; dang Mafia Wars status updates are so friggin’ long I couldn’t re-check the exact quote). Anyway, the Eyre movies I’ve seen always add humor to serious topics and they go down easier and stay with me longer. So, if your class is looking at family, the effects of alcohol on native communities, and native religion/spirituality and politics, I think this movie would be good to check out.

Edge of America would also be good to look at for its treatment of religion/spirituality as well as alternative perspectives and ways of dealing with issues that affect young people. Just as a story is woven above, one character in this film is an actual weaver and teaches the professor, and us, about certain key differences between western and native perspectives. It is also an interesting and funny look at race relations between minorities, in this case between the black English professor who comes to the community and ends up coaching the girls’ basketball team, and the Navajo community who he encounters and who encounters him. This was pretty cool to see because there is usually so much emphasis on white -minority relations and not as much on minority -minority relations. I thought the dialog, the incremental steps at mutual understanding and the humor made it a pretty cool film. So, thumbs up for these two films. I think you may enjoy them.