"But a lot of America[ns] just don’t have access to a lot of this history. It’s hard because I work in tribal government and one of the biggest obstacles we have to overcome with people that aren’t from the reservation is just getting [everyone] up to speed. There’s people, even in our own state, that don’t think that we exist anymore. It’s hard." Jesse Short Bull in conversation with Stephen Saito

Short Bull co-directed the documentary "Lakota Nation vs. United States" with Laura Tomaselli, the film I discuss in this week's featured review. The doc does cover a lot of history of which I could only touch on briefly in my article. One issue that Short Bull and Tomaselli cover is the portrayal of Native Americans in film and television. They are often reduced to caricatures but also simply erased. One prominant example occurs is Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning "Lincoln" (2012). The largest mass execution in American history, the hanging of 38 Dakota men, took place in 1862, during Lincoln's presidency. The controversial incident is never mentioned in Spielberg's film.

The mythologizing of American history is a central theme of another documentary I recently watched. "Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul" was originally released in 1993 but there is an updated version now streaming for free with an Amazon Prime membership. Film historians Neal Gabler and Rudy Behlmer are featured in the doc. They discuss how Warner's family, and the families of all the studio heads, were immigrants and how it influenced their views on America. Of course, box office receipts were a major concern, as well.

I was interested to see if the Warner doc discussed Errol Flynn but he only appears in a few fleeting clips. Flynn played General George Custer in the 1941 Warner Brothers film "They Died With Their Boots On". It would have been interesting to watch Flynn play a completely flawed character but the movie is a fantasy version of Custer's life and the Battle of Little Bighorn. Anthony Quinn is miscast as Crazy Horse. A check of the credits reveals a few Native Americans did have roles in the film, but they were non-speaking - a metaphor in general for their past treatment in Hollywood.

Times have changed, though, and one of the biggest fall releases this year is "Killers of the Flower Moon", with a large Indigenous cast. Lily Gladstone is being promoted for an Oscar nomination as Best Actress. If that happens, she would be the first Native American to be nominated in that category. Look for the film in theaters starting October 20th, 2023.


Lakota Nation vs United States Film Review
The Lakota Nation's claim to the Black Hills is the subject of "Lakota Nation vs. United States". Although the US Supreme Court awarded the Lakota millions of dollars for the land, the Lakota have refused the money. Learn more in my review of this poetic and enlightening documentary.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art308960.asp

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Angela K. Peterson, Drama Movies Editor
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