November 2011 CUJ - Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian ...

Tamastslikt showingVeteran’s Day filmsPENDLETON - In honor of VeteransDay, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute willscreen documentary films on Friday,Nov. 11, from 12:30-5 p.m.As part of the PEPSI PRIMETIME @THE MUSEUM, these films will be shownfree of charge and the event is open tothe public.In addition, on Veterans Day all veteranscan receive free admission to themuseum. (Tamástslikt is always freeto members of the CTUIR, Inwai Circle,Blue Star families, Oregon HistoricalSociety, Washington State Historical Society,and the Fort Walla Walla Museum.)Beverages and snacks will be provided byPepsi Bottling of Pendleton.The Voice of America News reportedthat, “American Indians have consistentlysent more men per capita into theArmed Forces than any other racial orethnic group. More than 12,000 were inthe trenches in World War I, six yearsbefore being ‘recognized’ as citizens ofthe country they’d fought and died for.Some 44,000 served during World WarII; another 42,000 were in the junglesof Vietnam. And in the Gulf War, oneout of every three Marines was NativeAmerican.”At 12:30 p.m. see Reel Injun, a 2009 filmby Canadian Native Neil Diamond, that won aprestigious Peabody Award in 2011. It examineshow Hollywood and its ilk devolved theidentity of many diverse tribal identities into onefalse “fabricated category” of American Indian.The complete filmography of American Indiandepiction encompasses more than 4,000 films.Why is this film being screened on Veteran’sDay? Indian veteran after Indian veteran haverecounted how movie portrayals of Indians influencedmilitary commanding officers to placeIndian soldiers in harm’s way. Fantastic as itmay seem, military officers took the movies tobe true depictions of American Indian superwarriors, possessed of extraordinary sensesand reflexes, skills and abilities. For that reason,the city boy from Chicago might be repeatedlyassigned to “take point” of dangerous patrolssolely because of his racial identity. The documentaryitself is a romp through unreality andshould be enjoyed for its comedic value. It wasproduced in 2009 through Rezolution Picturesand the National Film Board of Canada and isreleased by Kino Lorber, Inc. View the officialtrailer at http://www.reelinjunthemovie.com/site/At 2 p.m., Choctaw Code Talkers, a 2010release, will be shown. In 1918, not yet citizensof the U.S., Choctaw members of the AmericanExpeditionary Forces were asked to use theirnative language as a powerful tool againstthe German forces in WWI, setting a precedentfor code-talking as an effective militaryweapon and establishing them as America’soriginal code talkers. Choctaw Code Talkerswill transport viewers back to World War I foran intimate and engaging look into the lives ofthese brave men, their families, their dreamsand their patriotism to a country that wouldremember them as heroes, but not until aftertheir deaths. Co-produced by Red-Horse NativeProductions, Inc., Valhalla Motion Pictures andNative American Public Telecommunications,Inc. (NAPT) http://visionmaker.semkhor.com/newswire.asp?content_id=23669At 3 p.m.: Way of the Warrior examines thevisceral nature of war and the bravery of NativeAmerican veterans who served in WWI, WWII,the Korean War and the Vietnam War - andcame to grips with difficult post-war personaland societal conditions. Featured author TomHolm proposes that Indians were disproportionatelyplaced in dangerous positions such asleading point, doing long range reconnaissance,and parachuting behind enemy lines, becauseof the stereotypical “Indian scout” syndrome.In Vietnam, for example, Indians were far morelikely to experience moderate to heavy combatthan the general enlistee, according to his research.The gripping and horrifying nature ofwar is brought home through dramatic historicalfootage, period photographs and sound effects.(2007) Producer: Patty Loew http://www.wpt.org/wayofthewarrior/index.cfmAt 4 p.m. True Whispers: The Story of theNavajo Code Talkers. Of all the untold storiesfrom World War II that have come to light,none is more poignant than that of the CodeTalkers - some 400 Navajo youths, boys really- who were recruited by the U.S. to devise anunbreakable code in the language they hadbeen forbidden to speak. TRUE WHISPERSexplores the complex story of the code talkersfrom the Indian point of view and reveals thepivotal role they played in helping the U.S.military forces in the Pacific. Because the coderemained top secret until 1967, their achievementswent largely unrecognized. (2002) US.Director: Valerie Red-Horse (Cherokee-Sioux);Producer: Yvonne Russo (Sicangu Lakota);and Gale Anne Hurd; Executive Producer:Dawn Jackson (Ojibwe). http://www.tribalink.org/archives/whispers.htmEdge of the WildTAXIDERMYBob Fossek, Owner• Shoulder Mounts• Lifesize• Antler Plaques• Birds• Fan Mounts> By Appointment