Thunderheart - We Women Warriors by Raul Manzano
"Old Cowboys New Indians," an article by T.V. Reed is based on three films of the American Indian Movement as depicted by American's film authority, Hollywood. For this assignment, I will focus on the film Thunderheart which I viewed. I will also address the film We Women Warriors which was recently shown in New York City. A documentary based on Indigenous people in Colombia, S.A.
The plot of the film "Thunderheart" is the investigation of a murder case where an Indian has been accused of the crime. The FBI is in charge of the case for which agent Val Kilmer, whose background is half Indian, is sent to work along guru investigator Sam Shepard. Kilmer finds himself in a cross-road between the White world and Indian culture as he is confronted by members of the Indian community; his facial features revealed his Indian ethnicity he could not hide behind his RayBan shades. As he tries to stay firm to his White upbringing and conduct a professional investigation, he begins to realize there is more to the crime. Along the way, he meets spiritual leader or grandfather, as he is called, who instill in him the power of self reflection, sharing traditional values, customs, and beliefs in the laws of nature. He also tells him there is a reason why he has been called to this investigation. Soon Kilmer begins to put clues together to find out that the investigation is a set-up to accuse an Indian of a crime he did not do. The land the tribe inhabits is uranium rich which is being exploited by a mining company, in the process the river waters have been contaminated by the mineral extraction process. The Indian who was killed discovered why his people have been dying but he is silenced by a sniper. The plot thickens as Kilmer finds out that his boss is involved in the cover-up with direct ties to the government, which makes Kilmer a disposable person. As he uncovered more information, he is pursued by hunters and the police in a car chase coming to a dead-end in a deserted mountain area but he is saved by the force of the Indian tribe that has come together to his aid. At that point, Kilmer realized his own identity and the power of the spiritual world. While the film focused on a crime solving investigation, the true story is about the treatment and displacement of the Indians that for over five hundred years have been driven to no-man's-land and when they finally settled, they are poisoned by American capitalism.
The plot of the film "Thunderheart" is the investigation of a murder case where an Indian has been accused of the crime. The FBI is in charge of the case for which agent Val Kilmer, whose background is half Indian, is sent to work along guru investigator Sam Shepard. Kilmer finds himself in a cross-road between the White world and Indian culture as he is confronted by members of the Indian community; his facial features revealed his Indian ethnicity he could not hide behind his RayBan shades. As he tries to stay firm to his White upbringing and conduct a professional investigation, he begins to realize there is more to the crime. Along the way, he meets spiritual leader or grandfather, as he is called, who instill in him the power of self reflection, sharing traditional values, customs, and beliefs in the laws of nature. He also tells him there is a reason why he has been called to this investigation. Soon Kilmer begins to put clues together to find out that the investigation is a set-up to accuse an Indian of a crime he did not do. The land the tribe inhabits is uranium rich which is being exploited by a mining company, in the process the river waters have been contaminated by the mineral extraction process. The Indian who was killed discovered why his people have been dying but he is silenced by a sniper. The plot thickens as Kilmer finds out that his boss is involved in the cover-up with direct ties to the government, which makes Kilmer a disposable person. As he uncovered more information, he is pursued by hunters and the police in a car chase coming to a dead-end in a deserted mountain area but he is saved by the force of the Indian tribe that has come together to his aid. At that point, Kilmer realized his own identity and the power of the spiritual world. While the film focused on a crime solving investigation, the true story is about the treatment and displacement of the Indians that for over five hundred years have been driven to no-man's-land and when they finally settled, they are poisoned by American capitalism.
On the other hand, the film We Women Warriors is an important documentary on the lives of indigenous women that stood up against violence and the lack of government protection. Caught up in the cross-fired between guerrillas and military forces (and paramilitares), they struggle to survive in a war that is not theirs. Using non-violent protest, they achieved milestone recognition but the fight is not over as long as the drug trafficking trade and guerrilla-government conflicts continues. Their lives are at risk. It is interesting to know how technology has aided them in their cause by using laptops and cell phones. Those women, with their limited education, showed the power of determination to change and build a constructive environment, more importantly, to preserve their indigenous population and culture. Their protest became a national debate thereby obtaining political rights to govern themselves. After all these years, finally the Indigenous population of Colombia have their voices heard. A statement on the producers website about Indigenous human rights reads: "When the UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples was passed in 2007, the United States, Canada and Colombia were the only countries that abstained from endorsing it. Two years later, Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled that the Colombian government must do more to protect the country's 102 aboriginal nations, 32 of which are in danger of extinction because of the armed conflict. These events contributed to Colombian government's endorsement of the U.N. Declaration Rights of Indigenous Peoples in May 2009. Canada and the U.S. just recently endorsed this critical human rights charter in 2010."
Both films show the treatment and discrimination Indigenous people have suffered since the White man landed in the Américas. Thunderheart portraits Native American Indians living in deplorable conditions and their struggles to survive under White man laws, while We Women Warriors depicts harsh living conditions caused by another White man's exploitation: drug trade.
Works Cited:
Thunderheart. Dir. Michael Apted. Perf. by Val Kilmer, Sam Shepard, Graham Greene. 1992.
Thunderheart. Dir. Michael Apted. Perf. by Val Kilmer, Sam Shepard, Graham Greene. 1992.
Todos los Pueblos Productions. We Women Warriors. Web. 18 Aug. 2012. <http://wewomenwarriors.com/directors-statement.html>.
We Women Warriors. Dir. Nicole Karsin. Perf. by Doris, Ludis and Flor Ilva Trochez. (2002-2009) 2011.
Raul’s response to the documentary We Women Warriors and Thunderheart are thought provoking, to say the least. I enjoyed re-watching Fusco’s Thunderheart through a lens informed by Raul and Reed’s text in which Reed asserts the American Indian Movement with its “’new’ Indians challenged five hundred years of colonial domination” (75). However, Reed is quick to point out that AIM was “far from loved in Indian country” (75) as it was not the sole Indian resistance movement. I would agree with Raul’s points and that “both films show the treatment and discrimination Indigenous people have suffered since the White man landed in the Americas.” (Manzano).
ReplyDeleteThe struggles of indigenous people to preserve their land base and culture are multifaceted and have complex economic dimensions. Deforestation, especially in tropical regions, is rampant and mostly driven by the West’s mandate for timber (especially exotic hardwoods). Likewise, clear cutting for cattle in order to produce beef for export results in decimation of the delicate ecosystems that support indigenous livelihoods and interleave, at a fundamental level, cultural practices. The Western emphasis on individualism, consumerism, and technological advancement clash with indigenous peoples and can force a bifurcated outcome where either: 1) assimilation is achieved and native ways of being are lost; or 2) a cleansing model is realized through removal and relocation. In both instances culture is shattered.
We Women Warriors offers poignant exploration of the drug trade in Columbia and reveals how three women can manage to resist such a devastating reality. Through narrative, Thunderheart brings into view, as Raul writes “Native American Indians living in deplorable conditions and their struggles to survive under White man laws” (Manzano). Both films put human faces on highly politicized issues where economic forces tend to squelch human voices and they blinker parties to the faces, the bodies and the human lives that exist behind these issues.
JJ Johnson