I’ll be teaching a class next year on indigenous communities and environmental issues, and as I pull my syllabus together I’ve been watching a bunch of documentaries. At the same time, I was packing to leave Michigan for New Hampshire and was already a bit stress-y and nuts, so I ended up getting angry and sad three times a night as I worked my way through the docs. The following is a rundown of the films I watched, and some of my basic impressions:
Crude (2009): Focuses on a court case in Ecuador between various Amazonian communities (both indigenous and not) against Chevron. Chevron bought Texaco in the 1990s, and Texaco had been operating in the Ecuadorian Amazon since the late 1950s. The film follows the lawyers for the plaintiffs and their struggle to not only try the case in Ecuador, but to gain publicity in the U.S. to bring some level of public opinion to weigh against Chevron. It’s long – nearly two hours – but provides an honest portrait of the efforts to prosecute and raise public consciousness about the case. For example, one of the early scenes shows the U.S.-based lawyer working on the case prepping one of the indigenous leaders who was going to speak at one of the Chevron shareholder meetings. He rearranges the leader’s testimony drastically, to frame it in a way that is most beneficial to raise concern. The Chevron reps in the documentary were absolutely crazy-making. I honestly don’t know how they live with themselves or sleep at night, especially when you see the footage of the environmental contamination and health issues suffered by residents in the areas Texaco/Chevron participated in contaminating. It’s a solid documentary, and another UMich grad (from Anthro) said that her students responded positively to it as a teaching tool.
The Buffalo War (2001): This documentary portrays the activism surrounding the state of Montana’s persistence in killing the buffalo that wander outside of Yellowstone National Park each winter as they search for winter forage. Ranchers, Lakota activists, environmental groups, the National Park Service, and Montana representatives are all given time to say their piece. The doc is fairly well-balanced, and mostly condemns the state of Montana for their wildlife control practices which then bring the other groups into conflict over whether the buffalo or ranchers deserve more protection. The 500-mile walk that centered around Lakota community member Rosalie Little Thunder, who carried a sacred buffalo pipe from Rapid City, SD to the north entrance of Yellowstone, at times made me cry, but at other times made me wonder if I could show this to non-Native students. The footage of the environmental activists was at times annoying to me. Is this awful? I wanted them all to shower and groom more often. But I like the portrayal of several kinds of activism, and the equal time given to understanding the points of view of both the ranchers and activists.
Power Paths (2010): This film’s main focus is energy production, at Navajo, Hopi, and a bit on Lakota reservations. The most time is spent considering coal mining and energy production impacting the Navajo and Hopi, and ties the economic, environmental, and social costs of resource extraction and energy production for tribal communities to the benefits that are enjoyed amongst residents in sunbelt cities. The asymmetry of knowledge and resources – most residents of Phoenix or L.A. have no idea where the power for their air conditioners, computers, or lighting is being produced, while Navajo and Hopi community members must daily face the economic and environmental inequities resulting from that energy production – is very effectively evoked. The documentary also addresses the difference between energy policies in the U.S. as compared to Denmark and Germany – two countries that have made room for or heavily invested in the development of renewable energy. The differences were striking, and stuck with me long after I viewed the documentary. The doc also shows lots of community activism, and paints in broad strokes the actions taken by community activists. Fellow Stanford alumna Enei Begaye suggested this video to me, and she and her husband – alongside other veteran Navajo and Hopi environmental and community activists – are portrayed, but the doc doesn’t really get as much into their activism as into the issues around which they are organizing. The Lakota focus on renewable energy development is covered in less depth, but the cameos of KILI radio staff are fun. It’s well done, very recent, and I’ll definitely include it in my class.
When Is Enough, Enough? (2005): This was produced as part of a CBC program called “The Nature of Things,” so it feels a tad less activist-y and much more Frontline-ish. It contains a solid summary of the many different perspectives in the Native and scientific communities re: oil sand extraction in Alberta, and has a very strong explanation of human experience within an environment – especially surrounding its coverage of the impact of James Bay hydro on the same Cree communities that will have to deal with the oil sand extraction. I liked this film because it provides an excellent portrayal of the enmeshment of government and capital – some of the scenes explaining the negotiations between the tribe, the oil companies, and the Canadian government representatives meant to be environmental watchdogs are ridiculous. I’m not sure if I’ll include this in my class … I like that it’s about a Canadian community, but because it’s on oil extraction it is competing against Crude re: my syllabus coverage.
Drumbeat for Mother Earth (1999): This film focuses on the dangers posed by POPs (Persistant Organic Pollutants) as they invade the food chain and the human body. There’s good coverage of the POP issue in many indigenous communities, including some in Mexico and Guatemala; in the U.S., they touch on the Gwich’in, Penobscot, Oneida, MN Chippewa, and Lakota. The framing device for the doc is an episode of Native America Calling on POPs, and it works fairly well, especially as there is such wide coverage from many different Native communities. It can be a bit cheesy in some parts, a bit pan-Indian, but it walks the line pretty well. The breadth of coverage does sacrifice depth in terms of understanding the communities, but the doc stays well-focused on ensuring that the audience fully understands POPs. I’m not sure if I’ll use this yet.
In the Light of Reverence (2001): I saw this a long time ago when it premiered in San Francisco, when I was still in college. Malinda Maynor, one of the producers, was a grad student at Stanford in the History Department, so a lot of us undergrads got to go see the film. It covers three different religious rights issues – at Hopi, for the Wintu in California, and at Devils Tower (Lakota) – but at each site the religious rights are completely enmeshed in issues of land, territory, and the environment. It has some of the most obvious footage of white racism (from South Dakota, OF COURSE) I’ve seen in any of the documentaries, and I think I’ll always have a soft spot for this documentary. Very well done, beautiful footage, excellent coverage of the issues presented.
Rising Waters: Global Warming and the Fate of the Pacific Islands (2000): I was so zoned out when I saw this one. It was the third environmental documentary of the evening and I was already emotionally exhausted from the first two docs, and physically exhausted from packing. So I don’t know if I can give the film its due. But overall it’s well-done, and I like how it covers several different Pacific Islander communities and their struggles with the impact of global warming. The environmental impact is explained well and in concrete terms, and I definitely want to use it as a teaching tool.
River of Renewal (2009): This video covers several environmental issues along the Klamath issue, dealing partly with access to water, but mostly around fishing rights and the impact that water use (and misuse) has upon the salmon runs along the river. The dude who pulls the viewer through the issues, following the Klamath to the source, is a Native Stanford grad (but I never heard of him) who is an actor. I thought the documentary was very well-done, and I especially liked the inclusion of the negative impact that federal western water and energy policies have had upon species survival in the Klamath River. I’m going to use this one for sure.
Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action (2005): This was another film suggested by Enei, and she and her husband Evon are one set of the featured activists. The activists are as follows: Gail Small (Northern Cheyenne, MT), Evon Peter (Gwich’in, AK), Mitchell & Rita Capitan (Eastern Navajo, NM), and Barry Dana (Penobscot, ME). I really liked this documentary. Gail Small’s description of not only her story but the history of her tribe – the Northern Cheyenne, led by Little Wolf and Dull Knife, escaped from imprisonment in Oklahoma and Wyoming after being attacked and captured and marched north to their old homelands. Holy shit those people are kick-ass. Evon and Enei’s portion was super sweet, and the impact of possible oil exploration and global warming on Evon Peters’ community is, in a word, terrifying. Mitchell and Rita Capitan’s story is impressive, and made me understand tribal politics and dissent in Navajo much better. It always seems like Navajo present such a united front, it is instructive to realize that the “united front” mentality can be extremely painful to disempowered community members. Finally, Barry Dana’s portion was one of my favorites; in particular, in the way it tied environmental rights and activism to the expression of tribal sovereignty. After the EPA allowed the state of Maine to continue to monitor and enforce water quality standards along the Penobscot river – akin to letting the fox guard the hen house considering how enmeshed state political power is with a highly polluting paper industry – Dana’s community marched papers the state was trying to force them to hand over to the state capital, as an expression of a government-to-government relationship, a.k.a tribal sovereignty. Of all the films, I liked this one the most for being so community-specific. Through the stories of the activists, the histories of their communities are told and set an emotional backdrop against the more current stories of environmental activism.
