2006, USA
Crime, Documentary, Drama, History
The genocide of Native Americans is not a topic to tread upon lightly, and first-time directors Robin Davey and Yellow Thunder Woman tread about as gently as a tank.
There’s no sugar coating here, no softening of the blow; the facts are harsh and dealt as mercilessly as they were inflicted. The documentary’s title is derived from an analogy made by lawyer Felix S. Cohen, who became Chief of the Indian Law Survey in 1939. He claimed that the United State’s treatment of Native Americans was the first indication -- just as the canary dies from poisonous gas in a coal mine -- of the ability for greater mistreatment and injustice. And those small indications are just the tip of the iceberg of massive tragedies.
For a debut endeavor, this film is extremely well done. As flashy as a music video with intercuts between outdated film strips, purposively scratchy political speeches and bold recent interviews, it may not always feel as if the audience is being taken to school. But the weight of the information will leave no question that there are tremendous concerns that need to be addressed.
To preface the horrendous statistics Native populations face today, two professors break down the United Nation’s 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Without batting an eyelash, they delve into how each of the five definitions of genocide can be applied towards the non-native American’s treatment of the Native American population. It is terrifying.
From the moment Chris Colombus stepped onto western soil (though as everyone knows, not future U.S. soil), he exploited and tortured the people he met. With dollar signs in his eyes he searched for mythic gold, and in the process decimated the people from millions down to thousands. One interviewee equates celebrating his day of exploration with setting aside a day to honor Adolf Hitler for his achievements. And this is just part A of the genocide convention.
Parts B through E are equally horrific, from white men scalping Native American men, women and children (each held a different price), to Andrew Jackson’s forceful removal in the Trails of Tears (there was more than one), to uninformed sterilization in the 1970s, to dividing families by forcing children to attend distant boarding schools in order to reeducate them in every possible way.
The facts are startling. We’ve heard some of them before, but not in such horrendous and unrelenting detail. And their continuous effects are astounding. Many are aware of high numbers of substance abuse on reservations, but how many look into the reasons behind it? It’s far too easy to suggest they are genetically predisposed, and more difficult to admit proper resources are lacking that need to be funded.
The information is out there, but the attention received is lacking. How much press was given to a ten-boy suicide pact? When the second worst school shooting occurred on a reservation in 2005, why did it take four days for the president to express his condolences? Perhaps the government is afraid that by providing help to a people whose culture it has nearly obliterated, it will only draw attention to this dark history of devastation administered by its own hands.