Prophesizing on the Virtual Reservation
Reservation Reelism: Redfacing, Visual Sovereignty, and Representations of Native Americans in Film, 2011, pp. 145-189
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011
This chapter from Reservation Reelism provides a case study of two Indigenous films: Imprint (2007) and It Starts with a Whisper (1993). Each deals with the theme of historical amnesia and uses ghostly figures as a means of addressing this trauma. Raheja further emphasizes the importance of spirituality as an enabling tool for combating colonialism and re-engaging Indigenous epistemologies without attempting to explain particular aspects of specific tribal practices or inviting spectators to partake of Indigenous spirituality through commodification and consumption. The article also uses the concept of the "virtual reservation" to demonstrate how the creators of these films utilize that conceit to foreground, contest, and reinvigorate key concepts such as prophecy, chronology, spirituality, and gender.
ITEM 2011.126 – available for viewing in the Research Centre
Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited
It Starts with a Whisper – Shelley Niro, Anna Gronau
Imprint – Michael Linn
Smoke Signals – Chris Eyre
Petroglyphs in Motion – James Luna
Navajo Talking Picture – Arlene Bowman
Deep Inside Clint Star – Clint Alberta
Helpless Maiden Makes an "I" Statement – Theo J. Cuthand
Imagining Indians – Victor Masayesva Jr
Hózhó of Native Women – Beverly Singer
Anaana – Mary Kunuk and Arnait Video Productions
A Spiritual Land Claim – Dorothy Christian
Ninguira/My Grandmother – Arnait Video Productions
Before Tomorrow – Arnait Video Productions
Tenacity – Chris Eyre
Skins – Chris Eyre
Skinwalkers – Chris Eyre
Edge of America – Chris Eyre
Thief of Time – Chris Eyre
A Thousand Roads – Chris Eyre
We Shall Remain – PBS
Suite: INDIAN – Shelley Niro
Tree – Shelley Niro, Lena Recollet