Critical Writing Index

Prophesizing on the Virtual Reservation

by Michelle H. Raheja

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