Native Video Round-Up: Johnny Depp, Identity, and Poetry

In 1491s, Johnny Depp, native film, Native video round up, poetry, Tonto, Well Red by Adrienne K.Leave a Comment

I know things have been quiet around here for a few weeks, and I apologize. I’ve been traveling all over the place talking, and talking, and talking some more. I had great visits to ASU and Columbia, and was supposed to be on an awesome panel with Phil Deloria, Suzan Harjo, and Carla Fredericks in NYC, but it was unfortunately postponed (I’ll keep you posted when we decide on a new date). I also finally got to meet Simon Moya Smith, the man behind I Am Not A Mascot, and we had a great conversation about Native activism in the 21st century, hate mail, identity, and more. It was great to connect with folks and hear so many ideas about the future of this fight and how my blog might fit into that larger movement, and hearing stories and words of encouragement from fellow activists who have been at this longer than me was so inspiring.
So I’m back at my desk in Boston, and ready to tackle some big things. But first, a lot of great Indian videos have crossed my path in the last few days, so I thought I would share some inspiring and entertaining Native videos to start the week off right. 

First up, my good friend H. (won’t call him out in case he’s embarrassed because he’s wearing tons of eyeliner) makes his 1491s debut playing none other than Johnny Depp. So I know it’s been awhile since we’ve chatted about our dear friend Johnny Depp-as-Tonto, but in case you forgot, posts here, here, here, and here. Backstory: Johnny Depp was adopted by LaDonna Harris (Comanche). This is an actual account of what happened at his adoption ceremony:

Next, as some of you know, I work closely with an amazing organization called College Horizons, and a couple of years ago one of our students, Koli, sang this song at our Traditional Night. She’s a Yurok, Karuk, and Hupa student who’s now at UH, and in this song sings about the politics of “looking Indian.” Love it. She also comes from an awesome family, her dad is a Stanford alum and filmmaker, and her sister is a current Stanford student (you know how I love my Stanford connections):

Then, this beautiful and tear-jerking letter to Native Youth is powerful and important (it was inspired by the 1491s/Dallas Goldtooth’s letter to Native women, which I’ve shared here before, and is also worth a watch):

Finally, one of my twitter-follower-friends R. Vincent Moniz tweeted out this fantastic video of a poem about Halloween/Cultural Appropriation/Redface that he performed at a Native poetry night. It’s awesome. I love the Native Approps references sprinkled throughout. 🙂 The poem starts at 6:48 (though his other stuff is good too!):

Ok, a personal plug too. Back in October I was interviewed by a cool Native filmmaker/scholar Myrton RunningWolf for a webseries called “Well Red”. The trailer for the series is here:

and then the teaser trailer for my interview is here (full interview will be up soon!):

Hope these help you get through the remainder of your Monday, and if you’ve got more Native videos we should see, share the links in the comments!

(Thanks H., Koli, Carly, Lyla, Vincent, and Myrt!)

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