Last weekend, rain streamed down my windows, and deciding to make good use of my time inside, I purged my filing cabinet—a tedious task I undertake several times per decade. Pulling each file, I look at each piece of paper to decide if it is a toss or a keep, and treasured memories are usually rediscovered.
Among the accumulated newspaper and magazine clippings, I found an article written in
2006 by Frank John King III, editor and publisher of Native Voice. His
editorial, "Violence Systemic among Native People", was about the
shooting of two girls by five Indian teens in the North Rapid area of
Rapid City, South Dakota. King had been following the story, hoping for the
capture of the perpetrators, and was disheartened to learn the girls were shot
by Indian youths. He wrote, "In my opinion, if you commit an extreme act of
violence against any tribal member you should be banished from the tribe. The
sickness needs to be removed in order to heal the community."Attached to his article were notes I had jotted down during a conversation with Floyd Red Crow Westerman in January 2007. I had called Floyd to say hi because I always enjoyed talking to him, but also to specifically talk about the concept of reinstating banishment. We talked for more than an hour about the growing problems encountered by the youth in Indian Country; this being a topic he was passionate about.
Floyd made a significant impact on the world. He was best known to the general public for his many movie and television roles: "Renegades," "Dances with Wolves," "The Doors," "Hidalgo," "Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee," "Grey Owl," “Walker, Texas Ranger,” and “X-Files,” to name a few. Others knew him as an activist who supported the Rainforest Foundation Project and as a spokesperson for the Human Rights for Indigenous People of the World. As a musician, he toured worldwide with Sting to raise awareness of the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. On other occasions, he shared the stage with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Jackson Browne, and Joni Mitchell.
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| Floyd and Tracy at the First Americans in the Arts, Beverly Hills CA 2006 |
“Banishment,” Floyd said, “was the strongest punishment imposed on a tribal member. It was very effective because the shame of being ostracized from their tribe was intolerable, and in the old days, they had nowhere else to go. They wouldn’t be accepted into any other tribe. I don’t think it would work today because it is the environment that has failed them. The pop culture and loose morality that they are exposed to everyday has become more important to them than their traditional values. It is shameful the way some of our young women dress now, in clothing that exposes their body parts. This is not our way. Our women are a sacred part of all life, and the music that the young people listen to now destroys this belief. Song lyrics and videos portray women as sex objects, and name-calling is prevalent.”
I asked Floyd, “How can the Indian culture be kept alive for the young people who want to blend in with their non-Indian peers?”
He said, “They are typical children. They want to be popular. They want to be cool. The reality is that Native Americans working in motion pictures must create their own opportunities, and think about the impact on future generations. They need to reshape their cinematic image. We shouldn’t bend to mainstream films and how Hollywood wants to present us. We need to look at what our young people are watching and listening to and integrate our cultural beliefs into this. Our traditions must be kept alive, and film gives us this opportunity.”
His words, spoken over six years ago, still ring true today, and I wonder, who will be the next great spokesperson for Indian youth? Who will produce a film that proudly portrays the traditional values of the American Indian?
This post is a tribute to Floyd Red Crow Westerman who passed away in December 2007. It does not commemorate any particular date, milestone, or occasion relating to his noteworthy life, it was triggered only by a day spent cleaning out files and a conversation I felt compelled to share. I had many discussions with Floyd in the brief years that I knew him, and the take away was always a profound awareness of his wisdom and the world that we live in.
