In the upcoming episode of Cord’s very own film podcast, Cord En Scène, we had a great opportunity to talk to Indigenous academic filmmaker, professor, and writer Dr. Michael Doxtater.
Dr. Doxtater comes from the Six Nations of the Grand River territory, 100 kilometers south of Toronto, Canada. A descendant of Mohawk leader Joseph Brant, Michael comes from the Mohawk turtle-clan family of Satekariwate. He is a leading communications specialist who has published internationally and has produced, directed, and written award-winning documentaries and dramas for academic and public audiences in Canada and the US.
He served as Head of Studio One of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and has held important roles in various organizations; his work in the field of public communications includes the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), TRC, Health Canada, Indian Affairs, and the PMO. He was also a part of the producing team of the Gemini Award-winning film Where the Spirit Lives, which raised public consciousness of Indian Residential Schools in Canada and eventually led to the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
During the conversation, one aspect that stood out was the mainstream representation of Indigenous cultures. With the recent release of films like Killers of the Flower Moon and Avatar: Fire and Ash, this conversation was very illuminating. Dr. Doxtater spoke about an interesting timeline of Indigenous representation in popular media, using the example of Vaudeville—a popular North American theatrical variety entertainment from the 1880s to the 1930s—and the rise of films in the ’40s and ’50s, such as the film Broken Arrow (1950) starring James Stewart.
Highlighting the plot of the film, he said, “James Stewart goes into Comanche country and befriends the chief there, Cochise. And he moves into the village. He falls in love with a Native and learns the language. He can do all kinds of Native practices practically over the winter. And as he decides to move back to the east to tell the story about the treatment of the Comanches, he’s in a bar and he’s talking to people in a bar about what he’s seen. The people there say, ‘well, you went and turned Indian, didn’t you?’ And they smashed him in the face, and they got into a barroom brawl.”
Another interesting example was Little Big Man (1970) starring Dustin Hoffman.
Dr. Doxtater said, “Dustin Hoffman is captured by the Cheyenne and becomes a Cheyenne as a young boy. He learns the practices and develops friendships and he becomes Cheyenne. Then they go to war against the Americans; he gets chased by one of the soldiers, Hoffman pulls his shirt down and shows his white neck and says, ‘you damn fool, what kind of an Indian would say, God bless America and apple pie? I’m white, you damn fool’ just as he’s about to get punched in the head by a soldier.”
With these examples and a few others from Dances with Wolves (1990) starring Kevin Costner and Avatar, Dr. Doxtater highlighted the colonial gaze through which Indigenous cultures were represented in popular media throughout the decades. He further explained the ways in which Indigenous ways of storytelling and films differ from mainstream narrative patterns and provided interesting recommendations.
Photo Contributed by the team
Listeners can tune in to Cord En Scène now on Radio Laurier. More episodes exploring film, culture, and storytelling are set to follow.
