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Eighth Annual Festival of Native Film & Culture |
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Written by Pat Krause
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Wednesday, 11 March 2009 |
 Wednesday-Sunday, March 4-8, 2009
Camelot Theatres
Palm Springs, California
Story and photos by Pat Krause
For more Pat Krause photos of the Festival, click here.
The Eighth Annual Festival of Native Film & Culture was held at the Camelot Theatre in Palm Springs, Calif. It ran from Wed., March 4, through Sun., March 8. Long and short films from all sectors of Native American culture were shown.
 The final night’s film was "Older than America." It was a very emotional, gripping and enlightening story about how American Indian children were forcibly taken from their parents at an early age and forced to attend boarding schools. Many children suffered irreparable damage from emotional and physical abuse. It was mandatory in many states for Native American children to attend a boarding school until 1975.
The film is about a boarding school in Minnesota, where many atrocities occurred. People involved went to extreme measures to cover up all those crimes after the school was finally closed.
The tribes knew there was something hidden in that school but were unable to fight local corruption. Only when an outsider came to look into a possible earthquake did the truth come out.
The local mayor was trying to make the school area into a huge hotel complex. Some members of the tribe considered it sacred ground, as it was also a burial site.
They saw haunting visions of cultural genocide to bring this to light. This is truly powerful story that must be told.
 After the film there, was a question and answer session. Some of the questions asked were pertinent to the story. One audience member asked the actors if any of them had spent time in a boarding school and if the film brought back memories.
 One actor told of how he was taken from his family as a child. He spent his childhood in three different boarding schools in three different states. He kept running away from each of them and finally succeeded in returning to his home after 11 years. He told of beatings and other punishments children endured.
Actor Wes Studi told of his boarding school experience. One of the non-Indians in the film, Chris Mulkey, said he was brought up with the Native American culture in his state and wanted to be in this movie.
Others said they still carry scars from their experiences in boarding school and being taken from their parents as small children. Members of the cast said this film is supposed to enlighten all sectors that these things did occur. The story can help heal the tribes from past injustice.
 Shawn Milanovich, at right holding a micrphone, mentioned there were stories of boarding schools in Palm Springs, known as the Americanization Little Red School.
Thanks were given to Ric and Rozene Supple and Jim and Jackie Lee Houston for their support. A thank you was also given to the projectionist for his expertise in the last eight years, changing format to format for the various films. Camelot Theaters General Manager Jason Bruecks was especially helpful, as usual.
For more Pat Krause photos of the Festival, click here.
For more on the Festival of Native Film & Culture, click here.
To learn more about the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, click here.
For more on the “Older Than America” movie, click here.
For more on Camelot Theatres, click here.
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Pat Krause |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 11 March 2009 )
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