Over The Past Decade In Hollywood Film, Finally The American Indian Voice Is Seeping Through

Draft paper presented at the Indigenous Voice in Film symposium, June 1, 2009, Michigan State University. Please do not quote or cite without permission of the authors.YouTube IndiansKelly Branam, St. Cloud State University Larry J. Zimmerman, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western ArtIn Wiping the Warpaint Off the Lens, Beverly Singer (2001:2) states that for American Indian people, "What really matters to us is that we be able to tell our own stories in whatever form we choose." The ability to do so is changing slowly in the realm of feature films, largely due to limited access to the funds necessary to produce them, relatively few Indian people trained in motion picture production, and demands that films make profits. Digital technology, however, is redefining agency in video production, allowing anyone with a digital camcorder and inexpensive editing software to produce quality short videos. Distribution is also changing, especially with an expanding availability of broadband internet services. Indian people are increasingly able to tell their own stories directly, without non-Indian intermediaries who inevitably skew perceptions of audiences. American Indian people have been quick to adapt locally produced, Internet-distributed video to their use to tell their own stories, echoing their pioneering use of the Internet to establish and to maintain ethnic boundaries (Zimmerman, Bruguier, and Zimmerman 2000). In particular, the subject of this paper is the use of video-sharing Web sites such as Youtube and Yahoo Videos, which have been core elements in this process, and rapidly are becoming a mainstream communication medium, especially for younger audiences. As with other materials on the Internet, YouTube and other video postings raise nagging questions concerning Native American 2 representation: What is being posted? In what form? By Whom? And Why? Were necessary cultural permissions sought and given to document events and distribute the videos? Who is commenting on these videos, and who is the target audience? In this paper we will explore these questions, looking at the wide range of videos being posted on YouTube relating to Native Americans. Much of our attention will be focused on videos that are of obvious or probable non-Indian production, which actually comprise the vast majority of Native American video representations on YouTube. We will also examine, however, the growing number of videos with lower production values, such as unnarrated documentation of hand-game tournaments and powwow contest dancing, stand-up comedy routines, and public service announcements, all with an Indian voice at their center. We will also briefly discuss several short feature videos that are native acted, written, directed, and produced, which increasingly are available on YouTube. Our primary questions are hardly new and consider whether YouTube’s expanded representations have the potential to break-down age-old stereotypes or to perpetuate them. What are the impacts of these Indian-produced representations on non-Indian people? At the same time that YouTube has expanded Indian voice, it is also saturated with Hollywood and TV stereotypic images of native people. In what ways do these native and non-native representations intersect and speak to and against each other? Film images such as those on YouTube are left to the viewer’s own interpretation following an erroneous view that film faithfully presents reality. Can providing a lens through which to view the videos help viewers evaluate what they are seeing and move them beyond the received wisdom of their culture about who and what Indians are? 3 Video sharing sites such as YouTube are a complicated medium, and its conversational aspects deliver far more than the video itself. Some of the answers reside in the very nature of the medium.As a disclaimer, we hope in this paper only to explore answers. As part of doing so, we offer our thoughts and will provide some broad definitions and categories by which to discuss YouTube representations. We intend to provide no particular theoretical discussion of the medium or the content. Doing so would be premature. However, we do need to mention our own “lens” and the context through which we viewed the YouTube videos and comments. We are both non-Indian anthropologists. Branam is a cultural anthropologist who for several years has worked intensively on the Crow reservation for her recently completed dissertation on the 2001 Crow constitution. Zimmerman is an archaeologist who has consulted with several tribes, especially in the context of repatriation, and who has worked on several South Dakota reservations. Both of us have taught American Indians in Film classes. What this means is that we use an anthropological lens, one that sees cultures as wholes with irreducible parts, generally sees things with a bent toward social justice, and sees that there are justifiable concerns from Native Americans about what we do as scholars. This lens also means that we support sovereignty and self-representation for Native Americans but don’t view Native Americans or any other group as having a monopoly on truth about themselves. Rather, we hope that our lens will help provide useful perspectives. The medium is not the only messageVideo-sharing sites distribute mostly conversational media, which are driven by give and take between producers and the audience. Their motivation is usually to spread a message, to document events, or to solicit (elicit and maybe incite) viewer response. Conversational media 4 are the staple of Web 2.0 and usually are contrasted with packaged goods media. Packaged goods media are owned, usually in the form of copyright, and are more tightly controlled in production and distribution. They are usually profit-driven as with films and commercials and are usually readily recognizable as such. Realizing potential for profit, packaged goods videos appear more and frequently on YouTube where producers are willing to take the risks of frequent copyright violation by users or derision by viewer comments. Producers of both conversational and packaged goods media hope their videos “go viral,” that is, quickly gain hundreds of thousands or millions of viewers in a short period of time.1 YouTube allows viewers to make comments that can contain important information about viewer perceptions, but can also provide a venue for continued communication or clarification. Rivalries of the powwow arena and hand-game tournaments can continue outside the arena, for example, via "trash talk" between participants, family members, and competitors. The chatroom- like elements may stimulate further questions; comments offer a public forum where native and non-natives alike can comment on the representations portrayed and can critique not only the videos, but each others’ comments and critiques. Filmmakers and those who post comments on YouTube have the opportunity to remain somewhat anonymous or simply to self-identify, a hallmark of conversational media. This often makes it difficult to tell the “real” identity of YouTube filmmakers. One requirement is that the person who posts the video lists their online name, but these are rarely revealing. If the poster wishes, they may provide production information via a “more info” link. High production values often have useful information about the video makers, but information is rarely useful or even present on others, especially those who may present purely documentary video clips or those that1 For an interesting, but not necessarily authoritative discussion, see John Battelle’s blog entry “Packaged Goods Media v. Conversational Media: Part Two” at http://battellemedia.com/archives/003199.php, accessed May 13, 2009. 5 are obviously meant to be insulting or even racist. At first glance, some films appear to be native acted, directed and produced. For example, in searching films featuring powwows, a film interviewing native peoples at the Gathering of Nations 2008 concerning the Nike Air N7 shoe was posted (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tcUtknDw0g). The interviewers were apparently native men and those who were interviewed at the powwow were native. In this case the filmmaker did not hide identity. The “more info” link identified the filmmaker, “adamfilmmaker,2” as the online name for Adam Fish, who is not native but self-identifies as an adventure journalist/anthropologist.3 On the low production value extreme, “Rmacin247” posted a very short “Drunk Indian” clip with no information other than the required date when Rmacin247 posted the video, but with content clearly reflecting a common stereotypic view of Indians. There are also many videos when it is obvious that the filmmaker is a non-native, but the film subject is still native as is the case with a low production value made by “angelabelkis,” (perhaps a real name) with Indian figurines dancing in front of projected photographs and paintings using very stylized, contemporary, quasi-Indian music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTv8dL7r_Dc). Anonymity is also the case for those who comment on the films unless they choose to self-identify in the comment. When they do it is usually only by ethnicity (“even though I’m partIndian”), but rarely by tribe if they are native. Posters need only list their login name. Comments typically are brief, usually not more than Twitter length of a sentence or two, but some are much longer. There is “flaming,” name-calling, occasionally use of foul language, and sometimes even rational, civil discussion. Whatever the nature of its civility, YouTube provides a new arena for 2 In this paper to standardize use of poster and commenter online names we have chosen to put quotation marks around the name on first use, but if used again, we present it as regular text. For actual comments from YouTube, we use both quotation marks and put the text in italics so they can be picked out of the text more easily. 3 As it happens, Zimmerman has had the opportunity to work with Adam Fish before. Fish has had substantial positive involvement with Indian people in the Northwest and California. 6 communication and collaboration between natives and non-natives, but new questions concerning authenticity, contextualization, identity, ethnography, and documentary arise. Identity Markers and YouTube VideosThe way we communicate provides context to our identity. Language and other forms of communication often provide clear markers for identity. They also provide boundaries between groups creating barriers to belonging. One is easily reminded of these barriers or boundary markers, for example, when one receives an indecipherable text message or receives an unusual look when they reveal that they do not have a Facebook or MySpace page. These “synthetic” forms of communication often preserve the identity of a group and may link it to others who know the communication style and yet exclude other groups who do not understand the code (seeBasso 1979 and Zimmerman, Zimmerman, and Bruguier 2000). According to Barth (1969), cultural contents of ethnic discourse [dichotomies] are one of two orders, overt symbols and basic value orientations, i.e. “the standards of morality and excellence by which performance is judged. Since belonging to an ethnic category implies being a certain kind of person, having that basic identity, it also implies a claim to be judged, and to judge oneself, by those standards that are relevant to that identity” (14). Both symbols and these value orientations are expressed and contested, providing a way to maintain individual and group boundaries, activity readily apparent in the videos and comments about them on YouTube. Our identities are formed in opposition to others. Fogelson emphasizes that “identity struggles are more social than individual psychological phenomena. Identities are negotiated through interaction with another person or group” (1998: 41). Even with these synthetic forms of communication, YouTube provides a public sphere where identity is negotiated. Wallace and Fogelson recognize, 7 that an individual, and by extension a group, may comprise an ideal identity, and image of oneself that one wishes to realize; a feared identity, which one values negatively and wishes to avoid; a “real” identity, which an individual thinks closely approximates an accurate representation of the self or reference group; and a claimed identity that is presented to others for confirmation, challenge, or negotiation in an effort to move the “real identity closer to the ideal and further from the feared identity (Fogelson 1998:41). The ideal, feared, “real” and claimed identities of individuals and groups can be found on YouTube. Cyberspace and the anonymity of profiles create additional complexities to identity negotiation on YouTube. YouTube users create their own profiles and are self-identified. But a calling-out often occurs within the comments. Commenters4 may defend a position they have taken, by identifying with a tribal affiliation and then commenting critically about a particular video. Some non-Indians will also express sympathy for a particular view a video has taken, by relating themselves through heritage to native peoples. For example, “letstalkaboutstuff” posted a user-made, eclectic slideshow of Curtis photographs and Native American actors, and used the group Walela singing Cherokee Morning Song for accompaniment (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VqoxOcEqpk). Sporks007 commented: “This is so pretty. <3 I have some Cherokee in me, so it's neat to think that my ansestors spoke thisbeautiful langauge. :]”5 Within the conversations that happen through comments, commenters often discuss and challenge identity. They also express different viewpoints about what it means to be native. In comments about another video posted by adamfilmmaker Lakota Hip Hop Gathering of Nations 2008 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-AyvUQ8oWY, the following exchange occurred: 4 We purposely use the term “commenter” instead of the more commonly used “commentator,” the former implying a shorter, often less well-reasoned, spur-of-the moment response while the latter is usually the opposite. 5 Note: In this and all other quoted comments in the paper emoticons, spacing, and spelling are exactly as submitted to YouTube. Italics have been added to all to more easily letter the reader know the voice has shifted to a commenter. As well, in a few other casual comments in the paper, they are quoted exactly as written originally and with editorial protest. 8 “Discofriend” comments:Wow, that guy sucks at rapping. Hey I’m a native American too..I was born in Chicago, that makes me a native.This guy makes me wish his ancestors got small pox from the blankets my ancestors gave him!In response to Discofriend, “Okangitanka0” replied:Yes discofriend, a native of a stolen city.6 In truth, each set of comments is unique, but vague themes emerge that impinge on identity and ethnic boundary maintenance and are worth mentioning. More can possibly be teased out, but some brief examples might suffice. A favorite theme and commonly used phrasing is that “the white man screwed the Indian and is to blame for all Indian problems.” This sort of comment comes from both native and non-native viewers. This expresses an identity of victimhood from some native people, but more often seems to an expression of “white guilt.” An associated theme, usually appearing with “tribute videos” (see the wannabes category discussion below), is how beautiful native culture was [emphasis ours]. Self-identifying Indian people don’t often comment on these, but when they do, they are frequently contradictory or angry and note that Indian people and their cultures are still here.7 A third response theme is a very specific identification to tribe, band, or clan, sometimes commenting in what is apparently their native language. The reasons for these responses are variable, but in one brief example and responding to a tribute video Native American Howling Wolf (http://www.youtube.com/watch?6 For another example, see the discussion of the Tiger Lily video in the Historical Stereotypes section below. 7 For a good example, see the commentary on Native American ~ Spiritual Music ~ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbNDmKFzzG8), which has many of these. “ahmed333youssef” comments: “What a wonderful culture the Native Americans had , Unfortunately this culture does not exist any more due to the changing of their identity and culture by the white Americans” For the same video, “nativeamerican1231” comments: “not quite man. we are still here. and we still practice what our ancestors have done. the white americans of old has failed but yet. we have suffered much, and to this day many still feel that impact. a little knowlege can open eyes more then ur physical ones. pm me if ya wanna learn more. i can show you info of our suffering and how we stand strong with our beliefs” 9 v=2BkMLaz6CUI ), “0whiteturtle0” comments: “Chi Migweetch! I am from the Wolf Clan, and I really enjoyed this video”.Categorizing YouTube Indian Videos: A Classroom Project with Non-Native ViewersFrom some of the comments and content on videos it is easy to tell that for some non- native viewers, YouTube videos clearly support ethnic boundaries by reinforcing existing negative (e.g. drunk Indian) and positive (e.g. ecological) stereotypes. For others, especially with a little guidance, YouTube Indian videos can challenge those stereotypes and allow non-native viewers to understand that the stereotypes and the ethnic boundaries cause problems, but may also serve to support identity.Zimmerman assigned a YouTube-based project to students in his Indians of North America class in the Fall semester of 2008. Taught in the anthropology department, the class the structure emphasized contemporary issues within a historical perspective, not the ethnographic present at the time of contact. As such, the class was more like a general Indian studies class than an anthropology class. Only about a third of the 40 students were anthropology majors, only a few had received more than minimal exposure to academic material about Native Americans, and fewer still had had any direct contact with Indian people.The project was relatively straightforward. The students were to construct a YouTube Indians wiki8 built around six generally assigned themes9: negative stereotypes, positive stereotypes, humor, wannabes/playing Indian, made for Indian by Indians, and cultural 8 A wiki is a collaboratively built and edited structure, with the most fully developed example being Wikipedia (http://www.wikiped http://www.wikipedia.org/ia.org/). For the class assignment, students used the wiki software built into OnCourse, the Indiana University Sakai-based online collaboration and learning environment.. As might be imagined and is visible in the wiki, some students were more adept at others in using the system than others. 9 For the assignment instructions, see http://www.iupui.edu/~mstd/e320/youtube.html . The group assignments list the student participants, whose work and support we acknowledge. The site is publically accessible at https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/wiki/site/FA08-IN-ANTH-E320-C8547/home.html . If you visit the site, you will see that a few students are still modifying the site! A warning: there may be the occasional dead links due to the very fluid nature of the web, and many students had trouble with images, so you will find broken images throughout. The site was meant for exploration and learning, not meant to provide public information or to be “glitzy.” 10 activities/information. With only limited discussion of what each theme might contain, students were to define their assigned theme, develop categories of videos within the theme, then find and annotate videos that represented the category. Wiki entries were variable, with some students doing minimal analysis, while others intensively analyzed videos, developed several subcategories, and discussed them in depth. The students then combined their analyses into a PowerPoint, and presented it at the 2008 American Indian Education Conference at IUPUI, which was themed “American Indians and New Media.” An audience comprised of native and non-native scholars, as well as several non-academic guests received the paper well.What students saw in their analysis of videos had an impact. They had several in-class progress reports, and discussion was always lively. Every report included at least one, as they were called in class, “I can’t believe what I’m seeing” video. Almost to a person on course evaluations, the YouTube Indians project was the most important learning experience of the class. As one student commented: “It really opened my eyes to issues native Indians have to deal with on a daily basis.” Categories of YouTube American Indian RepresentationsWe use a few of the categories from used in the wiki project in the discussion that follows, but have modified some of them. The categories we discuss here hardly are comprehensive or mutually exclusive, and could easily be broken into sub-categories.Historical Stereotypes Suffice it to say that Hollywood’s stereotypes related to the Vanishing American still keep American Indians removed from the reality of history. These historical stereotypes are well documented and discussed thoroughly elsewhere (for example, Buscombe 2006; Hilger 1995; Mihelich 2001; Riley 2003) It is not our goal to reexamine these categories, yet it is important to 11 discuss their relevance to YouTube and issues of identity. On YouTube, many packaged goods media have “gone viral,” and these historical clips from old westerns, TV programs, and Disney films contain the negative stereotypes many of us grew up with. These posts allow for viewers to reflect on these images, but the fact that these images are still in circulation also allows the negative effects of these images to be reinforced. Branam has had students, non-native and native alike, explain away Disney’s racialist Peter Pan song “What Makes the Red Man Red?”10 by stating that it was created a long time ago – “everyone knows Indians are not like that.” Branam also heard students say that the segment is funny and entertaining, and that is Disney’s responsibility, not a matter of representation. Yet, at the same time, a Chinese colleague recently asked Branam for children’s books containing more accurate representations of native people. Her five year-old had been watching Peter Pan and was asking his mother about Indians. Branam’s colleague explained that being from China she was unfamiliar with native issues, rather shocked by the depiction of natives in this children’s film, and felt that there must be better resources to provide more accurate representations to her son. Her remarks would indicate that this form of historical “mis-education” by Hollywood (Singer 2001) continues. The YouTube commentary does allow for some reflection and discussion, but unless the commenters put up a critical lens and ask questions, viewers like our students tend to explain away the effects of these representations. Viewers often reminisce about the “good old days,” yet the negative representations remain. The 1960 NBC version of Peter Pan, the very white Mary Martin plays Tiger Lily and the stereotypical Tiger Lily dance with tom-tom music and “Tonto talk” is an excellent example (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpKcSllexag). Viewers’ comments represent their feelings concerning this video. 10 Disney's Peter Pan - What Makes The Red Man Red ? was posted by “sadisticsob” in late March 2007 and as of this writing has had more than 550,000 views. Another posting has had more than 60,000 views. The url for the sadisticsob version is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_at9dOElQk. 12 “Lasyra” comments: “I love that Tiger Lily is the whitest chick ever. :P I never realized how racist this show is. O_O Still love it, tho!!!!” McKrunk13 writes; “I didn't realize how racist that was when I was 6. Ugga Wugga wigwam, huh?” And “larkascending2007” replies; “I know im ignorant...but what do u mean by thats racist? Like I honestly dont know.” Others thank the poster “sfuvs” for posting this clip, because it brings back such positive memories. “Lamllemaussage” writes; “I cannot thank you enough for posting this! It brings back such memories... my sister and I used to try to do the swaying dance the Indians do haha.” Others accuse some for being ignorant because they believe this clip to be racist. In response to comments that were removed by author “Wishyouwerehere080,” “SameulHortonSaysHi “ replies “Are you kidding me ? The group of indians in this story were supposed to be this way. They were hunters, they were not modern day people. No one ever sayed they acted like this all the time, that’s bullshit.” And “Wow, you are extremely immature, and only ignorant people would find this offensive. So, ha.” The YouTube medium provides a public sphere in which viewers can ask questions and be educated about others’ opinions. Yet, this “calling-out” style of discourse and uncensored space allows for name-calling and commenters who do question the representations to be censored either by the commenter or video poster who may remove their comments if they do not fit the status quo.1111 Our experience is that if a video poster cuts off comments, it happens when the video is vigorously attacked or discussion is particularly insulting or virulent. 13 There is a tendency to be more lenient to older, commercially produced videos, especially if they invoke nostalgia. Nevertheless, “[t]his replication of popular images of Indian for commercial purposes – whether in films or other forms of culture – contributes to a loss of respect for culture, confused identity, and weakened beliefs about what it means to be a Native American” (Singer 2001: 7).Positive stereotypes are less prevalent on the web but perhaps no less damaging in the sense that Singer discusses for other popular images. One of the classic positive images is that of Indians as the original ecologists as exemplified in the ubiquitous “Crying Indian” commercial about pollution originally launched by the Keep America Beautiful organization on Earth Day, 1971, and resurrected as recently as the late 1990s. There are no fewer than seven postings of the original video on YouTube, only one with more than 100,000 viewings and another with about 50,000, relatively low numbers for Indian-related videos. The commercial is one that many people know about, so probably aren’t all that interested in seeing again. By the time the rereleases of the video and some variations on it appeared about the time of Iron Eyes Cody’s death, information the he was actually Italian surfaced. Many of the comments on one posted version, “1998 Crying Indian "Back By Popular Neglect" (http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=3iwHO7WONk0) are about identity issues with several viewers pointing out and contradicting that Iron Eyes Cody, the actor, was Italian, not Native American such as in this pair of comments.“v3rn3n” comments:I mean no disrespect to the man: he was an actor, and did a memorable PSA. However, according to you guys, you mean all I have to do to be Native American is to dress like one and want to be one? Don't make me laugh. 14 “greatsea” responds:Fool, Iron Eyes Cody was redder than an albino after a week in Cancun. I happen to be 10 miles from Kaplan Louisiana, so I know. We post modern now. Which means if everybody wants Iron Eyes to be an Indian they ain't much a piss brown crumbling birth certificate can do about it. Ya boy was an Indian for sure, now leave well enough alone. And pick up ya damned trashThe Crying Indian ad has had numerous spinoffs, including the Crying Indian in an astronaut’s suit in space near a NASA garbage truck (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K-Wvv1PQLU) to a parody with a pasty-white man, bespectacled and wig-with-braids, paddling a kayak downstream, speaking Tonto-talk about pollution. Comments were turned off by the poster for this one. The reality of Indian ecological views is essentially overwhelmed by this stereotypic view of Indians as anti-pollution, tree-hugging, save-the-whales contemporary ecologists. The nature of Indian ecology has been hotly debated in academia in recent years following the publication of Krech’s (1999) The Ecological Indian: Myth and History. Certainly most were native peoples were close to the land and understood the need for balance, but there is evidence to suggest native people were not always successful in keeping balance or in adapting to environmental shifts (Harkin and Lewis 2007). Wannabes Confusion about the real nature of Native Americans shows up in the Wannabe category often, where non-Indians identify with an image of Indians usually created from positive stereotypes. Wannabes is a term commonly used to that describes someone who “wants to be” something they are not, and in this context, they wannabe Native American. The term is generally 15 derogatory, applied to anyone who either plays at (P. Deloria 1999) being Indian or who usurps Indian identity or cultural practice, sometimes going so far as to commodify it. Playing Indian can be something as straightforward as the Boy Scouts who might do Indian-style dancing and have stereotype-founded rituals, or European Indian hobbyists who are essentially reenactors of stereotyped, usually 1880s Plains, Indian lives. The more problematic are those individuals who “go native” or try to pass themselves off as Indian. One classic case of going native or of perpetrating a fraud is that of the Englishman Archie “Grey Owl” Bleaney did in Canada in the mid-twentieth century (Hulan 2003:130). The Bleaney story is complex, made into a 1999 movie with Pierce Brosnan in the starring role. Vilified as a fraud, Canadian hiphop artist Deejay Ra posted the video “Grey Owl Campaign” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iha3quIupwg) to restore his name as an ecologist and as a “multicultural Canadian hero.” The video has only had about 5,000 views in three years on YouTube and has generated only fourteen comments. All are supportive, but of interest is that several say that it is not a fraud if you live the life you are “preaching.” As “ResearchX” comments: “No one that fights for the Earth, the environment and Humanity is ever a fraud.” Never mind that you are not who you claim to be. Available on a much broader scale are YouTube videos relating to New Age religious practices incorporating Native Americans belief and ritual. Certainly Native Americans have been speaking out against this for years. For example, the controversial 1995 documentary WhiteShamans and Plastic Medicine Men produced for Native Voices Public Television is fully available on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list? p=1B5E90A8065644F6&search_query=white shamans plastic). Comments are lengthy, much longer than most YouTube comments, and numerous, most of them very negative toward New 16 Age practitioners. “apacheflower,” self-identified as native,” is typical and more respectfully stated than many:“I am native and it is wrong on so many levels to take my ancestors ways of life and say you are a shaman after you read a couple of books. Shaman don't go doing ads and say hey here I am now pay me! And just cause you say your a shaman/medicine women doesn't make it so. How disrespectful and a mockery to ALL native heritage.”A few videos directly challenge specifically-named New Age practitioners, for example, White Eagle Medicine Woman Fraud (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEChaNnvaWc). Posted by “romero358,” the video shows a man who identifies himself as Iroquoa, sitting on a log in the woods, and appearing in camouflage, including a bandana to hide his identity. A few comments challenge the speaker, but most are very supportive. Other native posters more generally challenge the phenomenon, an excellent example being several vlog (video blog) posts from “Romanorum.” He never directly says he is native or what tribe, but everything in his posts indicates that he is. One specific critique is entitled New Agers Versus Native Americans (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UN2XZxpY_o) but he has many other vlog entries on the topic, mostly very critical of New Age practice involving Indian belief. Comments on his posts are mostly longer, reasoned, and generally respectful, including vlog entries for other Indian people (see a response from Weeya, a self-identified Cherokee woman at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP8ycutGvxM). A trend worth noting is the increasing use ofNative American prophecy about the so-called Doomsday 2012 which is brought together with supposedly similar end-of-the-world prophecies from other religions. Frankly, the process is almost humorous and stretched beyond being remotely reasonable. One intriguing example comes from “gabriellakey” called Message from Mother Earth (II) 2012 in which “Heyoka 17 shaman speaks from the heart about the coming global awakening 2012” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUM5uoLFmpw).Finally, a extremely common type of wannabe video creates tributes (for want of a better term) to Native American culture, usually as it was in the pre-contact past. A search of the phrase“native american tribute” on YouTube returned 417 with those words directly in the video title, and others are tributes, but don’t use the term. We couldn’t look at all of these, but scanning them, we would guess that well over three-fourths relate to the past and often to Indian spirituality. For example, eleven relate to “The Native American Ten Commandments” and use real and quasi-native music and old photos or painting behind the words (for one example, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY3ZEvOfD1w). We should point out that there is an increasing native voice in tributes, mostly apparent in their knowledge need to create it and some of them directly identified as native produced including Native American military veterans (example: Native American Veteran Memorial at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KpeNqAec6Q), and Native American Basketball players (Native American Basketball Tribute to Movie "CHIEFS" & Lady Thorpes at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e24_Q0oGB-c).Imagining Indians This category is based on Victor’s Masayesva, Jr.’s film Imagining Indians. In this film he responds to the stereotypical portrayal of Indian people in Hollywood film. He interviews prominent Indian actors and those that played extras to understand their motivations for participating in Hollywood productions. He also interviews non-Indian art collectors and deconstructs their romantic views of Indians. On YouTube there is plethora of responses to Hollywood films and use of stereotypical images. These films are often of a low budget, cut and paste format that comments on these Indian representations in film. They are similar to tribute 18 videos in many ways, but usually about the profoundly difficult situation of Indian people at the hands of Euroamericans at the time of contact and the following years.One good example is the video“thelight101’” entitled Native People (“Americans”) (http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=UsYRxoQtCbo&feature=PlayList&p=C47E1AF978E39600&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=48) . The video was posted in response to an earlier series of videos thelight101 posted.There have been three video responses to this video, and the video has been viewed more than 100,000 times. The video begins with a lengthy segment with video clips and the theme music from the 1992 version of The Last of the Mohicans film (starring Daniel Day Lewis) interspersed with still images of Indian warriors, then shifts to critiquing later assimilationist policies using spoken words of both policy-makers and Indian victims. There are more than 1,500 comments on the videos, many of them from self-identified Native Americans. Some praise the video, some express regret and guilt for what happened, and others question the stereotypic images and music. Identity issues and racist ideology permeate the video.However, some clips are higher budget and use humor to directly comment on European colonialism and current politics within the United States. Clip macnpc posted by “sxip” and written and directed by Steven Judd and Tvli Jacob uses a stereotypical “noble savage” to represent the “good old days” before Columbus in a spoof on print and video Mac/PC computer commercials (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkzunwQ5dUI&feature=channel). The “noble savage” represents the Mac. In this clip MAC is an acronym for “Mistreated After Columbus” and PC is for “Post Columbus.” Mac asks pc how things are going since they are in charge and pc replies that they are thinking about building a wall to keep illegal immigrants out. Mac asks “why didn’t we think of that?” The comments are mostly positive and repeat the “Why didn’t we 19 think of that?” theme. “KiowaNative” states “Great Vid, u did a great job Steve.” “Kiowachoctaw” replies “Very funny! LOL =).” However, in the commercial, mac’s version of the “good old days” includes the men hunting all day and the women staying at home and cooking. When the men return home they make love all night. “Agomez13” comments, “i think this is a real piece of... it's misogynistic undertone prevents me for taking serious the real issue. being one who understands the real issue, how are we supposed to convince anyone else?-laguna pueblo p.s. we need to be smarter! “This video is a very good example of boundary maintenance. Those who get the joke are in the “in” group and those that do not are in the “out” group, meaning that they are uneducated about history and do not see the irony in current U.S. politics. “Colcsp” comments (: our history teach showed us this!!!!!!! Using this clip in an educational setting provides for discussion and attempts to make the “in” group larger. However, as “agomez13’s” comment depicts – there is disagreement about the content of this commercial and certain content may make this video’s “true” message harder to decipher. Cultural Sovereignty This category reflects Singer’s goal for native people to tell their own stories, through their own voice. YouTube provides the medium for this to occur. Singer (2001:2). writes, “The chance to remedy the lack of literature about telling our own stories is deeply connected to being self determined as an Indian. It is part of a social movement that I call “cultural sovereignty,” which involves trusting in the older ways and adapting them to our lives in the present.” There are many examples of this social movement on YouTube. Commenters and the filmmakers 20 themselves often make it very apparent that they feel empowered by controlling the “lens” through which their stories are told. “This is our story.” Is the opening line of “Life on the Reservation (Pt1)” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV4QfYWcifM&feature=related). A documentary created by a group of young artists from the community of Kego Lake on the Leech Lake Reservation. Teens interview each other and their parents about their lives on the reservation and what is important to them. They discuss their families and the values they hold important. They talk about powwows and what it means to them to be Annishinnabe (sp?). As of May 17th this documentary had over 44,000 views and 362 comments. Many commenters praised the documentary and also told stories of their lives or their parents’ lives growing up on rez. However for some viewers it is apparent that this film does not fit their perception of “real” natives. For example; the discussion provided below:“loveallhappinness” states; “they dress and act black.” And “they look mexican and some even look white they don't look indian at all.” “Snickerx33” replies; “Umm..most mexicans are mestizo-of native and european descent.As for the "white" looking ones, natives come in all colors and some mixed bloods look "white" too. Genes are a bitch. “Snickerx33” continues to critique “loveallhappiness and states "They dress and act black and your channel states that you hate racism. hypocrite, much?” The back and forth nature of the comments on YouTube allows for questions and perhaps provides an educational opportunity far outside of the film itself. Their dialogue continues: “loveallhappiness” asks; “what is so racist about that comment?” 21 “Snickerx33”: “First of all, you clearly don't know shit about natives.Second, you're generalizing and stereotyping. That is racist.” “loveallhappiness”: “but i never saw a white indian before unless they are just poser....” “Snickerx33”: “NO! They wouldn't live on the rez if they were a poser nor would they be enrolled. They are MIXED. No native looks like the natives that Columbus fucked over. It's from 500+ years of racial mixing. My mother is a fullblood, my father is mostly white but he's 1/8 native. I look white as hell but that doesn't make me any less ndn.”This dialogue ends with another viewer’s comments: “ASoldiersLove17”: “So you've never seen a white Indian huh? I'm have Cherokee and Half Irish I'm white as fuck but don't mean I'm any less Native. and I sure as Hell ain't a poser.” Issues of blood quantum, race, and identity are all called into question in this conversation. One can assume that “loveallhappiness” is not native and has not had much contact with natives. ThisYouTube public space may be the only contact “loveallhappiness” has with natives. The film is posted to educate, but one may then ask where the education is taking place, during viewing of the film, critiquing it, or by other viewers? Inprogress301(http://www.youtube.com/user/inprogress301) is a non-profit organization located in Saint Paul, MN whose mission is to provide opportunities for young people to gain skills using digital media and develop as storytellers, artists and leaders. This organization serves more than 1,000 youths a year. The videos they post through YouTube reveal that digital media provides the opportunity to give a “public voice of those least heard in our nation.” David Sam is able to tell his story of discrimination and of his thoughts concerning the Red Lake school shooting . Although his video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wshFrXiU3uc) has fewer than 22 200 views, it provides Sam an opportunity to be an artist. He self-identifies as a filmmaker and this makes a very positive impact on his life ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-0N7qI2MDw&NR=1).There are videos made for YouTube specifically targeted at Indian youth and their concerns or problems. Teenage American Indians on Smoking (http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=kXi4q5hE8FI) is one video of The Sacred Smoke Project. The project is a series of public service announcements entirely conceived, written, scripted, directed, filmed and edited by students from Hoopa Valley High School. The target audience is Indian teens so the views have been relatively few, around 2000, and the comments are few, indicating that the videos have an audience outside their target. For example, “budproductions117” comments” Hello! Interesting to see your Anti-smoke video. Keep up the good work! Remember, every little step counts. Don´t ever give up whatever you do in life! I hope you Native Americans one day will rule again in your country! I myself am from Sweden.”A similar example is NVision: Cannonball Youth Rezist & Rezpect PSA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFPDSw9JmZ0) described by “pawneestar” as a “PSA [that] was created by the Cannonball Youth of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation with NVision Trainer Jenni Monet. The 2-Day NVision event with the Cannonball Youth resulted in a totally youth-driven campaign to RESIST drugs & alcohol and RESPECT their Native identity, traditional cultural and spiritual lifeways, their community, one another and themselves.” With only a few over 1300 views, there is only one comment from “ejrrpc”: “Great visions for a greater future for all. Youth are our future! Nam-myoho-Renge-Kyo. From accross the ocean I continue to pray for all. Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo "It is the only way" CHIEF.” 23 A Public Service announcement, NDNs don't let NDNs Drive Drunk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3Fv9b9RCEY) was produced for the New Mexico Department of Transportation. The video has professional production values with actor Gary Farmer portraying a father going into a bar, but leaving his two children in his truck. When he comes out later, he is apparently drunk, but is soon surrounded by a circle of Indian people to whom he gives is keys. The Floyd Western voiceover and flute and drum music are quietly effective. The video has had about 12,000 views and only ten comments. Most comments praise the video, but some have other agendas. “NDNWatch” has an encompassing agenda: “STOP NDN sovereignty. All men were created equally. Dont let the Interior Dept. create fascist groups who have more rights over you in the USA. We are either the USA or we are NOT. Which is it? Stop the lies and encourage the NDNs to go to work like everyone else. Stop the partnership of corruption and fraud, the shredding financial records at the BIA. END Casinos and the legal scalping of the white man. This is a crime that has gone on too long ESPECIALLY during this Depression we are in.”That of “ncadman” is more locally directed: I finally give the "Navajo Times" credit for actually trying to help their people, and not just being "papurrazi to exploit the Nation in all its wrongs.”There are also interviews with prominent native people. A good example is the Life, Love, and Earth: Sacred Circle, a ten-minute interview with actress Irene Bedard ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2mBurTRWcs&feature=PlayList&p=E74A517327FB978D&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&i ndex=3) by videographer Carlos Reynosa. Reynosa has produced many similar videos linked from his YouTube user page (http://www.youtube.com/user/carlosreynosa). The video is straightforward, with Bedard speaking in front of a simple screen. Asked only a few questions by 24 the interviewer, she gives some of her personal history and views on the world, learning, the sacred, and other concerns she has. The 16,000 views of the video show the interest in a native figure from popular culture. Nearly 100 text comments are generally positive toward Bedard and what she says, but a few challenge some of the things she says about historical issues and the way the earth is treated.Finally, YouTube has become a major distribution medium for high production value, short videos that normally would be shown at museums or video festivals. One favorite is “Osama Likes Frybread (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3w7vAmszm4), written and directed by Diné filmmaker Sydney Freeland. Tagged by YouTube as a “Comedy Classic,” the ten-minute video follows two Navajo men who come across Osama bib Laden hiding out on the rez. Based on the structure of the cartoon Pinky and the Brain, video builds in a critique of corrupt tribal government colluding with the federal government, Navajo sheepherding, radiation from uranium mining, inter-tribal rivalries, and assorted other “in-jokes.” The video has had nearly 30,000 views and about 100 comments, all positive and mostly about particular jokes. We have both shown the video to our classes who have had very little experience dealing with Indian humor and even less with the subject of each joke. Students appreciated some jokes such as the allusion to the cell-phone “Can you hear me now?” commercials, but we had to explain most jokes. In some ways, we think that this video is the ultimate statement of cultural sovereignty: anIndian filmmaker made it for Indian people with Indian humor and no concern for outsiders. Powwows, Cultural Activities/Information There is a plethora of “home video” of native other cultural activities on YouTube. These films are most often without commentary and without filter. In that sense, it is perhaps another statement of cultural sovereignty in that it is made without concern for outside audiences and 25 what they might get from it. One cannot be certain of who made or posted the video, but in that sense it is like so much of the other material, made and posted for friends and family. Powwows are a big subject for the videos, but sometimes they are unique. For example And More Hip Hop Style Pow Wow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzPOEgDe2d8) shows an interesting variation of powwow dancing. For a low production value Indian-focused video, it went viral with more than 160,000 views. Comments range from high praise to accusations of selling out. The following is a string of several typical comments:“systemaddictshock” “it's call "The Bastardization of All Things Sacred" by MC Chief Sellz-Out-Alot. What a dumb idea. if they wanna let loose, they can at the 49.” “oakfox1981” “your all not Indian anymore- you've desecrated your regalia and made them costumes- you've taken the arena and turned it into a sidewalk-““Xmotos01” “WOW!!!!!! THIS IS AMAZING!!! i love this, i crank this stuff in my car every day , its the way pow wows should be made, up beat! and this is not disrespectful, this is a genius idea! so stop complaining and start dancing :P” Some of the videos may provide an educational opportunity. Branam was encouraging her students to attend the Spring native student sponsored powwow at Saint Cloud State. None of the students in this particular class setting were native and most had never been to a powwow. Branam began explaining the different styles of dances and the importance of regalia and thought aloud to her class, “ I wish I had pictures.” Her students immediately suggested watching YouTube. Obviously, the students were hoping to get their professor off the assigned topic for 26 the day and instead watch YouTube. However, Branam used these YouTube “home videos” of powwows to introduce students to powwow. Because of the lack of context to these films, Branam could provide her own. When students then attended the powwow they could relate the information discussed in class to the powwow setting and as stated in their reflection papers many were proud to be able to recognize the difference between a grass dancer and fancy dancer and to understand the importance of the jingle dress. Conclusions We easily could go on with several other categories we have discussed while doing our analysis and writing the paper, but it should be clear that YouTube provides an inexhaustible resource for examining a wide range of issues related to Native American. It is difficult to know now to what extent native identity or any identity is shaped by the wide variety of representations on YouTube. Through native activism, we are very well aware of the negative affects of Hollywood Indian representations. Sherman Alexie (1998) reminds us; I watched the movies and saw the kind of Indian I was supposed to be. A cinematic Indian is supposed to climb mountains. I am afraid of heights. A cinematic Indian is supposed to wade into streams and sing songs. I don't know how to swim. A cinematic Indian is supposed to be a warrior. I haven't been in a fistfight since sixth grade and she beat the crap out of me. I mean, I knew I could never be as brave, as strong, as wiser as visionary, as white as the Indians in the movies. I was just one little Indian boy who hatedTonto because Tonto was the only cinematic Indian who looked like me.” (http://www.fallsapart.com/tonto.html). 27 The ability to anonymously comment on any video allows viewers to confront these images. The ability to speak against or for these images may shape their effects, and provide the ability to maintain boundaries, and reinforce specific values. What is perhaps more clear is that this technology may be shaping the relationship between natives and non-natives. This particular cyberspace may be the only public space where some non-natives and natives have the opportunity to interact. YouTube seems to be a stable Web resource and it or sources like it can have multiple uses over the long term. As an educational tool for straightforward cultural information, it can be used with caution, especially if context is provided to students. It can also be an important tool by which people can claim or question identity, as well a tool that questions history, colonization, Hollywood representations of native peoples and the “Vanishing American” stereotype.We have left many issues undiscussed, but they should be listed as questions at least: How, precisely, do native audiences reacting to native film on YouTube?  What are the intellectual property concerns about the use of video materials, especially when videos show private information such as ritual? How are wannabes and attitude toward wannabes affected by the videos? Are ethnic boundaries actually being maintained and can this be measured in some way? YouTube is supposedly democratizing information/ When it sets up or reinforces ethnic boundaries, is it actually do so?  What is the potential for “power struggles” with professionally produced media?Whatever the answers, these and the questions raised in other parts of this paper seem to echo comments and questions raised by Zimmerman, Zimmerman and Bruguier (2000: 85): 28 “There can be little doubt that new technologies play a part in the establishment and maintenance of American Indian ethnic boundaries, but their role is not entirely clear. At some level they may simply be extensions of already extant traits and processes of maintaining boundaries. Certainly, the rapidity of their acceptance by Indian people is remarkable, but even that may be an extension of historical processes that required the development and use of synthetic communication devices” ReferencesBarth Buscombe, Edward 2006 'Injuns!': Native Americans in the Movies. London: Reaktion Books.Deloria, Philip 1999 Playing Indian. New Haven: Yale University Press.Harkin, Michael E. and David Rich Lewis (eds.) 2007 Native Americans and the Environment: Perspectives on the Ecological Indian. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Hilger, Michael 1995 From Savage to Nobleman: Images of Native Americans in Film. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.Hulan, Renée 2003 Northern Experience and the Myths of Canadian Culture. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.Krech, Shepard III 1999 The Ecological Indian: Myth and History. New York: W. H. Norton & Company.Mihelich, John 2001 Smoke or Signals? American Popular Culture and the Challenge to Hegemonic Images of American Indians in Native American Film. Wicazo Sa Review 16:129-137. Riley, Michael J. 2003 Trapped in the History of Film: Racial Conflict and Allure in The Vanishing American. In Peter C. Rollins and John E. O’Connor (eds.), Hollywood’s Indian: The Portrayal of American Indians in Film, Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, pp. 58-72. 29 Singer, Beverly 2001 Wiping the Warpaint Off the Lens: Native American Film and Video. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Zimmerman, Larry J., Leonard R. Bruguier, and Karen P. Zimmerman 2000 Cyberspace Smoke Signals: New Technologies and Native American Ethnicity. In, Claire Smith and Grahame Ward, (eds.) Indigenous Cultures in and Interconnected World. St. Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin . pp. 69-88.

Over The Past Decade In Hollywood Film, Finally The American Indian Voice Is Seeping Through

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