Oklahoma: Red People

Part of the Growing Native documentary series focusing on past and present Native American culture, directed by Charles "Boots" Kennedye, this entry centers on Oklahoma, where Oglala-Lakota host Moses Brings Plenty recounts the shocking facts of Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830. Tribes from the Southeastern U.S. were forced at gunpoint to relocate from ancestral homelands to so-called Indian territory in Oklahoma and elsewhere along what became known as the "Trail of Tears." Thousands died during the journey, while survivors were subjected to families being torn apart, children made to attend boarding schools, and bans on traditional practices and original languages. The consequences of this monstrous era are still felt today, but Oklahoma: Red People offers evidence of tribal renaissance, including efforts by Cheyenne and Arapaho in Concho, OK, to bring back herds of buffalo from near-extinction. A key figure here is Kiowa artist Vanessa Jennings, granddaughter of legendary artist Stephen Mopope (1898-1974), a man whose prolific paintings of Indian life from bygone times resemble primordial petroglyphs. Jennings shows viewers a fantastic array of beadwork, buckskin dresses, carvings, and much more created by her and others, all part of an effort to keep Kiowa traditions alive. An inspiring documentary about resurgent Native American culture, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)