Establishing shot: view of Monument Valley, in the distance
Named locations: Arizona; Monument Valley; Colorado River; New Mexico.
Major themes covered: Silent film shows the world of the Navajo Indians in Northern Arizona, their work and leisure, children and adults
Native activities shown: Riding a burro; Displaying jewelry; Posing for the camera; Preparing a cradleboard; Planting crops; Grinding corn; Preparing food; Eating a meal; Silversmithing.
Establishing shot:
Named locations: Gallup, New Mexico
Major themes covered: anonymous home movie captures the colorfulness of the parade down the main street of Gallup, New Mexico in 1940
Native activities shown:
Individuals? Named?
Native language spoken:
Audible?
Noteworthy elements:
Other notes: anonymous home movie captures the colorfulness of the parade down the main street of Gallup, New Mexico in 1940.
Establishing shot: Men walking from screen right to screen left in the snow, with snowy mountains in the background.
Named locations: Gallup, New Mexico; McKinley County Trading Post; Thunder Mountain
NOTE: This film contains demeaning and condescending language that is a product of the historical period of its creation. These attitudes are not endorsed by AIFG.
The film Real Americans uses multiple references to Native Americans in the past tense via the narration. Jean O’Brien, in Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England (2010), discusses similar techniques used by non-Native authors of local historical texts of the 1800’s to relegate the “Indian” to the past.
Establishing shot: A crane shot pans a parade scene. Individuals can be seen on either side of a road, watching as the parade continues from screen left to screen right in a diagonal motion.
Named locations: Gallup, New Mexico; New Mexico;
Major themes covered: Overview of various Southwestern Native American dances