Way way back, what would later become the USA was brimming with indigenous tribes and their own languages. With the invasion of the white man, many of these tribes became extinct, their languages forgotten, and over the years, US gouvernment did the "best" to assimilate the tribes that haven't been eliminated by exposing them to white man's education - which also included alienating them from their own languages, teaching them English and Christian religion at school, to gradually making them forget who they are. Now of course, what happened centuries ago with the invasion of America and subjugation of its native peoples cannot be reversed anymore, and one has to live with the outcome for better or worse, right? And to teach natives English to integrate them into the community isn't the worst of ideass, right? Right ... and wrong as the indigenous people of America have a very rich tradition of oral culture, and their languages are almost in general rich on nuances that can neither be caught in written language nor properly translated into English, so to properly preserve pueblo culture, one has to speak the language ...

... and that's a point this half-hour documentary brings across very well. And even though the film is mostly just talking heads, they are very articulate, make their point in a very unexcited manner, and the whole thing's structured and told in a very engaging way that makes you interested in indigenous American culture and (even more) sympathetic for the natives' cause.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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