All American Man
Long before the American flag was conceived, a red, white and blue shield was painted on the wall of a cave by a prophetic shaman/artist in what is now southern Utah. “All American Man” was painted more than 700 years ago and after magnetically pulling me to visit the cave three times in the 1980s the image became the Sacred Land Film Project’s logo.
Florence Jones Florence Jones, “top doctor” of the Winnemem Wintu (1907 – 2003), conducts a Fire Ceremony south of Mt. Shasta in 1996 with the help of her long time friend Mary Norton. Much to the consternation of young Winnemem activists, Florence invited us to film her healing ceremonies at Mt. Shasta in 1995, as part of her strategy to document her legacy and pass on her traditions. Elaine and the Pipe Lakota elder Elaine Quiver raises a pipe in prayer at Mato Tipila (Lodge of the Bear) also known as Devils Tower on the summer solstice, at a pipe ceremony presided over by Oliver Red Cloud. Elaine and Oliver allowed us to film the ceremony because we were trying to help protect their sacred site, and on the condition that our film would be used for non-profit, educational purposes. Henrietta and Ola Henrietta Mann (Southern Cheyenne) and Ola Cassadore Davis (San Carlos Apache), speak at a press conference after visiting theUniversity of Arizona’s telescope complex, which was then under construction on top of sacred Mt. Graham in southern Arizona. Tears were flowing after the elders viewed the desecration of the mountaintop for the first time. Knoop films glyphs Cameraman John Knoop documents ancient petroglyps in Nevada during the early days of In the Light of Reverence. After a decade of working together on films like Downwind/Downstream and Poison in the Rockies, John was injured in a bicycle accident in 1995 and camera duties passed to Will Parrinello and Andy Black. We shot both 16mm film (landscapes) and Beta SP video (interviews). Interviewing Vernon In 1978, Hopi elders asked me to help publicize Peabody Coal Company’s wasteful use of massive quantitites of underground water to slurry coal, a story we told in our first film, The Four Corners: A National Sacrifice Area? (broadcast on PBS in 1983, won the Student Academy Award). In 1999, still telling the same story, we interviewed Hopi leader Vernon Masayesva in Blue Canyon on Black Mesa, in front of one of the Hopi springs that Peabody was depleting. The slurry line was finally stopped with the closure of the Mohave Power Plant in January 2005. Black Mesa Strip Mine Stockpiled topsoil at the Black Mesa stripmine steams in the early morning sunlight, as the desert’s scant moisture returns to the clouds. DT Sign At Devils Tower National Monument, the National Park Service has erected signs asking tourists to respect Native American offerings at the sacred site. DT lightning A summer thunderstorm at Devils Tower. Grand Canyon Rain clouds bless the Grand Canyon, the Hopi place of emergence and one of the most popular national parks in the world. headless glyph In Escalante Canyon in southern Utah there is an evocative pictograph (cliff painting) attributed to the Fremont culture. I asked Hopi elder Vernon Masayesva about the meaning of the headless men, and he said that it signifies a people who have lost their values. Florence Jones Portrait Florence Jones, the Winnemem Wintu healer, on a journey to Universe Rock in August, 1995. Florence and Daniel A few months before she passed away, Florence Jones presided over a Winnemem eagle dance, and during a break gave some pointers to 2-year-old Daniel. Jimbo at Calpine Jimbo Simmons protests against geothermal energy development and drilling around Medicine Lake (near Mt. Shasta in northern California) in front of Calpine headquarters in San Jose, California. Malinda & Toby ITVS hired a still photographer to take some production stills while we were shooting the final scenes of In the Light of Reverence. (“He’s Robert Redford’s photographer, “ they told us.) Thanks to ITVS and John Schaefer we actually got a few great production stills. Here, Co-Producer Malinda Maynor and Producer/Director Toby McLeod scout a shot at the White Vulcan Mine on the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona.
Panel of 4 in Denver After a Denver screening of In the Light of Reverence, Native American leaders Chris Peters, Caleen Sisk-Franco, Vernon Masayesva and Vine Deloria discuss sacred site issues. Whenever possible, we tried to have people who are in the film present to answer questions and lead discussions after screenings. Vine at DOI Vine Deloria did not grant film or television interviews, but he graciously agreed to talk about Devils Tower with us, and we did a four-hour interview. After completing In the Light of Reverence we screened it in the auditorium at the Department of Interior in Washington, and Vine spoke after the screening. The following day we showed the film at the Pentagon (the military controls huge tracts of land containing many sacred sites). Shasta from North Mt. Shasta from the north, where geothermal drilling poses the next major threat to the sacred mountain. Thomas at Chaco Hopi traditional spokesperson Thomas Banyacya makes an offering in the Great Kiva at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. Thomas Banyacya After visiting the Mohave Power Plant, Thomas Banyacya (Hopi) took us to a remote sacred spring near Laughlin, Nevada, to make offerings of corn meal and an eagle feather. War Dancers Winnemem Wintu war dancers fasted and prayed for four days at Shasta Dam in September, 2003, declaring their intention to fight the latest threat to their traditional homelands — the proposed raising of Shasta Dam, which would flood more sacred sites, burials and ancestral villages in the McCloud River valley. Watchtower A Hopi spirit being that was painted on the walls of the Watchtower at the Grand Canyon in the 1930s. White Vulcan Mine At the White Vulcan pumice mine on the sacred San Francisco Peaks, director Toby McLeod asks a question of Hopi elder Dalton Taylor, as Will Parrinello shoots, and Lee Wayne Lomayestewa and Forest Service archaeologist Linda Farnsworth listen. Winnemem Eagle Dance Winnemem Wintu eagle dancers at the annual summer ceremony at Coonrod Flat on Mt. Shasta’s southern flank.
Florence Jones Florence Jones, “top doctor” of the Winnemem Wintu (1907 – 2003), conducts a Fire Ceremony south of Mt. Shasta in 1996 with the help of her long time friend Mary Norton. Much to the consternation of young Winnemem activists, Florence invited us to film her healing ceremonies at Mt. Shasta in 1995, as part of her strategy to document her legacy and pass on her traditions. Elaine and the Pipe Lakota elder Elaine Quiver raises a pipe in prayer at Mato Tipila (Lodge of the Bear) also known as Devils Tower on the summer solstice, at a pipe ceremony presided over by Oliver Red Cloud. Elaine and Oliver allowed us to film the ceremony because we were trying to help protect their sacred site, and on the condition that our film would be used for non-profit, educational purposes. Henrietta and Ola Henrietta Mann (Southern Cheyenne) and Ola Cassadore Davis (San Carlos Apache), speak at a press conference after visiting theUniversity of Arizona’s telescope complex, which was then under construction on top of sacred Mt. Graham in southern Arizona. Tears were flowing after the elders viewed the desecration of the mountaintop for the first time. Knoop films glyphs Cameraman John Knoop documents ancient petroglyps in Nevada during the early days of In the Light of Reverence. After a decade of working together on films like Downwind/Downstream and Poison in the Rockies, John was injured in a bicycle accident in 1995 and camera duties passed to Will Parrinello and Andy Black. We shot both 16mm film (landscapes) and Beta SP video (interviews). Interviewing Vernon In 1978, Hopi elders asked me to help publicize Peabody Coal Company’s wasteful use of massive quantitites of underground water to slurry coal, a story we told in our first film, The Four Corners: A National Sacrifice Area? (broadcast on PBS in 1983, won the Student Academy Award). In 1999, still telling the same story, we interviewed Hopi leader Vernon Masayesva in Blue Canyon on Black Mesa, in front of one of the Hopi springs that Peabody was depleting. The slurry line was finally stopped with the closure of the Mohave Power Plant in January 2005. Black Mesa Strip Mine Stockpiled topsoil at the Black Mesa stripmine steams in the early morning sunlight, as the desert’s scant moisture returns to the clouds. DT Sign At Devils Tower National Monument, the National Park Service has erected signs asking tourists to respect Native American offerings at the sacred site. DT lightning A summer thunderstorm at Devils Tower. Grand Canyon Rain clouds bless the Grand Canyon, the Hopi place of emergence and one of the most popular national parks in the world. headless glyph In Escalante Canyon in southern Utah there is an evocative pictograph (cliff painting) attributed to the Fremont culture. I asked Hopi elder Vernon Masayesva about the meaning of the headless men, and he said that it signifies a people who have lost their values. Florence Jones Portrait Florence Jones, the Winnemem Wintu healer, on a journey to Universe Rock in August, 1995. Florence and Daniel A few months before she passed away, Florence Jones presided over a Winnemem eagle dance, and during a break gave some pointers to 2-year-old Daniel. Jimbo at Calpine Jimbo Simmons protests against geothermal energy development and drilling around Medicine Lake (near Mt. Shasta in northern California) in front of Calpine headquarters in San Jose, California. Malinda & Toby ITVS hired a still photographer to take some production stills while we were shooting the final scenes of In the Light of Reverence. (“He’s Robert Redford’s photographer, “ they told us.) Thanks to ITVS and John Schaefer we actually got a few great production stills. Here, Co-Producer Malinda Maynor and Producer/Director Toby McLeod scout a shot at the White Vulcan Mine on the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona.
Panel of 4 in Denver After a Denver screening of In the Light of Reverence, Native American leaders Chris Peters, Caleen Sisk-Franco, Vernon Masayesva and Vine Deloria discuss sacred site issues. Whenever possible, we tried to have people who are in the film present to answer questions and lead discussions after screenings. Vine at DOI Vine Deloria did not grant film or television interviews, but he graciously agreed to talk about Devils Tower with us, and we did a four-hour interview. After completing In the Light of Reverence we screened it in the auditorium at the Department of Interior in Washington, and Vine spoke after the screening. The following day we showed the film at the Pentagon (the military controls huge tracts of land containing many sacred sites). Shasta from North Mt. Shasta from the north, where geothermal drilling poses the next major threat to the sacred mountain. Thomas at Chaco Hopi traditional spokesperson Thomas Banyacya makes an offering in the Great Kiva at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. Thomas Banyacya After visiting the Mohave Power Plant, Thomas Banyacya (Hopi) took us to a remote sacred spring near Laughlin, Nevada, to make offerings of corn meal and an eagle feather. War Dancers Winnemem Wintu war dancers fasted and prayed for four days at Shasta Dam in September, 2003, declaring their intention to fight the latest threat to their traditional homelands — the proposed raising of Shasta Dam, which would flood more sacred sites, burials and ancestral villages in the McCloud River valley. Watchtower A Hopi spirit being that was painted on the walls of the Watchtower at the Grand Canyon in the 1930s. White Vulcan Mine At the White Vulcan pumice mine on the sacred San Francisco Peaks, director Toby McLeod asks a question of Hopi elder Dalton Taylor, as Will Parrinello shoots, and Lee Wayne Lomayestewa and Forest Service archaeologist Linda Farnsworth listen. Winnemem Eagle Dance Winnemem Wintu eagle dancers at the annual summer ceremony at Coonrod Flat on Mt. Shasta’s southern flank.
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Film Team After Ukok
Date: 09/25/2007 Views: 109