STORYTELLERS OF THE PACIFIC: IDENTITY {PART 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
One in this documentary series focusing on the effects of colonization on indigenous peoples around the world. This episode deals with the issue of cultural identity. The first segment features Greg Sarris -- author, professor at U.C.L.A., and chief of the Coastal Miwok tribe in Santa Rosa, California. Sarris is working to restore his people's culture and identity in the eyes of the U.S. government, which has ceased to recognize the Miwok as a tribe. He talks about the waves of foreign invaders who exploited and annihilated his people, and he drives down Grand Avenue, the "integrated" reservation on which he grew up. Sarris discusses his own heritage and his struggles with identity. Sarris is shown speaking to schoolchildren and to adults interested in his book, and historical photos of the Miwok people are shown. The second segment features Kaho'olawe Island in Hawaii, a site the United States military used for target practice from the 1950s until 1992. Collette Machado of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission and A. Frenchy DeSoto, a trustee from the Office of Indian Affairs, talk about the Kaho'olawe movement to put an end to this destruction. Noa Emmett Aluli, chair of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission, talks about the power of the natural landscape and the destruction the bombing brought to it. Aluli describes the growth in general support for the Kaho'olawe movement, thanks to the wide array of issues involved -- preservation of the environment, marine life, historic architecture, and the sovereignty of the native people. William Akutagawa, co-founder of the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana, talks about Kaho'olawe's effects on him. When the bombing was finally stopped in 1992, the Hawaiian people performed healing ceremonies for the land and their hearts, viewers learn. At various intervals, this segment includes native Hawaiian dancing and newspaper clippings of relevant events. The segment closes as Aluli discusses work that remains in the field of Hawaiian activism. In the third segment, Pauline McCleod talks about the Aboriginal people in Sydney, Australia. McCleod, an Aboriginal storyteller, is working to keep the stories of her culture alive. She describes the role of the storyteller, her own storytelling, and her past; then she tells the story of how the mother kangaroo obtained her pouch. McCleod discusses the plight of Aboriginal children who are kidnapped from their families so they can be assimilated into Western culture. An Australian commercial promoting Aboriginal adoption is then shown. The segment closes as McCleod talks about looking back at one's personal history and culture. The program moves on to American Samoa. Since 1981, this U.S. territory has sent a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives, a position now held by Eni F.H. Faleomavaega. Faleomavaega talks about the Samoan people, his entry into politics, and colonialism. Caroline Sinavaiana, a social historian, and Tialuga Seloti-Sunia, an instructor at American Samoa Community College, discuss the effects of colonialism and western influence on the Samoan people. Faleomavaega describes the use of food stamps for the elderly and the Samoan language, and he pays tribute to the beauty of Samoan culture. A traditional Samoan song is then played. The fifth segment of the documentary features David Neel of British Columbia, Canada. An artist who works to recapture the traditions of his people through ceremonial mask-making and photography, Neel is shown taking photographs at a potlatch celebration. Neel talks about his upbringing and the art of his family, explaining that even though he lost his parents at a young age their art lived on and influenced him. He dwells on the photography of native peoples, which he argues has expanded the "gap of misunderstanding" between native and non-native people. Neel also talks about his own photography and about the myth that native people are a vanishing race. The final segment of the program focuses on Guam, an island that has endured 400 years of colonial rule. Today, sixty percent of Guam is occupied by the U.S. military. Angel L.G. Santos of the Chamoru people of Guam talks about his service in the U.S. Air Force, the inequality he faced there, his rebirth into a peoplehood who were being turned into slaves on their own land, and his people's fight to regain their land and culture. Jesse Fejeran, a Chamoru warrior, is shown in an emotional confrontation with a member of the military. James Castro talks about what he sees as the hypocrisy of the United States government. Hope Cristobal, a senator in Guam, and Robert Underwood, a delegate to the U.S. Congress, comment on the dissatisfaction and outrage felt by the Chamoru people. Santos returns to the question of activism, dwelling on the uses of civil disobedience and his people's plans for promoting change and ending injustice. The segment closes with a prayer to the ancient ones. This program is closed-captioned.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 2000.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: November 30, 1995
- RUNNING TIME: 0:56:46
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:61229
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Australian aborigines; Chamorro (Micronesian people); Ethnicity; Hawaiians; Imperialism; Indians of North America; Indians of North America - British Columbia; Indigenous peoples; Miwok Indians; Photographers; Samoan Islands; Asian American Pacific Islanders Collection; Indigenous Peoples Collection
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV, 1996
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Leonard … Executive Producer
- Ron Hull … Executive Producer
- Frank Blythe … Executive Producer
- Wally Longul … Executive Producer
- Whai Ngata … Executive Producer
- Lurline Wailana McGregor … Executive Producer, Director
- Francis Peters … Producer
- Tainui Stephens … Producer
- Jeff Bear … Producer
- Llew Cleaver … Producer
- Phil Lucas … Producer, Director
- Heather Haunani Giugni … Producer, Director
- Maria Yatar … Producer, Director
- George Burdeau … Producer, Director
- Daniel Aga … Field Producer
- Alan Weisman … Field Producer
- Mark Hoover … Music by
- Max Lestenkof … Music by
- Victor Merculief … Music by
- Ian Schildt … Music by
- Maria Yatar … Music by
- Robert Moss … Music (Misc.), Theme Music by
- Sydney Symphony Orchestra … Music (Misc.), Recorded by
- Joy Harjo … Narrator
- William Akutagawa
- Noa Emmett Aluli
- James Castro
- Hope Cristobal
- A. Frenchy DeSoto
- Eni F.H. Faleomavaega
- Jesse Fejeran
- Collette Machado
- Pauline McCleod
- David Neel
- Angel L.G. Santos
- Greg Sarris
- Tialuga Seloti-Sunia
- Caroline Sinavaiana
- Robert Underwood