4 posts from January 2008

One of my favorite Native American actors recently passed away. Floyd Westerman passed away in December from complications of leukemia. Floyd had a very long career in movies, television, and the music industry. My favorite performance was Ten Bears in Dances with Wolves.

Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman was born on the Lake Traverse Reservation, home of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Dakota (Sioux) in the state of South Dakota. As a youth, he attended an off-reservation elementary school where he was forced to cut his hair and forbidden to speak his native language. This would profoundly impact his later life and his restless pursuit of championing his own heritage. At the age of 10, Floyd was sent to the Wahpeton Boarding School, where he first met Dennis Banks of the American Indian Movement. He earned a degree in secondary education from Northern State University in South Dakota. Floyd spent two years in the United States Marine Corps. Before his entry into acting, Floyd established a solid reputation as a respected country western music singer. His recordings offer trenchant inquiry into European influences on Native American communities. In addition to several recordings of his own, Floyd collaborated with Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Harry Belafonte, Joni Mitchell, Kris Kristofferson and Buffy Sainte-Marie. He toured with Sting in the 1990's to raise funds to preserve rain forests. Floyd was a recognized political advocate for Indian causes, working with the American Indian Movement. In 2000, American Indian Expo named Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman Celebrity of the Year. Among other accolades, he received a Congressional Certificate of Special Recognition, the Award for Generosity by the Americans for Indian Opportunity, was named Cultural Ambassador by the International Indian Treaty Council, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the City of Los Angeles and Mayor Richard Riordan, and received the Integrity Award from the Multi-Cultural Motion Picture Association. Floyd passed from this life on December 13, 2007 at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles from complications of leukemia. He is survived by his wife Rosie, his son Richard Tall Bear Westerman, and four daughters: Chante Westerman of Washington State, Chenoa Westerman of South Dakota, Jennifer Westerman of Arizona and Nicky Jackson of Minneapolis. The Producers, Cast and Crew of COMANCHE MOON would like to dedicate our film to the memory of our esteemed and beloved cast member.

One of my favorite western genre authors has brought the final book in the Lonesome Dove trilogy to the small screen
this week. Comanche Moon is being shown in three parts. Part one was Sunday night and part two aired tonight.

Larry McMurtry's Comanche moon is the second installment chronologically. McCrae and Call are in their 30s and become Captains in the Texas Rangers. They set out with their Ranger unit searching for Inish Scull, their former Captain in the Rangers. Scull set out looking for his stolen horse and disappeared.

Unbeknown to Call and McCrae, Scull has been captured by the Mexican bandit Ahumado. Ahumado has a thing for torture and does not hesitate to use it on Scull.

Wes Studi plays Buffalo Hump in the series. Graham Greene was scheduled to portray Buffalo Hump, but had to withdraw from the part. A funny quote from Wes Studi which is paraphrased here. There are two rumors as to how Buffalo Hump received his name; one was due to a hump like growth on his back. The other was due to his sexual prowess. Guess which reason Wes Studi liked better?!

The last part of CM was shown on Wednesday night. It was the best so far. I am not sure why, but all three TV adaptations have been slow to evolve. But after a while, they kick in and become outstanding.

The women's costumes were beautiful and I am pleased to say they were the most authentic 19th century fashions I have seen. No skirt and blouse, or low cut velvet frocks like you see in a lot of westerns. These were authentic down to the petticoats and hoops. Very rich fabrics and designs and not a zipper in sight. I have inserted a few photos of the dresses to illustrate.

This was on the editorial page of the De Smet Leader that arrived today. I found it very funny and thought I would share it. I say more power to South Dakota! One of my top 5 favorite states in the union.

WE HAVE RULES TO LIVE BY IN SOUTH DAKOTA

 

We like to say in South Dakota that the weather keeps the riff-raff  out. But there are some other rules outsiders should be aware of.  Here is list we recently received via e-mail.

1. Pull your droopy pants up. You look like an idiot.

2. Let's get this straight: It's called a gravel road. I drive a pickup true because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dust on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.

3. You say our lakes smell to you. They smell like 'money to us.  Get over it.

4. So you have a $60,000 car. We're not impressed. We have $250,000 combines that are driven only three weeks a year.

5. So every person in every pickup waves. It's called being friendly. Try to understand the concept.

6. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of ducks are coming in, we will shoot it out of your hand. You better hope you don't have it up to your ear at the time.

7. Yeah, we eat walleye and northern pike and love it. You really want sushi and caviar? They are available at the local bait shop.

8. The "Opener" refers to the first day of pheasant hunting or the first day of deer season. They are holidays!

9. We open doors for women. That applies to all women, regardless of age.

10. No, there's no "vegetarian special" on the menu. Order steak. Or you can order the chef's salad and pick off the pound of ham and turkey.

11. When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes--meat, vegetables and breads. We use three spices--onion, pepper and catsup!

 12. You bring "coke" into my house, it had better be brown, wet and  served over ice. You bring "Mary Jane" into my house, she better be cute, know  how to shoot, drive a truck and have long hair.

13. College and high school football and basketball are as important here as the Lakers and Knicks and a lot more fun to watch.

14. Yeah, we have golf courses. But don't hit the water hazards--it spooks the fish.

15. College? Try South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Augustana College and South Dakota State University. They come outta there with an education plus a love of God and country and they still wave at passing pickups when they come home for the holidays.

 16. We have more folks in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines than any other state on a per-capita basis. So don't mess with South Dakota. If you do, you will get whipped by the best.