Virginia tribes protest "New World"
Film recounts explorers encountering Pocahontas

Sam Lewin 1/24/2006

_http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7487_
(http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=7487)


Even though it has received mostly positive reviews, some American Indians
living in Virginia are objecting to the film "New World."

Set in 1607 Virginia, the movie tells the story of British settlers first
encountering Native Americans. An English captain named John Smith falls in
love with Pocahontas, played by Q'Orianka Kilcher.

The Virginia Council On Indians has issued a statement criticizing the movie.

"This film isn't history," said council chair Karenne Wood, Monacan. "It's
harmful, because it portrays our people according to stereotypes about
American Indians that we've worked for years to dispel."

Wood, who acknowledges that the makers of the New World sought out "Native
actors and consultants," says the film is "still wrong."

Another member of the council, Reeva Tilley, Rappahannock, said she objected
to the film's focus on the relationship between Smith and Pocahontas.

Most critics have praised the film, although a handful of reviews have been
negative.

"It's haunting and cathartic: a grand romantic vision of two lovers caught
in the grip of a Darwinian culture clash, played out with the precision and
power of a Greek myth," wrote William Arnold, of the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer.

"Saved by its intrepid character portrayals and an evocative sense of
what-if that pervades one of history's most enduring and storied love affairs,"
said Jeanne Aufmuth of the Palo Alto Weekly

"If it were any more obtuse, The New World would be a flipbook where the
moving picture was obscured by a thumb drawn over the stick figures," panned
Erik Childress of EFILMCRITIC.COM.

Virginia tribes have been battling to receive federal recognition, and say
they are "frustrated" that New World has been released to promote the 400th
anniversary of Jamestown.

"The United Kingdom honors us as sovereign nations, but our own country does
not. I think it speaks volumes about how our government really feels about
us," said Chief Anne Richardson of the Rappahannock Tribe.

New World has Oklahoma connections. Actors Marcus and Brian Frejo, Pawnee/
Seminole, brought Kilcher to the state last year for a fundraiser benefiting
the Pawnee Youth Academy. Kilcher's father is a Quechan Indian from Peru

"While we were shooting the [film] Brian and [Marcus] shared a lot with me
about their Pawnee history," Kilcher said at the time. "There are many
similarities our indigenous tribes share in regards to our culture and our
struggles, even though that our tribes are thousand of miles apart from each
other. We
also shared our visions and hopes in how we, the younger generation, can
take positive initiatives within our tribes."


You can reach Sam Lewin at sam@...



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