Pacaritambo

THE AMERICAN INDIAN'S SACRED GROUND:
The story of the American Indian and his relationship to the land
hosted by Cliff Robertson. Condition: Private collection VHS, not an ex-rental. Box has small edgewear at corners. Tape is in perfect condition and is guaranteed. 1992 NTSC Freewheelin' Films color production. 60 minutes runing time. Content: For generations the American Indians havae drawn their legendary strength from their sacred ancestral lands. Academy-award winner Cliff Robertson takes you on a remarkable trip to the spiritual places that hold the secrets of courageous warriors and the legacy of these proud people. [1 copy available]
$ 3.95 + $ 3.10 first class shipping.

CHEYENNE AUTUMN (An American Epic)
by Mari Sandoz. Condition: Gently pre-read c. 1971 Discus paperback, 8th printing. Spine crease with small edgewear. Interior clean & tight but tanning. Not collectible but a good reading copy. Content: In the autumn of 1878 a band of Cheyenne Indians set out from Indian Territory, where they had been sent by the U.S. government, to return to their homeland in Yellowstone country. Mari Sandoz tells the saga of their heartbreaking fifteen-hundred-mile flight. One of the worst episodes in US history. The 1964 movie was directed by John Ford (many surmise that this was his "appology" for portraying Native Americans in a poor light over his career). It starred Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Sal Mineo, Dolores del Rio, Ricardo Montalban, Pat Wayne, Gilbert Roland, Edward G. Robinson, Jimmy Stewart (in an interesting aside as Wyatt Earp), and Bing Russell (Kurt's dad). This is a good and powerful movie, but I would love to see a remake with today's extraordinary Native American actors. [1 copy available]
$ 2.49 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

CLEARCUT
1993 Academy Home Videos VHS (NTSC). Starring the great Graham Greene. Condition: NOT an ex-rental video. Private collection viewed once or twice. Tape excellent. Box has small edgewear bottom edges. Movie stills front and back cover. GUARANTEED. Content: Reviewer: "A mystical and powerful tale of anger and revenge. This film is a shattering experience, and must be seen more than once to appreciate the mystical overtones within it. Graham Greene is fantastic as Arthur, a Native man who has had enough of white greed destroying his peoples' land and who decides to make someone pay. The true identity of Arthur and his origins become clearer after the second viewing. To me he was a deeply spiritual avenging spirit called up by the anger of the white lawyer who tried to defend the Natives against the logging industry. Be warned that there are a few scenes of graphic violence not meant for the faint-hearted, but this film is a must-see for anyone who is outraged at the rape and plundering of the earth by industry, whether it be in Canada or the States or the equatorial rainforests. This movie puts you in a downward spiral of rage and insanity. Not for everyone. A cautionary tale for greedy corporate types that is still relevant - maybe Enron execs should have viewed it. Not to be missed. [1 copy available]
$ 21.50 + $ 3.20 first class shipping.

CRAZY HORSE
1996 Turner Originals VHS (NTSC). Starring Michael GreyEyes. Condition: NOT an ex-rental video. Private collection viewed once or twice. Tape excellent. Box has small edgewear bottom edges. Movie stills front and back cover. GUARANTEED. Content: Part of the Ted Turner/Jane Fonda collaboration resulting in a series of movies about Native Americans and their history. "Here is the true story [if we can ever know that] of the Oglala Sioux legend who led a band of 1200 at the battle of Little Bighorn where they defeated General George Armstrong Custer and the Seventh Cavalry." Directed by John Irvin, written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Schenkken, and starring Peter Horton (Custer), Irene Bedard, Jimmy Herman, and the great August Schellenberg. Wes Studi portrays Red Cloud. Running time 93 minutes. [1 copy available]
$ 21.50 + $ 3.20 first class shipping.

DANCE ME OUTSIDE
Director: Bruce McDonald. Movie stills both covers. Condition: NEW 1995 (still shrink-wrapped) Alliance Atlantis VHS movie in box. Bonus feature: Headstones music vidio: "Cemetery." GUARANTEED. Content: Bruce McDonald's wry adaptation of a W.P. Kinsella novel is an engaging, touching story about an awkward passage into manhood and love for an 18-year-old Indian metalhead on the Kidabanesee Reserve in Ontario. Silas Crow (Ryan Black) is a drifting young fellow dragging his feet about entering a school for auto mechanics. While loosely entertaining the idea of writing, Silas unprofitably kills all his time with a thickheaded buddy, Frank Fencepost (Adam Beach), and watches his old girlfriend, Sadie Maracle (Jennifer Podemski), grow away from him as she takes up native issues with admirable commitment. A visit by Silas's older sister, Ilianna (Lisa LaCroix) (with her new, white-and-uptight husband reluctantly in tow), plus the simultaneous reappearance of Ilianna's old flame, ex-con Gooch (Michael Greyeyes), and the unpunished murder of a native girl by a white thug set off a series of events culminating in redemptive acts of love and honor. Big themes, yes, but McDonald has wisely chosen to emphasize the charm of his characters, make sport of spiritual clichés and Indian chic (there's a funny bit in which Silas gets Ilianna's husband drunk and introduces him to a bogus animal guide), and allow the cruelty of white justice against natives to speak (often comically) for itself. One of the best of the Canadian "First Nations" movies of the 90s. 89 minutes run time. Questions encouraged. [1 copy available]
$ 21.50 + $ 3.29 first class shipping.

ISHI IN TWO WORLDS: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America
by Theodora Kroeber. B&W maps & photo section. Condition: UNREAD, but not perfect, 1961 University of California Press Trade Paperback edition, 18th printing. Small edgewear. Content: The Yahi lived peacefully in California for hundreds of years - until they were violently wiped out by the invading white man in the early 1900s. Only a few bold Yahi escaped into hiding, among them the man who became known as Ishi. Soon, one by one, the last of the Yahi died - until Ishi was left alone, the sole survivor of a pround people. When he stumbled into a small California mining town, the world learned his true story for the first time. This is the incredible story of the last hero of the Yahi tribe, and how he brought to civilization all the courage, faith, and strength of the Yahi Way of Life. The 1994 movie with the great Graham Greene as Ishi is wonderful! The movie was directed by Harryy Hook and starred (in addiiton to Greene): Jon Voight, David Ogden Stiers, Jack Blessing, Anne Archer, & Christianne Hauber. [1 copy available]
$ 3.75 + $ 3.09 media shipping.

LOOKING FOR LOST BIRD: A Jewish Woman Discovers Her Navajo Roots
by Yvette Melanson with Claire Safran. Condition: NEW 2000 Avon Bard Trade Paperback, second printing. Content: While growing up as an adopted child in a Jewish family, the author of this compelling memoir never quite fit in with expectations of who she was supposed to be. She didn't look Jewish. She wasn't the boy that her father wanted - though she tried to be. Even her adoring mother found something to nudge her about: "Be a lady. Sit still. Don't act like a wild Indian." On the Internet, with help she attributes to both kind strangers and the Great Spirit, Melanson discovers the reason she didn't fit in, uncovering the bizarre truth that she is, in fact, Navajo. "Funny," everyone says to her, "you don't look Indian." This memoir of an extraordinarily eventful life is crafted like the rugs that Melanson has learned to make in the tradition of her birth family. First, she strings the warp of her story: her adoptive mother's adoration and death; her adoptive father's abandonment and his new wife's rejection of her; the tragic loves, deaths and separations that scarred her life; the happiness she finds with her far-from-perfect husband, Dickie; and the love she receives from her newfound birth family on a Navajo reservation. As she weaves, the patterns emerge, and, each time she reintroduces a thread, she explains that aspect of her life in more detail. The present tense from which she looks back is always moving forward in time as Melanson writes about her efforts to try to integrate the person she had been with the person she is becoming. [1 copy available]
$ 6.49 + $ 3.09 media shipping.

MEDICINE RIVER (VHS movie)
directed by Stuart Margolin. Based on Thomas King's novel of the same name. 96 minutes run time. GUARANTEED. Condition: This 1994 Academy Home Entertainment VHS tape is in excellent condition (private collection) and the box hs just tiny edgewear. Movie stills both covers. Content: Will is an international photo-journalist who hasn't been home for 20 years. When he returns to Medicine River for his mother's funeral, he falls prey to Harlen Bigbear who draws him into a series of hilarious situations that turn his life upside down. Will struggles with the past and with the mystifying interconnected lives of the Blackfoot community, and it's not long before he comes to know much more than he ever expected about the hearts and minds of Medicine River. Many of the "episodes" in Will's life are truly slapstick and true to reservation life. It stars the great Graham Greene as Will but the movie is stolen by Tom Jackson (Harlen) and the beautiful Sheila Tousey. Other stars: Janet-Laine Green, Byron Chief-Moon, Janet-Laine Green, Maggie Blackkettle, Tina Louise Bomberry, and Thomas King (the author) as Lester. One of the best Native American movies ever made. No stereotypes here. [1 copy available]
$ 23.49 + $ 3.09 media shipping.

SKINS (The Other American Heroes)
directed by Chris Eyre. Movie stills both covers. Condition: NEW 2002 (still shrink-wrapped) VHS movie, running time 87 minutes. Content: An inspirational tale about the relationship between two Sioux Indian brothers living on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation. Rudy Yellowshirt is an investigator with the police department and witnesses firsthand the painful legacy of Indian existence. Although rampant unemployment, alcoholism and domestic violence are the norm for many reservation inhabitants, Rudy has largely escaped this cycle of despair. His brother Mogie, however, has not. Now faced with the discovery of a bloodied body, a flaming liquor store just off native land that sells millions of cans of beer a year to the native population, and his brother's ongoing self-destruction, Rudy goes on a quest to avenge himself, his family, and his culture and to seek justice. The movie starred Eric Schweig, Graham Greene, Gary Farmer, Noah Watts, Lois Red Elk, Noah Watts, Tina Keeper (North of 60), Elaine Miles (Northern Exposure), and Chris Eyre (small part). Run, don't walk, to watch this movie! [1 copy available]
$ 9.75 + $ 3.09 media shipping.

SMOKE SIGNALS: A Screenplay
by Sherman Alexie. Movie still cover & B&W movie stills throughout. Condition: NEW 1998 Hyperion Trade Paperback, 6th printing. Tiny edge wear. Content: Set in Arizona, this is the story of two Coeur d"Alene Indian boys on a journey. Victor is the stoic, handsome son of an alcoholic father who has abandoned his family. Thomas is a gregarious, goofy young man who lost both his parents in a fire at a very young age. Through storytelling, Thomas makes every effort to connect with the people around him; Victor, in contrast, uses his quiet countenance to gain strength and confidence. When Victor's estranged father dies, the two men embark on an adventure to Phoenix to collect the ashes. Along the way, Smoke Signals illustrates the ties that bind these two very different young men and embraces the lessons they learn from each other. Reviewer: "For screenwriters, it reveals how a screenplay is transformed in the process of making a movie, in this case by the director, the performers, Miramax's Harvey Weinstein, preview audiences, and in particular the editor. Scenes were shifted or eliminated, and dialogue has been added to patch over some of these structural changes. The result is arguably a very different film from the one Alexie originally wrote. The 1998 movie won the Audience Award and the Filmmaker's Tropy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival - but most importantly, it brought us Adam Beach. The screen play was written by Alexie and was directed by Chris Eyre. It starred Adam Beach, of course, the under-appreciated Evan Adams, Irene Beddard, Gary Farmer, Tantoo Cardinal, Michelle St. John, and Elaine Miles. The screenplay is taken from Alexie's book of short stories, The Lone Ranger & Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. [1 copy available]
$ 4.75 + $ 3.19 media shipping. Priority & International shipping available.

WAR PARTY
by Peter Louis Goldman. Condition: 1995 Warner Home Video (NTSC) starring Billy Wirth and Kevin Dillon. Box has very small shelfwear and tape is in great condition - plays well. Most likely a rental. GUARANTEED! Content: Milk River, Montana. One hundred years ago, the US Cavalry massacred a tribe of Blackfeet Indians. Now many of the townspeople see the centennial as a tourist opportunity, and stage a re-enactment of their famous battle using rubber tomahawks and blank ammunition. But for Indian-born Sonny Crowkiller (Billy Wirth) and Skitty Harris (Kevin Dillon), the day becomes much more than a re-creaiton of the past. Resentment and racial tension explode when a vindictive Cavalryman fires live rounds and murders one of the young Indians. Sonny and Skitty take swift revenge, re-igniting a battle that never really ended, and Milk River runs red with blood once more. Sonny and Skitty find themselves leading a War Party - stalked by renegades and bounty hunters, risking their lives in honor of their ancestors and the memory they cannot let die. War Party is a good addition to most any NA video collection, and the non-Hollywood finale is well worth the wait! [2 copies available]
$ 10.59 + $ 3.10 first class shipping.

WINDWALKER (VHS movie)
directed by Kieth Merrill. Movie stills front & back box cover. 109 minutes run time. Condition: Very good 1991 CBS/Fox VHS movie in black plastic case with box cover inside mylar overlay. Private collection. GUARANTEED. Content: This 1980 movie is a splendid adventure for family viewing. Windwalker has the distinction of being named the #1 anthropological film of all time in an early 1990s poll of the American Anthropological Association. It's not particularly distinguished in terms of its filmmaking, but this authentic Native American tale is told with exciting vitality and careful attention to details of culture, language, costuming, and age-old traditions. The title character (convincingly played by British actor Trevor Howard) is an aged and dying Cheyenne warrior who, as a young husband and father (played by James Remar in flashbacks), watched helplessly as his wife was killed and one twin son kidnapped by Crow invaders. On his deathbed, he is spiritually revived to solve the mystery of his missing son, and in doing so sets his "windwalker" path to a peaceful afterlife. Featuring an abundance of natural beauty in the mountains of Utah and utilizing sparse, subtitled dialogue spoken in authentic Cheyenne and Crow languages, the film may be too intense for very young viewers (with scenes of PG-rated violence involving enemy warriors, wolves and a bear), but it's essential viewing for anyone interested in Native American cultural history. Windwalker was a decade ahead of Dances with Wolves in bringing real, vibrant Indian folklore to a mainstream audience. Additional cast: Nick Ramus, Serene Hedin, Dusty McCrea, Silvana Gallardo, and Chief Tug Smith. [1 copy available]
$ 6.59 + $ 3.29 first class shipping.