We’re always amazed when we hear stories – or experience it directly ourselves – of people asking, “You mean there’s still Indians?” Yes, Virginia …

Now, a new PBS production takes a look at present-day Native American life. The promotional film for “We Shall Remain, Smoke Signals and Skins,” is being shot this week in Oroville, Calif. (An earlier series has already aired on PBS. See video above.) The Contra Costa Times’ Mary Weston talks, here, with Brian Wescott, writer and producer, and comedian and actor Charlie Hill:

Most popular American Indian histories end in 1890 at Wounded Knee, but the stories of more than 500 Native American nations didn’t end at that bloody creek in South Dakota, Wescott said.

“So many of the stories about American Indians happened after the turn of the century, so we decided to take that as the beginning,” Wescott said.

The promotional film Katahdin is shooting in Oroville revolves around Ishi, the last Yahi Indian who came into Oroville in 1911.

The film focuses on the recent repatriation of Ishi’s brain from the Smithsonian Institute, and about how Ishi has touched the hearts of so many people.

“It’s really heart-wrenching because someone who experienced so much loneliness that we can only imagine, and he now has a lot of relatives and people who care about him,” says Westcott, who is an Alaskan Native of Athabascan and Yup’ik descent.

Westcott’s undergraduate degree is from Harvard and he has a doctorate in American studies in Yale. He worked as a researcher for the CBS documentary series 500 Nations hosted by Kevin Costner.

He tells Weston that he hopes to make the four-hour film’s serious nature more accessible with commentary throughout by comedian Charlie Hill, who is of Oneida descent.

“We really hope to reach an audience who never thought they would watch a PBS history film,” Wescott says.

Gwen Florio

James Cameron, whose “Avatar,” has been mocked in some quarters as “Dances With Wolves” in space (see previous post here), recently screened the film for tribal leaders in Ecuador.

They hadn’t seen “Dances With Wolves.”

No, they had a different criticism of the film and its giant blue Na’vi people, according to the New York Times’ Carpetbagger blog, here:

Then there was an Ecuadorean tribal leader who, having watched the movie, took issue with its seeming insistence on armed resistance, rather than mere dialogue, in defense of the environment.

“This movie needed a better message,” Mr. Cameron recalled being told by the elder.

“Wow!” he added. “I’ve been schooled.”

Gwen Florio

Group works to preserve sacred Chief Cliff site
A group of young people, mostly from Salish Kootenai College, is worried that a quarry near Chief Cliff, a site revered by Kootenai people on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, will damage the cliff. They’d like a conservation easement, but tracking down the quarry’s owner is proving tough. Read Missoulian reporter Vince Devlin’s account, here, and watch Tom Bauer’s video, here.

Cherokee quarterback willing to play for Redskins
University of Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford will likely go to the Washington Redskins come draft time, and some commentators are making a big deal over his Cherokee heritage, and the team’s name, considered offensive by many. Bradford is the first Native American to win the Heisman Trophy. Read more on Fredericksburg.com, here.

Robert Redford to join New Mexico’s Jobs Through Film for Natives
The New Mexico Independent reports here that actor and filmmaker Robert Redford is starting a program in northern New Mexico called “Milagro at Los Luceros.” The idea is to create training programs with a focus on Native American and Hispanic filmmaking.

Afghanistan offensive claims life of Navajo Marine
Lance Cpl. Alejandro Yazzie, 23, who is Dine from Rock Point, was killed Feb. 16 in Marjah, Afghanistan, where he was a combat engineer assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, according to the Navajo Times, here. He was the first in his battalion to die in the offensive, and the 11th Navajo soldier or Marine to die overseas since Sept. 11, 2001.

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken seeks more money for tribal schools
“The reality is that Indian schools, and Indian issues in general, just have not been a federal funding priority,” U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. While the Obama administration has done more than previous administrations, “we have to do much, much more,” the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer reports writes here. In Minnesota alone, 64 Indian schools await funding, he says.

Gwen Florio

The Johnny Arlee/Victor Charlo Theater at the Salish Kootenai College Campus in Pablo, Montana, will present a screening of Western Skies, featuring Big Arm’s own Ann Whiting, on Saturday, July 11.

Whiting’s grandmother, Gladys “Jo” Lozar Fouty, and mother, Jane Fouty Whiting (now deceased), are both enrolled tribal members and Whiting is a first-generation descendant of the Salish and Kootenai tribes.

Western Skies is the story of a broken-hearted girl from the East in the war-torn 1940′s. Ann flees to the South Dakota ranch of relatives she has never known. Her strength, love, and courage are regained under the great skies of the West. The film was shot on location in South Dakota and Wyoming. You can read more about the film here.

“My goal was to make a simple, authentic movie with real western people,” Ogilvie said in a news release. “My motivation was to create a tribute to the memory of my cousin, aunt, and father who passed away. This was accomplished with $140, a borrowed camera, and the generous help of family and friends.”

Last month’s premiere of “Western Skies,” in Hot Springs, S.D., attracted 280 people, according to the film’s official Web site here.

There will be two showings at 6 p.m. and 7 .pm. Doors open at 5:30pm. The 30-minute debut film is directed and produced by Skye Ogilvie, also features Amy Ray of Columbia Falls, Mont. The movie will be presented free to the public.

This film is dedicated to three family members who passed away in the past 24 months, Alex Ogilvie, Jane Fouty Whiting and Asia Day Whiting.

Gwen Florio

Ann Whiting of Big Arm is starring in “Western Skies,” a 30-minute debut film directed and produced by Skye Ogilvie that premieres next week in South Dakota, where it was filmed.

Whiting’s grandmother, Gladys “Jo” Lozar Fouty, and mother, Jane Fouty Whiting (now deceased), are both enrolled tribal members and Whiting is a first-generation descendant of the Salish and Kootenai tribes.

“Western Skies” is billed as the story of a Eastern girl who goes West after her fiancée is killed in World War II, and heals her broken heart on a South Dakota ranch. You can read more about the film, and see photos and a video, here.

The premiere of ”Western Skies” will also feature the music of By Michael Bucher, who performed at the American Indian Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C., and whose work has been repeatedly nominated for the Native American Music Awards.

The video for his song “Don’t Forget About Me,” was filmed at a petroglyph site in the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary in Hot Springs, S.D. You can watch the video, which focuses on the desecration of sacred sites, here. “Don’t Forget About Me” and the video for Bucher’s song “Dirty Water” will precede the showing of “Western Skies.”

The song won the Best Political Song award at the Native E-Music Awards in Albuquerque last year.

“Western Skies” will be presented free June 1 at the Hot Springs, S.D., Theater at 7 p.m. Later this summer, it will be screened on the Flathead Reservation – watch Buffalo Post for times and locations.

Gwen Florio