By JANICE RHOSHALLE LITTLEJOHN
LOS ANGELES (AP) - He wasn't nominated for an Oscar for his role
as a Native American Marine in “Flags of Our Fathers,” but Adam Beach
still feels like a winner.
“Just to hear that people were upset that I didn't get nominated really
means a lot,” he says of critics enthralled by his haunting portrayal
of Ira Hayes, one of the Marines seen raising the flag on Iwo Jima in
the prize-winning Associated Press photo snapped during the World War
II battle.
“I've never had to wait for an award to look at my accomplishments,” he
says. “I've always had the hearts and smiles of Native American people
to tell me, 'You've won us.' That's my award.”
A Salteaux Indian from Manitoba, Canada, Beach, 34, has earned
worldwide recognition for his strong work in dozens of films, including
the critically acclaimed “Smoke Signals” and John Woo's “Windtalkers.”
In HBO's historical epic, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” airing May
27 (9 p.m. EDT), the actor again delivers a stirring performance. He
plays Charles Eastman, a college-educated Sioux physician who struggles
with his assimilation as the U.S. government continues a bloody
campaign to settle Indian lands.
Adapted from Dee Brown's nonfiction best-seller, the film begins in
1876 with the Sioux victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn and
the events leading up to the assassination of Sitting Bull and the
Sioux massacre at Wounded Knee Creek in 1890.
“A lot of people now say, 'Hey, you guys, get over it,”' Beach says, on
the phone from New York. “It's not about getting over it. It's about
understanding.
“There are still generations who are trying to recover from this assimilation that (the government) tried on our people.”
Although a historical character, Eastman was not the centerpiece of the book as he is in the film.
“It was a dramatic necessity,” says executive producer Dick Wolf, “to
have somebody who was a synthesis of many different paths and
characters. Once we found the character, it was finding an actor.”
And what Beach brought to the role went beyond the script.
“There is something in his expressions that there is more going on than
meets the surface,” says Wolf, who's hired the actor as a regular on
his NBC procedural “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
Beach also will star in CBS' upcoming “Comanche Moon,” the latest miniseries in the “Lonesome Dove” franchise.
“Adam has had a uniquely successful career. But I think he recognizes
that there are other people, if they'd had the same breaks, who could
do the same thing,” Wolf adds. “In that way, I think the (journey of
the) character of Charles Eastman is remarkably similar to the journey
that Adam is on himself.”
Raised on an Indian reservation, Beach was orphaned at the age of 8
after losing his parents in separate accidents only months apart. He
and his two brothers went to live with relatives in Winnipeg, where, as
a teenager, he got caught up in gangs.
He found his saving grace in a high-school theater class - although
initially, it was just a place where he and his buddies could act silly.
“We were just beating up each other and doing crazy stunts,” he admits.
“They left the next year, but I stayed in it. I really liked it. It
allowed me to hide from who I was. I didn't feel I had to carry the
burdens of my life in the class.”
After performing in local theater productions, Beach dropped out of
school to join the Manitoba Theatre for Young People. At 18, he landed
a small part in the miniseries “Lost in the Barrens.”
Various TV roles came next but he wasn't expecting the reception that followed.
“Once I started acting, people were asking, 'When are you going to
quit?' 'Why is he doing that?' This was from my family and friends,” he
said. “I just took it as, `I'll show you.”'
In 1998, Beach landed the lead in Chris Eyre's “Smoke Signals.” In the
film, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, he
played Victor Joseph, a reservation kid who goes on a journey to
collect the remains and property of his estranged father.
That role brought Beach more than just attention.
“It really made me look at my life, like hitting a brick wall,” he
remembers. “Victor Joseph was me. His whole journey, he's contemplating
his life and how his father wasn't there and how he blames him for
everything. ...
“It was basically me putting all the hate and anger toward my parents
saying, 'It's all your fault. Why did you have to die on me?' I
realized I had a lot of healing to do. But also, in the way I chose my
roles after that, I had to really live them.”
The twice-married father of two now divides his time between his home
in Ottawa and New York, where he's currently shooting episodes of “SVU.”
“That first episode I did on the show (in a guest appearance) gave me
more publicity than 'Flags of Our Fathers,' and I thought I was in the
big leagues with that film,” says Beach, who plays Detective Chester
Lake on the series. “Native kids need role models on television, and
I'm going to reach them with this show.”
Wolf expects there will be more in store for Beach after “Wounded Knee” airs.
“I will be stunned, baffled and upset,” he says, “if he isn't nominated (for), and wins, an Emmy.”
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By LOURDES MEDRANO
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP)
The American Indian artists featured in Red Ink magazine are not afraid to push the envelope.
Take Bunky Echo-Hawk, whose artwork pokes fun at Indian stereotypes through popular culture in the latest issue of the student-run publication at the University of Arizona.
| Bunky Echo-Hawk painting entitled "1492 is a four letter word." |
“Hollywood and the mass media in general portray American Indians as a people of the past, as if our story stopped 100 years ago,” said Echo-Hawk, who is of Pawnee and Yakama descent. “You rarely see the modern Indian perspective.”
He puts forth that message in one of his Red Ink paintings reproduced in the magazine. It depicts Sitting Bull, the legendary Sioux warrior, being interviewed by CNN's Larry King.
The Colorado artist said that while more traditional Indian art forms, such as pottery and basketry, are important for the preservation of culture, there also is room for creative expression that explores contemporary Indian society.
“A lot of artists are telling our story of today,” he said.
The students behind Red Ink say the magazine is the only one of its kind in the nation, offering a unique forum for artists, poets, writers and photographers whose work does not fit a traditional mold.
“We really want the emerging artists to get recognition,” said Jessica Metcalfe, a UA graduate student who helped produce the recently released spring issue of Red Ink. Like Metcalfe, most of the eight students involved in the magazine are American Indian and enrolled in the American Indian Studies program that helps sponsor Red Ink.
The magazine, whose latest issue focuses on the themes of humor and taboo, is enjoying a rebirth of sorts, said Eddie Welch, its managing editor.
“Red Ink was in the dumps; it was on life support,” he said. “It needed a fresh start.”
The magazine has been published off and on since 1989, initially in a newspaper format. The previous issue was released in December 2005, Welch said.
For the latest issue, Welch, Metcalfe and the other students had to seek additional funding to boost financial assistance from American Indian Studies, Welsh said. They also brought in Echo-Hawk and other artists featured in the magazine to a Tucson fundraiser recently for the continued publication of Red Ink.
“It's important to keep it going because there's nothing like it out there,” Welch said of the magazine. “It gives a voice to native people, and it also allows nonnative people to see native contemporary art.”
Red Ink also serves as a learning tool for the students who produce it, Welch said, adding that the group picks up all the skills necessary to edit, manage and market a publication.
Welch, one of two non-Indians on the Red Ink staff, said the student group plans to get more involved in community events to augment the profile of the kind of art showcased in the magazine.
“When most people think of native art, they think of it in historical terms,” said Welch, who is from North Dakota and has had a longtime interest in
American Indian culture.
“Red Ink wants people to know that native art is living art, it's contemporary, and it's always
changing.”
Ian Record, the magazine's faculty adviser, said the publication is a labor of love for students.
“It's a monumental undertaking,” said Record, who as a former UA student also worked on the magazine and is familiar with the hurdles of keeping it afloat in the midst of budget crunches. “The latest issue is a testament to the students' commitment.”
Like Welch and Metcalfe, Record said he thinks it's vital that the publication continue to provide an outlet for American Indians who have difficulty finding other mediums for their creativity.
“Red Ink has always prided itself on providing a forum for those people,” he said. “Red Ink exposes the underbelly and the complexity of Indian country in many respects.”
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By KIM BRIGGEMAN
MISSOULA,
Mont. (AP) - Stan Pretty Paint
has songs, hundreds of them, throbbing in his head and in his heart. He's not alone. Native music passed down through generations has helped
define the culture and identities of tribes in Montana and elsewhere.
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