earthw7, I understand that there is a great void in my personal knowledge and that Mr. McLean cannot defend himself here. I just don;t think he should have to defend himself. In actuality, he spent well over 60 years traveling and learning from Native Americans. I wish I had followed his every move to provide more detailed information and evidence. But as someone who was well aware of what he was doing, though not the specific details, I would think what I know about him, his character, disposition, and so on, would at least hold more sway about who he was than the things that have been said here by those who never met or knew him, and which are factually wrong.
Believe me, I more than anyone here wish a forum member was a Native American he associated with. As you can imagine, since he was born sometime around 1930 and just passed away last month, he was very old and most of those he associated with among the Natives would also be very old and not likely to be technologically savvy in the use of computers and forums. But I do hope that one who remembers him will show up at some point.
I will let those that disparage a great man who probably would not have even felt it worth wasting his time trying to defend himself against the accusations of those who knew nothing of him and his life work go on doing so it it makes them feel better. The fact is, whether one wishes to admit it or not, that times were indeed different and there was not the great movement among Natives to retain their heritage and inform others like there is today. Many of the customs, languages and traditions barely survived extinction. The assimilation movement was still held to be the way forward by many, many ignorant and thoughtless people.
I have watched "Reel Injuns." It seems to me to be along the lines of many things preventing understanding and harmony. Of course there is no defense for Hollywood's use of non-Native Americans to depict them, mangling their language and so on. But it is interesting to me that the depiction of Natives as being stoic warriors is griped about, as is the depiction of them not being great warriors. The reality is that no one in Hollywood movies has ever been portrayed or depicted in a real way. All cowboys were not fearless, fast with a gun, tough to the point they beat up anyone they wanted. Not all white people are like "Jersey Shore", "Seinfeld", or "Real Housewives", or "OC", or Elmer Fudd. People of every race could point to numerous instances of ridiculous and callous impressions presented by Hollywood.
People here have a right to question anything they want to. But if it is only matter of looking for a reason to find fault, be negative, or see things in the worst possible light, there will always be ways to do that and prevent real progress. I will continue sourcing the other reference materials and also made a list of the films mentioned in "Reel Injuns" so that I can watch those. One that was mentioned was "Rabbit Proof Fence." I saw that when it was first released and thought it one of the best films I'd ever seen.
I am glad it was not he intention to be hostile to me. It also was not my intention to cause problems or angst for those here. I was just trying to shed some light on the subject from my limited knowledge.
critter, I just saw you posted while I was typing. Thank you.
