The Meshanticut Placemaking Confestival was held August 22-August 25, 2024. (Copy and paste the link below to read the posted aritcle)
FANA hosted many different events over the Weekend of August 25, 2024, that I will address over the next few weeks.
On Friday, August 23, 2024, Meshanticut hosted the premier of the film “Mountain Lion’”.
I would like to quote from the Daily Kos article written by Antoinette Pitcan, titled “Cultural Convergence: The Transformative Impact of the Meshanticut Cultural Placemaking-Confestival” which addressed different aspects of the Confestival.
Mountain Lion was “directed by Brooklyn Demme and produced by SandHill Tribal Member and FANA’s Director of Visual Media, Norris War Turtle Branham. This film, along with special ensemble performances, encapsulated the spirit of the event, blending traditional and contemporary cultural expressions in a celebration of symbolic pride, resilience, and creativity…”
The above statement gave an overall critique of the film. However, I would like to address other aspects.
I was struck by the dysfunctionality illustrated in Mountain Lion. The film addressed the serious issues that exist within Indigenous Communities.
The story unfolds with a man who is illustrating signs of schizophrenia if we apply the European meanings of mental illness.
However, maybe he wasn’t schizophrenic or delusional. Perhaps the “schizophrenic” behaviors were actually visions.
If we just addressed that opinion, it would represent the conflict between Indigenous customs and religious beliefs vs. European religious beliefs and customs.
Mountain Lion depicted the displacement of the indigenous peoples as the United States continued to infringe upon their territories. This displacement caused them to lose touch with their spirituality and the effects of that loss.
The film symbolically illustrated the destruction of Indigenous people’s natural lands, destroyed by the development of their lands for Buildings, etc.
It demonstrated the dysfunction in some Indigenous Families who have been forced to live in cities and the suburbs as they have lost a connection with their culture.
Mountain Lion depicted many conflicts confronting the Indigenous Peoples today. The loss of identity, the loss of costumes, the loss of the Tribal Unity, the loss of tribal languages, the loss of their spirituality.
It is a picture worth seeing. Please click the link below to listen to the Q and A session immediately following the film. If the link does not work, please cut and paste.
Mountain Lion Q & A session:bhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3U84ZAyGv4
Ms Antoinette Pitcan’s article: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/8/28/2266283/-Cultural-Convergence-The-Transformative-Impact-of-the-Meshanticut-Cultural-Placemaking-Confestival
