American Red And Black: Stories Of Afro-Native Identity, By Alicia Woods

Afro-Native Identity, Racism and Preservation In American Red and Black: Stories of Afro-Native Identity, Alicia Woods tells the stories of six individuals who identify as both Native American and African American. The film’s style is raw and direct as Woods eschews any personal narration of her own, choosing instead to feature only the words of these individuals (Vella, Jolene, Sequoyah, Tall Oak, Richard, and Minty). Through their telling of their own stories, these individuals offer glimpses into the complex issues such an intersection of ethnicity and heritage brings. These issues include reconciling these two (at times conflicting) ethnic identities, dealing with racism from multiple groups in society and the necessity of preserving such …show more content…
Unlike some of the other participants in the documentary, Minty knows who she is and is confident in that knowing. She goes on to describe how she was adopted “transracially” to white parents and a white brother and Korean sister. Of all the participants, Minty seems the most confident and most comfortable in her own skin. She attributes this to a piece of advice she received from an elder when she was younger. In response to Minty’s questioning of whether she was native or black, the elder asked her “Which one of your grandmothers is then unworthy of you recognizing her?” I think of all the moments in this film, that one resonated with me the most. The idea of being both African American and native seems so complex, yet it is refreshing to hear such wisdom represented so simply. There is no choice. Minty is Afro-Native. Period.
The uniqueness with which each of these participants deals with their identity is truly fascinating. Jolene grew up on the Makah Reservation and states that no one ever really discussed that she Makah mixed with African American and Irish. She was simply Makah because that’s what they all were. However, when she “went away to college, [she] found [herself] moreso gravitating towards African-American people because that’s how everybody off the reservation viewed [her].” However, as an …show more content…
They bemoan the lack of knowledge amongst many Afro-Native Americans about their native heritage. At a lecture he gave, Richard asked how many of the audience (who were predominantly black) were native american, and all but one raised their hands. He asked many about that, and they responded that family members had said they were native or had native blood somewhere in their family tree. Richard states that though he lives in this shared, dual heritage, most do not and it is sad. Vella’s experience validates this, as she describes never hearing her grandmother “talk about being Indian” and how she doesn’t recall family members ever “talking about our heritage as much until she [her grandmother] passed away”. However, now that she is trying desperately to regain much of that lost culture, Vella realizes that many of the older women remind her of her grandmother because they make her realize just how native her grandmother’s features were, a fact she did not realize while she was alive. Unlike Vella, Richard’s grandmother made damn sure he knew he was Indian, even though his parents were very casual about it. He describes a time when, as a child, he once referred to the “Indians next door” and his grandmother slapped him and then hugged him. He says it was a slap he can still feel, a slap to remind him that he is Native