When Broken Rainbow won the academy award in 1986 for documentary film, my family and tribe were very proud. Throughout my childhood, I casually watched Broken Rainbow many times. Now as I re-watch and dissect the film many years later, I’ve noticed a theme throughout the film that I didn’t recognize at first. Throughout the documentary, Broken Rainbow (1985), film-makers Maria Florio and Victoria Mudd further their political argument of repealing the Navajo Hopi Settlement Act by utilizing the trope of the “vanishing Indian”.
In traditional Navajo culture, the rainbow is sacred and plays a major role in our creation stories (Makeda 2016: 639). Rainbows are never specifically referred to throughout the film, but the title Broken Rainbow refers …show more content…
By using this theme, the film relays a sense of urgency for the viewers to help the Navajos and feel sympathetic towards them. The idea of the “vanishing Indian” is a “…centuries-old stereotype of Native Americans as the ‘vanishing race’…” (Hawley 2016:1). This stereotype was founded in the nineteenth century when white anthropologists as well as photographers felt the need to document native people as much as possible before total assimilation of indigenous livelihood occurred (Hawley 2016: 7). Yet, in the context of Broken Rainbow, the vanishing Indian trope is not a stereotype but rather somewhat of a reality. The filmmakers construct a narrative in which the Navajos may continue to culturally thrive, yet only if they are not relocated and the Navajo Hopi Settlement Act is repealed. Land is vital in relation to the thriving of indigenous culture and the film depicts dependent relationship between the Navajos and their traditional homelands. In addition, the film gives the viewers an ultimatum. They can either act or sit aside as traditional Navajo culture disappears. The audience is much more compelled to act when faced with an ultimatum and thus the vanishing Indian trope is
In traditional Navajo culture, the rainbow is sacred and plays a major role in our creation stories (Makeda 2016: 639). Rainbows are never specifically referred to throughout the film, but the title Broken Rainbow refers …show more content…
By using this theme, the film relays a sense of urgency for the viewers to help the Navajos and feel sympathetic towards them. The idea of the “vanishing Indian” is a “…centuries-old stereotype of Native Americans as the ‘vanishing race’…” (Hawley 2016:1). This stereotype was founded in the nineteenth century when white anthropologists as well as photographers felt the need to document native people as much as possible before total assimilation of indigenous livelihood occurred (Hawley 2016: 7). Yet, in the context of Broken Rainbow, the vanishing Indian trope is not a stereotype but rather somewhat of a reality. The filmmakers construct a narrative in which the Navajos may continue to culturally thrive, yet only if they are not relocated and the Navajo Hopi Settlement Act is repealed. Land is vital in relation to the thriving of indigenous culture and the film depicts dependent relationship between the Navajos and their traditional homelands. In addition, the film gives the viewers an ultimatum. They can either act or sit aside as traditional Navajo culture disappears. The audience is much more compelled to act when faced with an ultimatum and thus the vanishing Indian trope is