Smoke Signals: Film Analysis

Indian Identity
In 1990, Congress declared November as American Indian Heritage Month, and they also passed the Native American Languages Act, followed by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. At the same time, movie Dances With Wolves was timely and it reminded American people that Indians occupied the country long before Christopher Columbus set foot on it. During the whole 1990s, American Indian became hot property in Hollywood. Studios scrambled to duplicate the success of Dances With Wolves and created a cycle of sympathetic Indian-themed movies. As a result, people began to put focus on Native American and their culture, history, traditions and language. Meanwhile, Native American, being out of the stage of the U.S. culture for many years, started to think about whom they are and what a real Indian identity is.
Smoke Signals was written, directed and produced by a Native American Chris Eyre, and it was featured as a milestone of breaking the Hollywood stereotypies and bringing real Native American to the screen. The story takes place in the present not
Smoke Signals demonstrated that contemporary Native American stories could appeal to mainstream audiences. It meets the demand by the audiences at that era that Native Americans are the real people. The film gives out a sense of humor and a projection of real Indian identity. The contemporary Native American’s identity is changing as the development of the U.S. civilization. On one hand, they try to stay away from the Whites and the white culture and keep their original identity. On the other hand, they are immensely influenced by the white culture. Being confused in this paradox, Native American keeps looking for their new identity and move forward as the humanization. However, they never abandon the optimistic lifestyle and the kindness toward other