Eberts, J. (Producer), & Friedenberg, R. (Director). (1997).
The education of little tree [Film]. Hollywood: Paramount.
This is a movie about an eight-year-old orphaned half-Cherokee
boy living
> in the 1930's depression era. This boy, Little Tree (Joseph Ashton) ,
goes
> to live with his grandpa (James Cromwell) and his Cherokee grandmother
> (Tantoo Cardinal) in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.
There, he
> learns how to read the signs in nature and to respect Mother Earth.
His
> grandparents also teach him racial tolerance (with a grain of mistrust)
in
> a world where such values have not been mirrored back to him.
Little
> Tree's education also extends into the fine art of making moonshine,
which
> lands his grandpa in trouble. The state then makes the decision
to send
> Little Tree to the Notched Gap Indian School, where he is instructed
and
> forced to change his name and to become more "civilized."
>
> I almost did not want to chose this movie, just because it seemed
too
> easy. However, I really enjoyed the film and the scope
of what was
> entailed in Little Tree's "education." I think that this
movie exposes
> the dark roots of what multicultural (monocultural?) education used
to be
> like. There was no room for a "multi" prefix in these oppressive
schools
> of the past. The life lessons in this film are very powerful.
> Supposedly, Forrest Carter, the author of the novel from which this
movie
> was adapted, wrote this anti-bigotry tale as an apology for his earlier
> involvement in a group tied to the Ku Klux Klan, although this has
nothing
> to do with its content. I thought this movie had a beauty about
it that
> was very insightful and sentimental.
>
> Questions for the Author/ Director
> (Novel by Forrest Carter, Screenplay by Richard Friedenberg)
>
> 1. I noticed that besides the grandfather, there was almost a complete
> lack of sentimental white characters. Was this how the novel
was depicted
> or was it a way to emphasize cultural tension in the film?
>
> 2. I have read that there is a lot of controversy surrounding
the novel.
> Why is this? Is it because white folk are held in a tainted
light? When
> was the novel written?
>
> 3. What kind of reference resources did you use to make a film
like this?
> Any primary sources?
>
> 4. Why would the state spend money on "rehabilitating" young
Native
> Americans during this time period? What was their motivations
for trying
> to make the native children "white"?
>
> 5. How long did these "Indian schools" last? At what
point did were they
> shut down? Did it take the Supreme Court decisions during the
civil
> rights movement to draw public attention to the injustices that were
> occurring at such a school?
Submitted by Justin Barron
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