Suite: INDIAN

Directed by Shelley Niro

Canada, 2005 (experimental, 57 minutes, colour, English)

Image: © V tape

Film Description:
"Suite: INDIAN is a series of short films. It contains history, mystery and magic. Participating in the creation are artists, actors, musicians and dancers mostly based on the Six Nations Reserve. Each story chronicled expresses the challenges embodied in contemporary Native North American society. Titles may be screened separately. Chapters: 1. Prelude; 2. Mars Thunderchild Gets a Calling; 3. Kory & Mercedes; 4. The Park Was Thick in Silence; 5. Home; 6. Living With Fire / From The Ashes; 7. Dance of the Canoe Pants; 8. The Red Army is the Strongest."
-- V tape (source)

Film Credits (partial):
Written by:	Shelley Niro
Produced by:	Shelley Niro
Narrator:	Brenda Mitten
Participants:	Cheri Maracle-Cardinal, Trevor Jones, Lena Recollet, Brandy Martin
Cinematography:	Ernie Kestler
Animation:	Rob Fortier
Film Editing:	Maureen Nolan
Additional Credits:	Choreographer / Chorégraphe : Santee Smith

(sources)

Quote about Suite: INDIAN

"[Shelley] Niro's film [Suite: Indian] uses a musical form—the suite—to highlight a multifaceted approach to First Nations lives and issues in a way that critiques how First Nations materials are mis-used by many Euro-American artists, who frequently conflate specific histories and cultures into a 'Hollywood Indian' stereotype or, in music, an 'Indian' sound that is likewise of no particular context. Niro also uses her film as a collective and empowering space in which to showcase other Haudenosaunee artists' work, demonstrating her commitment to her community and to film as a force for the dynamic creation of multiple voices that articulate a complex vision of what it means to be Haudenosaunee in the contemporary world."
-- Laura L. Beadling (source)

Bibliography for Suite: INDIAN

Journal Articles

Beadling, Laura L. "In an 'Indian' Key: Shelley Niro's Revisioning of the Baroque Suite Form in Suite: Indian." Canadian Journal of Film Studies / Revue canadienne d'études cinématographiques 20, no. 2 (Autumn 2011): 111-127.