Storytelling ABOUT Indians THE RED ROAD: Fact and Fiction BY PHOEBE MILLS FA RRIS “THE RED ROAD”
to indigenous people means a good path of life, a spiritual path, the right road or positive direction to walk. Most non-Indian Americans might not have heard the term, but since February 2014 the concept is now familiar to a wider audience thanks to the Sundance TV dramatic series The Red Road. The series also introduces the broader public to a Native popula-
Mac (Gary Farmer) and Marie Van Der Veen (Tamara Tunie) in The Red Road episode 4, “The Bad Weapons.”
tion located just 30 miles from Manhattan, the Ramapough Lenape. In the series the tribe is identified as the Lenape Mountain Indians, but it is based on “real” people, a tribe recognized by both New Jersey and New York State whose members mainly live in the Ramapo Mountains, across the Hudson River from New York City. The tribes of New Jersey, and the Northeast, have long been victims of stereotypes and misper- ceptions, and there has been concern whether the TV drama would further the problem or help alleviate it. Although many tribal members are still withholding judgment, others are applauding the first season. In the words of Xwat Anushiik (Autumn Wind Scott), chair of the
New Jersey American Indian Affairs Commission and a Ramapough Lenape (or Lunaape) tribal member, “When a people have been mar- ginalized and continue to suffer indignities without a voice, the oppor- tunity to effect perceptions is one which cannot be overlooked. Even within the context of fiction, there can be that opportunity.” The characters live in the fictitious town of Walpole, N.J., and the
Lenape are often harassed or neglected by the Bergen County Police. In real life, Bergen County and its police do exist. The main plot deals with a white police officer, Harold Jensen, and his participation in the cover-up of a hit-and-run accident involving his recovering alcoholic wife, the contentious partnership between the policeman and the Le- nape Mountain Indian Phillip Kopus, a recently released ex-con drug dealer, and the generational/historical/contemporary ties between the white officers’ family and the Native Van Der Veen family members. Kopus, played by indigenous Hawaiian Jason Momoa, and Jensen,
Sky Van Der Veen (Lisa Bonet) leads protest of Ramapo tribe in The Red Road.
the white police officer played by Martin Henderson, defy racial ste- reotypes. As the series of six one-hour episodes unravels, the so-called good guy versus bad guy roles become complex and constantly evolve. In addition to the personal stories, the series makes a serious attempt
to present the rich complexity of life in a contemporary Northeastern Indian tribe. For this reviewer and many indigenous people that I talked to informally, what is engaging and empowering about the series is the authentic portrayal of contemporary American Indians in all our diver- sity of appearances, diversity of professions or lack of jobs, spirituality, friendships and romances with non-Natives and the resulting offspring who want to identify as Native. It shows our love for the land, in this case
36 AMERICAN INDIAN WINTER 2014
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SUNDANCE
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