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Recontextualized: The Covered Wagon

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INDIgenesis: GEN2 opens with a presentation recontextualizing James Cruze’s 1923 silent feature The Covered Wagon. The epic Western cast hundreds of Native Americans as Hollywood’s stereotypical American Indians, including curator Missy Whiteman’s own family members from the Northern Arapaho Tribe. To engage with this fraught history, the film is presented with a contemporary live score composed and performed by Michael Wilson (Ojibwe), which incorporates recordings of Arapaho songs, along with cast members’ photographs and stories. A blessing precedes the screening and discussion follows. 1923, US, DCP, 98 min.

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