Quote from We Talk, You Listen (1972) by Vine Deloria Jr. (Nakota Sioux) Voice-over provided by Dakota Schreiner (Lakota Sioux). This animated More

Quote from We Talk, You Listen (1972) by Vine Deloria Jr. (Nakota Sioux) Voice-over provided by Dakota Schreiner (Lakota Sioux). This animated character monologue touches on several topics: Native American mascot controversy, environmental issues, U.S. history and alternate history. The final 1/3 of the film is a viewpoint of an alternate history in which the Native Americans were never reduced to a minority and eventually gained independence like other former European colonies. In this alternate history, Natives have restored and dignified their heritage, including original place-names and forgotten heroes. The mock mascot character has a "war paint" made of European ships and pickaxes of gold rush. The barb wire shaped stitches around the mouth symbolize the Indian reservations, and the mascot face is covered in smallpox blisters. Black Hills mountain range is seen in the background. These mountains are sacred to Plains Indians and were bitterly contested during the wars against the U.S. government. Sitting Bull, Tatanka Iyotake (18311890, Lakota Sioux) is a historical figure, one of the most important chiefs in the Native American history, an archetype of Native resistance. In reality, there is no monument to Sitting Bull in front of the U.S. Capitol. Instead, there is a monument to Ulysses S. Grant, a U.S. president that violated the Treaty of Fort Laramie and seized the Black Hills from the Plain Indians, including Sitting Bull. In the alternate history, Sitting Bull have replaced Grant as an important hero in the nation's capital. Tohoga was the name of the Native American village, upon which British established a trade post that eventually grew into the present-day Washington, DC. Turtle Island is the English translation of many Native American tribes' terms for the continent of North America. The term is proposed as a synonym or substitute for North America, a term created by Europeans.
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I was 1 of 30 international animators, film makers and designers asked to create a 1 minute film to celebrate IdN reaching it's 100th issue. More

I was 1 of 30 international animators, film makers and designers asked to create a 1 minute film to celebrate IdN reaching it's 100th issue. I've been looking for a project to work with my friend and very talented artist Abigail Brown who makes amazing creatures out of vintage fabrics and wire, so when IdN asked me to create a 1 minute film to celebrate your 100th issue I thought it was perfect. I left it open to Abigail what she made for me, I sent a metal stop-frame armature to her studio in London and this fantastic squirrel came back a few weeks later. The animation is inspired from lots of sources but I especially wanted to try and achieve a tone similar to British animator Oliver Postgate who made many much loved stop-frame children's shows in the 60s and 70s which had a magical hand-made feel to them. All of the backgrounds were photographed one evening when I was walking home from work and the sun was setting. I feel really lucky that I had an evening like this just as I was starting the animation, there hasn't been the same sort of sunset light since and it was exactly the sort of mood I was hoping to achieve. The music is by Magpahi a folk singer I had met a few months before on a night out for a friend’s birthday at a retro rock 'n' roll night in London. As soon as I heard this track, 'Through the pine forests' I knew it was perfect for the film. Well done on reaching 100 IdN! You're truly a source of constant inspiration and quality. Looking forward to the next 100 issues. Credits: Animated and edited by Craig Goode craiggoodedesign.co.uk Squirrel made by Abigail Brown abigail-brown.co.uk Music by Magpahi myspace.com/magpahi
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