[ Methinks Paula refers here to Frederick Jackson Turner, who I recall
hearing about in a sociology class a long time ago - author of the
classic "frontier thesis," which had something to do with the Ameri-
can character being defined by there having always been (at least up
to a certain point in its history) a western frontier. I've forgot-
ten the precise implications of the fact of that frontier being
there, but it may have had something to do with it providing a place
for malcontents to go if they weren't satisfied with the way things
were wherever they happened to be at the time (which some feel to
be the reason why folks in California are so wacky (I can get away
with saying that, since I grew up in California myself :-)). --Gary ]
While Costner should be commended for giving it a shot, he still did
nothing to remind us that Indians are anything more than relics of
history. Maybe soon someone will write about people who are Indian
and go about their business in Chicago or LA. David Seals did try
that when he wrote Powwow Highway and was equally as harsh on the
producers of that film. I believe that he objects to the ways in
which Indians are represented by non-Indian producers and directors.
Paula