| OCR Text |
Show ‘TheSalt Lake TribuneENTERTAINMENT Saturday, January 22,2000 0 “Return of Navajo Boy’ Documentary Takes A Closer Look at Utah’s ‘Postcard Indians’ BYCI'HRISTOPHER SMITH THE SALTLAKETRIBU? PARK CITY— Growingup, Jef Spitz remembers watching the old Hollywood western movies set against Utah's Monument Valley, where vertical outcrops of red sandstone reach out from the desert floor, resembling ruins of —_—— TEENCONRY uwneighborhood grocer immense Greek temples. | “The only reference pointI had for Monument Valley was the image of a stage coach passing by a rock formation that looked like a volcano witha flat top,”said Spitz, a Chicago documentaryfilmmak: er. “I remember thinking, ‘Hollywood really went all out to bring those Indians thatfar awayto film ‘this.’ I had no concept people ac- — tuallylived out there. That's how well their story has been told.” Now, Spitz comes to the Sun dance Film Festival with a documentary hedirected that is the antithesis of the Hollywood image of MonumentValley. “The Return of Navajo Boy”is the storyof the Cly family, Utah's “postcard Indi. ans,” the Navajos who appeared in thousandsoftourist photos,travel BathMD,12roll Tissue 6 brochures and movie productions, helping crystallize an arti- Valley, told by those whose faces were frequently seen but whose voices were never heard. “The Return of Navajo Boy” chronicles the discovery of an oldfilm clip in 2 (Md ficial imageof the Old West. It is a behind-the-scenes portrait of Navajo life in Monument Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune Bennie Klain and Jeff Spitz are co-producers ofthe documentary “The Retum Boy,” whichis the centerpiece of Sundance ‘ ayof Navajo . ‘Chicago atticand how itleads to Film Festival's Native Forum. at, C&H Folgers the Clys in Monument Valley and Called “Navajo Boy,” tie movie WayneCly at the suggestion of the star himself — who was taken by “white missionaries”40 years ago. Perhaps one of the most unusual aspects of the film is the Navajo voice that emerges. From aculturethat is traditionally shy and reluctant to talk openly with outsiders, the Clys deliver a frank told a quaint story about a young Navajo in Monument Valley whose family falls. ill. The boy rides a donkey to find the medicine man, who performs a healing ceremony that nurses the family snapshots to living atop uranium minetailings that create health problems ignored bythe federal government. “So manytourists go through Monument Valley to take pictures that when youhave that happening constantly in your life, you sort of warm upto theoutsideelementandare more comfortable in front of a camera,” said Bennie Klain, a Navajo from Tonalea backto health. Produced by Kennedy's latefa- ther, the short wasfilmed in the early 1950s and had sat in the family’s attic for decades. Kennedy wanted Spitz to help him find the people in the movie and return thefilm to them,hoping to understand moreabouthis father in the process. “He asked meif I would be willing to do some research, but I had opentelling their story.” Like many of the independent, shoestring-budget films being screened at the Sundancefestival, the story behind the making of “Return of the Navajo Boy”is its own drama. Spitz, who has writ. ten, produced anddirected docu: ~ mentaries for PBS, ABC, A&E and The Learning Channel, was into the project when his father-in-law introduced him to Chicago homebuilder Bill Kennedy, who was curious about a silent film he had found among his father’s possessions. began a twisting odyssey eventually resulted in the that will premiere Sunday p.m. as the centerpiece of that film at 1 Sun- public screening Friday, Jan. 28, at 3 p.m. at the Yarrow Theater in Park City. Rather than being offended by the original film, the Cly family used it as a starting pointto tell the rest of their story, from how they becameliving props for the | Block | nuclear industry. “In the very dian scholars at. the shown to anyone. It really disturbed me, but I knewthat this was the start of something, not the endofit Ona whim, Spitz printedstill photos from the movie and traveled to Monument Valley to try to findthe people pictured in the old movie. Showing the photos to Cheese health has been impaired. by.the usual incidence of birth defects, been filmed andit should not be Ground Beef Extra lean, any size package behalf of Bernie Cly and other Navajos who maintain their area where the Cly family lives Newberry was) not | i uranium-mining companies on in the country.” The reaction he got encouraging. “They told me to burn it, to destroyit immediately,” said Spitz. “They said the film has lot of power because it included the ceremony that should not have } “This documentary exposes a gross injustice inflicted on Amerhas unsuccessfully brought suit against the U.S. government and from the American In- | tourist and movie trade in Monument Valley to how the family worked in the uranium mines, ican families,” said former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, who Newberry Library [in Chicago] had-the best collection and research on Native Americans ee CANE UGAR dance’s Native Forum, with its to start,” said Spitz. “I was told the didn’t know whoto call or where Co: SwissVillage, 2 lb. today wearefinding a higherthan || | kidney problems, cancers and bone deformities.” ‘TheCly family has been invited to attend the premier by Sundance organizers, although Spitz and Klain both wonder how a hardscrabble family of Navajos from southernmost Utah will interact with the black turtleneck and cell-phone crowd. “TheClys have been exposed to gaping white people ever since they were in their Mom's belly, #3 & 4 only, 7 0z. pump Halls, 30 but they want people to know their st said Spitz. “They wanted to make a picture of their own and finallyget to tell the story that Hollywood never bothered to ask about.” While Supplies Last! FREE “Nationwide Weekend Calling (500 min per month)”* ogs * Now Local Area Includes: UTAH, IDAHO, COLORADO zy erere ore SEE * Free Caller I.D, * Free Paging * Free Voice-Mail * Ist Incoming Minute Free * Call Waiting/ Call hold * Trade-In Credit for New Phone Purchases * Three Way Calling =a oe Medium size A $39” “agi Golden Ripe Pineapple $69” [Metorots M3682, najenwecerneneee ms als cb dey Gs Cis“ ent ‘ein me eam == Wireless Etc. 361 West 500 South * Bountiful + 448 West Antelope Dr, #4* Layton ® 295-5656 775.0350 beeen,REPeeAS)Ee047 HARMONS WEST- 3955 Ww. we Sm Ata CHIC air HARMONS EAST- 980 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale HARMONS BENNION- 5454 So, Redwood Rd., Taylorsville HARMONS COUGARPLACE - 4874 W.6200 S., Kearns a nnneEnN ra = t cs | MOTOROLA2 ew=aerst s roe Oana ne oun | 8 t 1 oa +0 ural | f rEsesey drawn strangers in Monument Valley never even met a Navajo and who co-produced the film with Spitz. “Had this story been anywhere else on the Rez besides Monument Valley, don’t know. if the people would have been,as. { j i ReheSey accountoflife in Monument Valley, from posing for tourists’ | |
