Possible identification of "Haida dance film"

[Jeffrey Kopp]

On Tue, 25 Jun 2002 09:56:14 -0700, morgan <morgan at REDANDBLACKCAFE.ORG> wrote:

>The film was made by Edward Curtis circa 1900, I am almost sure the dancers
>are Haida. As for what the dance in the film represents, Curtis is known for
>inventing situations. Someone said in regards to Curtis, 'great photography,
>lousy anthropology.'
>
>Morgan

Thanks for the source on that.  The clip did seem a bit overdramatic.  Considering the limitations of motion picture photography of the time, it obviously had to be carefully staged.  And the actors may have been encouraged to ham it up to make an impressive newsreel, or they might have taken the photographer and/or the recording process less than seriously.  (Of course, in most silent films the action was directed in an exaggerated fashion to compensate for the lack of a soundtrack.)

Now having Curis' name to search with, I found this in the York University library index; what I saw might have been a clip from this film:

"IN THE LAND OF THE WAR CANOES: KWAKIUTL INDIAN LIFE ON THE NORTHWEST COAST
47 min.  1914  VC #5143, Edward S. Curtis, Saga of Kwakiutl Indian life on the northwest coast of America on Vancouver Island."

Then having something of a title in hand, I found this blurb about a restored version (which is what might actually be listed at York--since the film probably fell into public domain decades ago, who knows how many versions of it may be around):  "'IN THE LAND OF THE WAR CANOES,' Original title: 'IN THE LAND OF THE HEADHUNTERS: A Drama of Primitive Life on the Shores of the North Pacific,' 1914," at http://www.milestonefilms.com/pdf_press/Warcanoe.pdf  I note this 1972 restoration was led by Bill Holm.

This blurb acclaims Curtis as "one of the most highly regarded photographers of Native Americans," but from its gently vague phrasing, it is apparent the original film was somewhat Hollywood: "Basing his screenplay on a tribal tale, Curtis sought to document the pre-Columbian culture of the Kwakiutl people of the Pacific Northwest."  

What I saw was extremely grainy, grayish and scratched; it would be super if someone someday applied modern digital restoration technique to it.

I think someone has the dance clip posted on the Web as a RealVideo stream, but I couldn't quickly locate it.

Regards,

Jeff

>on 6/24/02 6:20 PM, Jeffrey Kopp at jeffkopp at ATTBI.COM wrote:
>
>>I've seen
>> clips on TV of amazing,  hand-cranked film of North Coast natives dancing in
>> canoes with huge masks (very emphatic, rhythmic vertical motion), but must
>> admit I don't know what it meant (i.e., whether it was merely celebratory or
>> ceremonial, or if it included historical narrative).