Watching The First New Mexico Color Video Ever Recorded Will Transport You To Another Time In History
Since film’s earliest days, New Mexico has served as the inspirational backdrop for feature-length movies and TV dramas, much in the same way it has been a muse for artists. New Mexico has sweeping landscapes and well-preserved historic sites, not to mention a welcoming film industry that brings millions of dollars to the state’s economy.
In fact, did you know there are at least two notable movies filmed here in New Mexico that are an untold addition to cinematic history? The first was a short Edison Company production from 1898 called “Indian Day School.” A brief 50 seconds, this was the first film shot in New Mexico and one of the first west of the Mississippi.
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The other was perhaps one of the first color movies ever filmed in New Mexico and Paramount Picture's introduction to color movies.
It follows the story of a Navajo boy named Wing Foot, who is forced into an American Indian boarding school, falls in love with a classmate, and eventually returns home following his realization that, despite his assimilation into American society, he would never be embraced by his white peers.
For a film shot in the 1920s, it appears to be surprisingly ahead of its time in the ways it depicts themes such as abuse in boarding schools, racism, intertribal relations, and the struggle of identity without a heavy dosage of melodrama. But, characteristic of its time, the movie's lead actors are white with brown makeup—with the exception of the grandmother, who is played by a Mexican actress.
At nearly a century old, the movie is a silent film shot both an early Technicolor process and black-and-white.
Much like the later film “The Wizard of Oz,” the usage of the two film types showcases the differences between Wing Foot's home (filmed in color) and his time in white society (filmed in a monochromatic scheme).
According to the Movies Silently review blog, the choice between the two film types emerged out of budget constraints.
Shooting and processing a movie in color was an exceptionally tedious and expensive process, so producers requested parts of the film be shot in black-and-white.
Parts of the Technicolor footage were filmed in New Mexico, notably near Gallup, at Acoma Pueblo, and a brief scene at White Sands.
Other locations included Canyon de Chelly and a boarding school, both located in Chinle, Arizona, as well as Sherman Indian Institute in Riverside, California.
In reference to the title, the word “redskin” has been considered a pejorative towards Native Americans since the mid-19th century and has become especially controversial in recent years.
For example, mid-film Wing Foot tells a white Indian agent, “as for your education, what has it made me? I am neither Indian nor White Man. Just... Redskin.” Here, he uses it to describe his loss of cultural identity as a Navajo man as well as the lack of respect and acceptance in white society.
Monica is a Diné (Navajo) freelance writer and photographer based in the Southwest. Born in Gallup and raised in Phoenix, she is Tódich'ii'nii (Bitter Water People) and Tsi'naajinii (Black Streak Wood People). Monica is a staff writer for Only In Your State, photo editor for The Mesa Legend, and previously a staff writer for The Navajo Post. You can reach her at monica.d.spencer@gmail.com.
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