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.
The other was perhaps one of the first color movies ever filmed in New Mexico and Paramount Picture's introduction to color movies.
Filmed in 1928 and released on February 23, 1929, "Redskin" is a nearly forgotten addition to cinematic history.
The movie is a Western drama mixed with romance.
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.
In the film, the word is used almost exclusively by its white characters in ways that point out his otherness and their bigotry.
The one exception is by the movie's main character, who uses it to describe that sense of alienation and his own cultural identity crisis.
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.
If you enjoy watching silent films, you can watch the movie in its entirety on the Independent Thinker YouTube Channel. It is also available as part of a DVD set, "Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film" from the National Film Preservation Foundation.
Interested in other movies filmed in New Mexico? The Land of Enchantment has been the background for a lengthy number of movies and you can read about a handful of those in Most People Don’t Know These 15 Movies Were Filmed In New Mexico.
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