The Briscoe Western Art Museum’s third annual Native Film Series continues with a double feature pairing the 2007 short film Comancheria and the 2014 documentary LaDonna Harris: Indian 101.
“Comancheria” is the name commonly given to the Comanche-occupied area in New Mexico and West Texas in the 19th century. Directed by Marthe Thorshaug, the short captures a group of Comanches as they prepare for a sweat lodge, a native ritual that can be described as a ceremonial sauna held for cleansing and purification. Dr. Dustin Tahmahkera, curator of the film series, described the film as “an alternative to Hollywood’s kwitopu (bullshit) archives of Indians.”
In LaDonna Harris, filmmaker Julianna Brannum explores the life of the title character, a Comanche activist and civil rights leader who has worked at the grassroots level with native and women’s groups since the 1960s. Harris was named an honorary co-chair of the Women’s March on Washington last year. In 2012, she made actor Johnny Depp an honorary member of the Comanche Nation during a traditional ceremony at her home. Since Depp was cast to play Tonto in the film version of The Lone Ranger, Harris called it a “natural fit.”
Free, Tue March 20, 6:30pm, Briscoe Western Art Museum, 210 W. Market St., (210) 299-4499, briscoemuseum.org.
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