The following rant is in response to this article (http://torrymendoza.blogspot.com/2012/05/johnny-depp-is-adopted-comanche.html) about Johnny Depp's recent adoption into the Comanche Tribe.
If Johnny Depp said he was part Irish and explained that his grandmother was
from Ireland there would be no question and he would be accepted as such. In the
case of Native Americans however, in order to be considered as part of a tribe,
a person has to be papered like a dog. Adam Beach is a talented Canadian Indian
actor but he plays many different types of Indians. By this logic he should only
play Saulteaux rolls and not "pretend" to be Navajo or Spokane Indian which by
the way are completely seperate nations of people. They speak different
languages, have different customs, and even have different facial and body
types. They are not even from the same country. They are American Indians while
Beach is from Canada. While were on that subject maybe Depp shouldn't play ANY
rolls that aren't directed toward his specific nationality. Maybe this should
apply to all actors. Lets not stop there either. People with dwarfism should
only play rolls of leprachauns but only if they are of Irish decent. My point is
that Natives are the only people who are papered like animals and this shouldn't
keep good actors from doing their job which is to entertain us. I am Cheyenne,
Crow, Laguna Pueblo, and Irish. This means I can play Irish rolls, right?
Don't get me wrong. I love Native movies and collect them like people collected Beanie Babies in the ninties. I am in full support of Native acting and am stoked about the amount of indigenous movies hitting the shelves lately. I just think that if someone is sure they are Indian, like Johnny is, they shouldn't have to flash papers to prove it in order to get a job. What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
