So my exploration begins
One of the episodes which has interested me the most on parks and rec. is episode 3x07 'Harvest Festival' and why is that? It is because in that episode they attempt to deal with the issue of Native-Americans, backlash against them in history and they even take on prejudice. And how successful were they? I'd say they were moderately successful, it was not perfect but I think they did a good job.
And before I begin I'd like to point out some things: I will be exploring the subject as carefully and respectfully as I can. I have studied Native-American history as a part of my American culture class at Uni and it was the subject I chose to concentrate on for my final exam.
In the episode Leslie ran into trouble because the ground that had been chosen to use for the Harvest Festival had been the place of a battle for the Wamapoke tribe in the 19th century and they wanted to commemorate that. It was the battle of Indian Hill and his ancestors were buried there - it was therefore a sacred ground to them. But the Harvest festival was in full planning and that was the only place that could accommodate the festival so Leslie ran into trouble.
And that is how they tale begins:
The leader of the tribe was Ken Hotate - for that part they cast a native-american actor. Considering Hollywood's love for casting people that are clearly not native-american in such roles this was a good thing. Plus, I really liked Ken's character. He was funny and sarcastic.
The thing that made me saddest in the episode was the map of Pawnee which Leslie showed when she was explaining the atrocities the settlers had committed against the Wamapoke. The entire map was blue with only small white dots, widely dispersed. The white dots signified places where there had not been committed atrocities against the natives.
I appreciate the fact that this was put into the show and that it was acknowledged. It seems native-American history is often brushed under the carpet, especially the involvement of white settlers in it. So I think it is good there was a scene where this was acknowledged and treated with seriousness.
Ken Hotate commented he knew two things about white people: they loved matchbox 20 and were afraid of curses. And he used the curse part to his advantage when he pretended to cast a curse on the area because Leslie wouldn't budge on moving the Harvest Festival. The media picked up on it and everything went haywire with Leslie trying to calm everyone down. And then when Ken was happy with Leslie's offer of having a Wamapoke historical exhibition on site he pretended to lift the curse in front of cameras, while shouting nonsense.
I know the curse part was seen as very controversial. And it is. Having Ken us a mock curse and having him shout nonsense during what was meant to be a religious rite can be seen as being offensive towards Native-American culture and mocking it and its very important rites.
Except I believe the producers were aiming for something different. They made it clear that Leslie and Ben did not believe those things but that the gullible media picked it up and blew it out of proportions, Ken knew this and used it to his advantage - they satirized media's way of exaggerating everything and people's complete lack of knowledge and respect towards Native culture. I believe they were trying to make a point through satire.
Then when Ken agreed to lift off the curse he did so in front of the media. I laughed so hard during that scene when he was pretending to perform and the subtitles read - 'I am speaking nonsense' and such things. It was another satirical point in my opinion about the way in which people tend to regard native cultures and how naive they are about them. Ken knew it and capitalized on it. Yet again, I believe they were trying to make a point through satire.
I do not believe personally that Parks and Rec was trying to mock or make fun of Native-American history and culture. I believe they were trying to make a point of how it is regarded and how stupid it is. They embellished in order to make a point. Whether that was the right way or not can be debated and certainly they could have done better. It still irks me they had the Harvest Festival at a sacred ground, even if they came to a conclusion with Ken.
And here is an interview with the actor Jonathan Joss which sheds some light on his participation in Parks and Rec - it includes some excellent points about his role Click here - Indian country today interview
One of the episodes which has interested me the most on parks and rec. is episode 3x07 'Harvest Festival' and why is that? It is because in that episode they attempt to deal with the issue of Native-Americans, backlash against them in history and they even take on prejudice. And how successful were they? I'd say they were moderately successful, it was not perfect but I think they did a good job.
And before I begin I'd like to point out some things: I will be exploring the subject as carefully and respectfully as I can. I have studied Native-American history as a part of my American culture class at Uni and it was the subject I chose to concentrate on for my final exam.
In the episode Leslie ran into trouble because the ground that had been chosen to use for the Harvest Festival had been the place of a battle for the Wamapoke tribe in the 19th century and they wanted to commemorate that. It was the battle of Indian Hill and his ancestors were buried there - it was therefore a sacred ground to them. But the Harvest festival was in full planning and that was the only place that could accommodate the festival so Leslie ran into trouble.
And that is how they tale begins:
The leader of the tribe was Ken Hotate - for that part they cast a native-american actor. Considering Hollywood's love for casting people that are clearly not native-american in such roles this was a good thing. Plus, I really liked Ken's character. He was funny and sarcastic.
The thing that made me saddest in the episode was the map of Pawnee which Leslie showed when she was explaining the atrocities the settlers had committed against the Wamapoke. The entire map was blue with only small white dots, widely dispersed. The white dots signified places where there had not been committed atrocities against the natives.
I appreciate the fact that this was put into the show and that it was acknowledged. It seems native-American history is often brushed under the carpet, especially the involvement of white settlers in it. So I think it is good there was a scene where this was acknowledged and treated with seriousness.
Ken Hotate commented he knew two things about white people: they loved matchbox 20 and were afraid of curses. And he used the curse part to his advantage when he pretended to cast a curse on the area because Leslie wouldn't budge on moving the Harvest Festival. The media picked up on it and everything went haywire with Leslie trying to calm everyone down. And then when Ken was happy with Leslie's offer of having a Wamapoke historical exhibition on site he pretended to lift the curse in front of cameras, while shouting nonsense.
I know the curse part was seen as very controversial. And it is. Having Ken us a mock curse and having him shout nonsense during what was meant to be a religious rite can be seen as being offensive towards Native-American culture and mocking it and its very important rites.
Except I believe the producers were aiming for something different. They made it clear that Leslie and Ben did not believe those things but that the gullible media picked it up and blew it out of proportions, Ken knew this and used it to his advantage - they satirized media's way of exaggerating everything and people's complete lack of knowledge and respect towards Native culture. I believe they were trying to make a point through satire.
Then when Ken agreed to lift off the curse he did so in front of the media. I laughed so hard during that scene when he was pretending to perform and the subtitles read - 'I am speaking nonsense' and such things. It was another satirical point in my opinion about the way in which people tend to regard native cultures and how naive they are about them. Ken knew it and capitalized on it. Yet again, I believe they were trying to make a point through satire.
I do not believe personally that Parks and Rec was trying to mock or make fun of Native-American history and culture. I believe they were trying to make a point of how it is regarded and how stupid it is. They embellished in order to make a point. Whether that was the right way or not can be debated and certainly they could have done better. It still irks me they had the Harvest Festival at a sacred ground, even if they came to a conclusion with Ken.
And here is an interview with the actor Jonathan Joss which sheds some light on his participation in Parks and Rec - it includes some excellent points about his role Click here - Indian country today interview
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