Sherman Alexie is a Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-American author and filmmaker. His writing is heavily influenced by his experiences as an Indingenous American. He grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Some of his most notable work includes The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, and Reservation Blues.
Reservation Blues by
"In 1931, Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil, receiving legendary blues skills in return. He went on to record only twenty-nine songs before being murdered on August 16, 1938. In 1992, however, Johnson suddenly appears on the Spokane Indian Reservation and meets Thomas Builds-the-Fire, the misfit storyteller of the Spokane Tribe." "So begins Reservation Blues, the mythic and musical tale of Coyote Springs, an all-Indian Catholic rock-and-roll band. With Thomas Builds-the-Fire as lead singer, Victor Joseph and Junior Polatkin on lead guitar and drums, and Chess and Checkers Warm Water on vocals, Coyote Springs takes their "four-and-a-half-chord rock and blues" to reservation bars, small town taverns, and the urban landscapes of Seattle and Manhattan." "Sherman Alexie brilliantly mixes narrative, newspaper excerpts, songs, journal entries, visions, radio interviews, and dreams to explore the effects of Christianity on Native Americans in the late twentieth century. More important, he examines cultural assimilation's impact on the relationship between Indian women and Indian men. Reservation Blues is a painful, humorous, and ultimately redemptive symphony about God and indifference, faith and alcoholism, family and hunger, sex and death."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Martin Sensmeier is an American actor and is of Tlingit, Koyukon-Athabascan, and Irish descent. He was raised in a Tlingit Coastal Community in Southeast Alaska and grew up learning and participating in the traditions of his tribes. He is also an ambassador for The Native Wellness Institute, as well as the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and advocates for wellness among Native people of all Nations- focusing largely on youth.
Marie Louise Cruz, better known as Sacheem Littlefeather, is an Apache Actress and Native American Activist. She is best known for declining Marlon Brando’s award for best actor at 45th Academy Awards. She had acted in a few films before, and claims to have been blacklisted for her participation and have received threats.
In 1979, she became co-founder to the National American Indian Performing Arts Registry. She has worked in conjunction with PBS as an advisor for ‘Dance In America: Song for Dead Warriors’ (1984), ‘Remember Me Forever’ and ‘The Americas Before Columbus’ (both 1992) and provided testimony for the documentary ‘Reel Injun’, which focuses on Native Americans on film. She has also produced films on Native American health.