Smoke Signals
“Hey Victeeeeeerrrrrr!”
It is 2:10AM and I should have been to bed hours ago since I have to wake up in less than five hours. And do I care? NO! Why? Because I was finally able to obtain a copy of the Motion Picture Soundtrack to the film Smoke Signals! I only really wanted one song but I am sure I will enjoy the whole thing.
The song I speak of is Forgive Our Fathers by BC Smith Featuring Ulali Wahjeeleh-Yihm. The song appears at the end of the film and I have wanted that song since I heard it back in 1998. That’s 11 years searching and waiting for this song and tonight/morning I got myself a copy of it!
Well, as much as I could write forever about just how wonderfully beautiful that song is and how much you all should check it out this post is meant to be about the actual film Smoke Signals.
How many of you have actually heard or seen this film?
Well, back in 1998 I remember this film being a big deal around my household. There aren’t many films that my grandmother would be excited to talk about or to see. This one my whole family was buzzing about and yet I have never heard of it.
We had made plans to see the film while we were in Oklahoma for my great grandfather’s, Rosco Shemayme, memorial dinner. Well at that time the movie A Night At The Roxbury came out and my sisters and I really wanted to see that one. We were very saddened when we could not see the film. We had to go into an empty theatre with just our family and watch Smoke Signals.
Which, now that I look back on, was a pretty awesome experience. A whole theatre to ourselves. We laughed like we were watching a film at home and we commented like we were at home and nobody was there to tell us, “SHH!”
The film was a great visual piece of work. For me, I felt there were a lot of kind of inside jokes that were told in the film and unless you are Native American or familiar with Native American culture you wouldn’t really understand. But it was a very moving and funny tale.
This is one of the many memories that stands out in my mind because it was one of the few times I went to the theatre with my grandmother. A film, which we both actually enjoyed and could talk about for years after that. Naturally being the person that I am, the music took to me immediately. I LOVED the music from this film.
Now 11 years after I have seen this film in a small theatre somewhere in Oklahoma I have found that soundtrack and I have found that song which I have come to love for all these years. It was a bittersweet thing for me to find. Upon listening to it the first time through I developed tears. I am such a crybaby tonight. But they are happy tears. They are tears that remind me of a great time that I had with my grandmother. They are tears that remind me of how great it is to dance in the arena, which I spoke about in the post before this one. The music from my culture is invigorating and electrifying.
I am proud of my heritage and I am proud of everything that comes from that culture. A thought has been in my mind for years now and it is to help those who want to get into filmmaking that live on reservations become familiar with the process and such. I know they have a few programs all ready out there but I guess my thoughts were more focused to when I made it big that I would be able to donate equipment and have tutors go out to teach the kids.
I know I don’t even have a mark in the world of film but I do know there aren’t a whole lot of Native American filmmakers. There are quite a bit of actors but not a lot of the behind the scenes people. I want to be able to bring that side out. One day I know I’ll be able to do that. Heck there are probably a ton of films that I have not seen yet that are just amazing that were made from these kids on the reservations.
Native Americans have been known as great storytellers. At least that’s what I have come to know growing up. Maybe that’s why I love writing so much. I love the art of storytelling. There is no greater way of showing that then through, song, written word, photos, film and art such as paintings and other things of that nature.
So now I leave you with the ending credits to Smoke Signals, which has the song that I love so much. Take care everyone!
It is 2:10AM and I should have been to bed hours ago since I have to wake up in less than five hours. And do I care? NO! Why? Because I was finally able to obtain a copy of the Motion Picture Soundtrack to the film Smoke Signals! I only really wanted one song but I am sure I will enjoy the whole thing.
The song I speak of is Forgive Our Fathers by BC Smith Featuring Ulali Wahjeeleh-Yihm. The song appears at the end of the film and I have wanted that song since I heard it back in 1998. That’s 11 years searching and waiting for this song and tonight/morning I got myself a copy of it!
Well, as much as I could write forever about just how wonderfully beautiful that song is and how much you all should check it out this post is meant to be about the actual film Smoke Signals.
How many of you have actually heard or seen this film?
Well, back in 1998 I remember this film being a big deal around my household. There aren’t many films that my grandmother would be excited to talk about or to see. This one my whole family was buzzing about and yet I have never heard of it.
We had made plans to see the film while we were in Oklahoma for my great grandfather’s, Rosco Shemayme, memorial dinner. Well at that time the movie A Night At The Roxbury came out and my sisters and I really wanted to see that one. We were very saddened when we could not see the film. We had to go into an empty theatre with just our family and watch Smoke Signals.
Which, now that I look back on, was a pretty awesome experience. A whole theatre to ourselves. We laughed like we were watching a film at home and we commented like we were at home and nobody was there to tell us, “SHH!”
The film was a great visual piece of work. For me, I felt there were a lot of kind of inside jokes that were told in the film and unless you are Native American or familiar with Native American culture you wouldn’t really understand. But it was a very moving and funny tale.
This is one of the many memories that stands out in my mind because it was one of the few times I went to the theatre with my grandmother. A film, which we both actually enjoyed and could talk about for years after that. Naturally being the person that I am, the music took to me immediately. I LOVED the music from this film.
Now 11 years after I have seen this film in a small theatre somewhere in Oklahoma I have found that soundtrack and I have found that song which I have come to love for all these years. It was a bittersweet thing for me to find. Upon listening to it the first time through I developed tears. I am such a crybaby tonight. But they are happy tears. They are tears that remind me of a great time that I had with my grandmother. They are tears that remind me of how great it is to dance in the arena, which I spoke about in the post before this one. The music from my culture is invigorating and electrifying.
I am proud of my heritage and I am proud of everything that comes from that culture. A thought has been in my mind for years now and it is to help those who want to get into filmmaking that live on reservations become familiar with the process and such. I know they have a few programs all ready out there but I guess my thoughts were more focused to when I made it big that I would be able to donate equipment and have tutors go out to teach the kids.
I know I don’t even have a mark in the world of film but I do know there aren’t a whole lot of Native American filmmakers. There are quite a bit of actors but not a lot of the behind the scenes people. I want to be able to bring that side out. One day I know I’ll be able to do that. Heck there are probably a ton of films that I have not seen yet that are just amazing that were made from these kids on the reservations.
Native Americans have been known as great storytellers. At least that’s what I have come to know growing up. Maybe that’s why I love writing so much. I love the art of storytelling. There is no greater way of showing that then through, song, written word, photos, film and art such as paintings and other things of that nature.
So now I leave you with the ending credits to Smoke Signals, which has the song that I love so much. Take care everyone!
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