A SPECTATOR 'S NOTEBOOK
RED Indian Chief Howard Skye of the Ohsweken Reserve. in Canada has sent up a plaindve smoke signal about the motion picture industry's propensity for producing films in which his people are consistently defeated in battle. He feels future generations of North American Indians might begin to take a depressed view of their ancestry and he claims, what is more, that such films are historically inexact. Every great nation has a large number of sins upon its con- science and for North America the corralling of the remnants of a proud race must occasionally—though perhaps not very often—make it feel uncomfortable. As a gesture of good- will and also as a refreshing change the film industry might well heed Big Chief Skye's plea and give us a picture in which the white aggressors of a peaceful land are scalped down to the last man. That this would be " box office " is certain. Nevertheless, while appreciating the Ohswekens' point of view, it cannot be doubted that history, in which they are so interested, or even the most cursory glance at the American continent as it stands today, proves pretty conclusively that Red Indian victories have not been outstanding. While the case for a minority is often aired in the more serious pictures, in the Technicolored western it is rarely given a thought, and, though one would like Mr. Skye to be instrumental in. introducing an original theme into western movies, I fear, such is the rut in which the wagon wheels revolve, he will merely be advised not to go to the cinema if it hurts all that much.
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