If Only I Were An Indian Two Cree and an Ojibwa from Manitoba travel to the former Czechoslovakia to meet several hundred Czechs and Slovaks who have set up a remarkable 'Indian' community. Wearing Indian dress, and living in teepees, these central Europeans have adopted the traditions of nineteenth-century North American Native Indians. An amazing journey across continents, history and cultures. Some scenes contain nudity. It discusses and illustrates many specific incidences of irreverence and ignorance in depictions of Indian people and their cultures, traditions, spirituality, and ways of life.
Examples used in the video come from well-known films.
This is the story of Raymond Tracey, a young Indian man trying to get back to his roots and determine where the American Indians have come from. As he struggles to learn he discovers that, like most of us, not all Indians are the same. Ask almost anyone to describe what first comes to mind when prompted by the word 'Indian', and chances are images of wild savages dancing around a campfire, wearing a head dress and beating the tom-tom will top the list. We need to be more aware of, and sensitive to, Indian symbols which we encounter each day, so that we can discriminate between them, and more accurately assess the American Indian's role in our society. The white man did not understand the symbolic nature of Indian rituals, nor the principles behind them.