Customer Rating: 
Summary: Moving and informative history of the Hopi Indians
Comment: This is an EXCELLENT documentary about the history of the Acoma / Hopi / Pueblo Indians in what today is New Mexico. It takes us back to the time when the Spansh, traveling north from Mexico, invaded Acoma territory, the soldiers forcing the Indians to work for them and grow food for them, sometimes at the expense of the starvation of the Indians themselves. The missionaries worked on converting the Indians to Catholicism, yet many risked their lives to practice their own religion secretly. The oppression of the Hopi continued when the Americans took over this territory, pushing them into American schools and Protestant churches to make them become "good Americans" and to abandon their "beastly and uncivilized" beliefs and practices. When many of the Hopi fought for the U.S. in WWII and died, the survivors came home to a country in which they were not allowed to vote.
Throughout the centuries, in spite of the loss of thousands of their people, the Hopi culture has managed to survive, barely retaining their original language. Today their struggle is to maintain their culture within a modern society.
The film presents this history with interviews of Hopi men and women, interspersed with visuals of the landscape, old photographs, and acting. The subject is handled with sensitivity, yet there is powerful feeling that comes through. It teaches us important history that occurred here in our own country that many of us are not aware of, and reminds us that we should always strive to see justice done for all people.
