I just stumbled across something that’s pretty interesting. It’s from an old site, but as they used to say over at NBC, “if you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you.”
It’s a website devoted to Last of the Mohicans, with an essay by living historian Mark A. Baker on his experiences as an advisor and extra on the set of the movie. He’s the guy who instructed Daniel Day-Lewis in the fine art of reloading a muzzleloader while running. I’m always seeing “historical consultants” listed in film credits, and I thought this was a neat little glimpse into what that entails.
The site also has an interview with AIM activist Russell Means, who made his acting debut in LOTM as Chingachgook. In the interview, he states that there is no record of Indians having tortured or burned anybody, so I’m guessing he’s not particularly well read when it comes to Native American history (e.g., the execution by both torture and burning of Col. William Crawford in 1782, the execution by burning of Samuel Moore and attempted burning of Lydia Bean by the Cherokee in 1776, the Iroquois practice of torturing war captives, etc.).
Means also told the interviewer that the best Indian movie—and you might want to sit down for this one—is Pocahontas.
This flabbergasted me, since I regard Pocahontas as one of the least historically-accurate movies in recent memory. Here, let’s watch a short clip and then break it down to see if we can find anything that doesn’t ring authentic:
I noticed a couple of issues right off the bat.
- The appearance of the characters indicated a very low regard for historical detail. Pocahontas was depicted as, at the least, an older teenager, and perhaps as a young adult, as opposed to the child she would have been at the time of her initial contact with John Smith. Furthermore, her clothing did not match contemporary descriptions and illustrations of early seventeenth-century indigeous persons from eastern Virginia. Smith lacked any facial hair, in marked contrast to the most well-known portrait of him, and his apparel seems far too modern.
- A tree talked.
- And sang.
But of course these could be minor quibbles.
Anyway, I really like LOTM. It’s an evocative depiction of eighteenth-century frontier America, the battle sequences are awesome, and Wes Studi makes for one scary son of a gun. If you’re a fan of the film or if you’re into the French and Indian War, then check out the site.
Past in the Present 