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xiii It is difficult to know where to begin in acknowledging and thanking the many, many people who have in some way or another, however wittingly or unwittingly, contributed to the completion of this book. And of course in attempting to acknowledge those individuals, one runs the risk of leaving someone out. But taking that risk and insisting that any mistakes or misguided arguments in this book are my responsibility exclusively, I dare to acknowledge the following people, whose help, support, advice, critique, and inspiration made this project possible. Let me begin where American Indian film began for me: at a 1994 National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar: “American Indian Written Literatures” in Chicago. I want to thank LaVonne Ruoff for making it all possible and Linda Vavra for facilitating. I also want to acknowledge the late Roseanne Hoefel for her insights and conversation. From that seminar too, I want to thank Simone Pellerine who has since hosted several symposia at Université Paul Valéry in Montpellier, France. She has several times brought together a group of scholars of American Indian literature, culture, and film, and thereby encouraged a wonderful venue for the sharing of ideas. Among those participating scholars, I especially want to acknowledge Chris LaLonde who has always both challenged and inspired me with his sharp mind and cutting insights. Lionel Larre has also been an inspiration, and I want to thank him too for hosting a conference at the Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3 where I was able to share some of the ideas that have found their way into this book. I thank Peggy Parsons, Curator of Film, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., who was generous with her time, responded helpfully to email queries, and made available screenings of several of the films I discuss. Melissa Bisagni, Film and Video Center Program Manager at the National Acknowledgments Acknowledgments xiv Museum of the American Indian, hosted a “Film Indians Now” series in 2008, and she makes Indigenous film available generally. During the course of the research and writing for this book, I have had the great pleasure of meeting and/or corresponding with several of the people directly involved with the production of several of the films studied here. I thank Gerald Vizenor, author of the screenplay Harold of Orange, for his support and for a helpful critique of a conference paper, some ideas from which find their way into the book. I thank Thomas King, author of the novel and screenplay Medicine River for helping me procure an image from that film. I want to thank Shane Belcourt, director of Tkaronto, for his conversation and his on-going friendliness, helpfulness, and generosity. I had a delightful and informative conversation with actor Duane Murray, who plays Ray in Tkaronto, after a screening of that film. And I want to thank Valerie Red-Horse, co-director of and actor in Naturally Native, for her energetic responses to my queries to her. I also thank Barbara Allinson for her generous permissions of an image from Medicine River. A special note of thanks goes to several people in the Media, Film, and Communication Department at University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand : Vijay Devadas, who helped with his technical and media expertise, and his support and encouragement; Kevin Fisher, who invited me to present a paper on this project as a part of the Media, Film, and Communication Research Seminar Series—2011; Brett Nicholls, who shared his insights and his sense of humor; and Erika Pearson, who provided technical assistance. I also want to thank Anne Begg for her provocative questions about and her heartening interest in this project. And finally in this context, I want to acknowledge the magnificent students in an Indigenous film seminar at Otago University , mfco 318, students who taught me so much about how to see film. I am indebted to Elise Marubbio for sharing her insights about the manuscript and for the excellent advice she offered and continues to offer. I also want to thank her for her hard work in organizing and hosting the Native American Film panels at the Southwest Texas Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association Conferences in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and San Antonio, Texas, panels which have provided a forum for a community of scholars and Indigenous filmmakers who are sharing their films and their ideas about film. I owe an enormous debt to the anonymous external readers of the manuscript; they...

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