I have a tendency get a little worked up. So I was interested in learning more about the complicated conflict and decided I would lend some of my time and energy to do so.
With this film, it’s nice to see that the trauma is presented from a white male that was in the Civil War and that trauma affects him in a way that still exists.
Those traumas when it comes to the historical past generation to generation; our children, our grandchildren, our future grandchildren learn these behaviors.
After that movie I said, “Y’know what, I have to realistically wear my emotions now when I do a job. That’s gotta be as real as it gets. It’s not just dialogue anymore.”
This movie shows that perspective from Scott’s character, and I love it. It shows the American Indians as the ones who respect and help out when people are needed. It’s a nice little twist.
Well to me growing, up I’ve had my own psychological war with my parents dying at such a young age. My mother was killed by a drunk driver, then two months later my father drowned.
Smoke Signals really mirrored the way I grew up and how I felt, and that movie was the first time I’d dealt with my parents’ death and how I felt that loss and sadness and anger.
We [Americans] have a historical trauma when it comes to the past relationships when it comes to Native Americans and the history of how America was created.
Ever since I started acting, I’ve always spoken to our people about identity. I’ve spoken to kids, telling them: “Where do I get my strength to push through the barriers to get me where I’m at today? It’s my culture and my traditions, you know?
Growing up with sexual abuse and having to be in gangs and dealing with my own trauma; finding the cultural identity when I was 16, and learning those traditional ways saved me from hurting myself.
I was able to express certain emotions and feelings that I could put into other characters, so it was a good way for me to run away from ho I personally was.
I carry two traditional pipes and I sing my songs and pray that us as human beings treat each other with respect. So when it came to trying to portray a connection on screen, that’s what you see.
![Adam Beach Quote - We [Americans] have a historical trauma when it comes to the past relationships when it comes to Native Americans and the history of how America was created.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/we-americans-have-a-historical-trauma-when-it-come-683x1024.jpg)
![Adam Beach Quote - We [Native Americans] respect being human beings, but also the natural and spiritual world and I thought that came across wonderfully](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/we-native-americans-respect-being-human-beings-but-683x1024.jpg)
