Final Rating: 4/5
Read our original capsule review that ran during Hot Docs.
Red Fever is a new documentary from the directing duo Catherine Bainbridge and Neil Diamond. Diamond is a photographer, writer and director who also stars in the film. The film begins with Diamond giving narration, talking about how in his travels around the world he finds everyone is “fascinated by Indians”, but being a Cree man himself, he often is not what they have imagined.
Indigenous culture has permeated every facet of life in North America. Unfortunately it has either been appropriated or white washed over to ignore its origins. Diamond and Bainbridge are here to talk about how every day pop culture and institutions can trace their roots back to the various Nations across Turtle Island.
The film is presented like a Medicine Wheel, taking four mainstream aspects that guide everyday life and delving into the Indigenous influences they have on society. These four quadrants are Fashion (Spirit), Sports (Body), Politics (Mind) and Earth (Heart). The film is broken into four chapters, with Diamond traveling across North America and through parts of Europe to get to know a bit more about the impact Indigenous people have had.
For the Fashion chapter, we see the impact of sacred Indigenous clothing has become everyday wear for the masses. It’s well known that headdresses have finally been recognized as an important artifact that should only be worn during traditional ceremonies and as such they finally have been banned from most places like music festivals where they were extremely trendy. But we also get to see other aspects of fashion including fringe, bolo ties, turquoise stones, bead work, moccasins and more all are commonplace now.
Designers such as John-Paul Gauthier, Ralph Lauren and Issac Mizrahi incorporate prints and techniques into their runway shows ignoring the purpose and meaning behind such designs. Anything with a “Navajo” or western print is likely copied from different tribes and Nations. Thankfully due to recent pushback most companies realize that they can’t just co-opt and steal designs, but if they are genuinely inspired by Indigenous clothing, then if you work with Indigenous artists and communities it likely will be seen as authentic and be acceptable.
The Sports chapter focuses mainly on Jim Thorpe, the legendary athlete who won two gold medals for the USA at the 1912 Summer Olympics in decathlon and pentathlon. He then transitioned to playing football and baseball professionally. He was named the greatest athlete of the first half of the 20th century by the Associated Press.
It’s his contributions to football that are highlighted in the film. While at Carlisle Boarding School (an American version of Canada’s residential school system where young Indigenous children were forcibly taken from their homes in order to be assimilated into white culture in order to “kill the Indian and save the man”) he picked up the sport. At the time, it was a violent crude version of what we know today. The forward pass was finally instituted and the Carlisle team was the first to truly adopt throwing the ball forwards to gain ground, marking the beginning of the modern game. Thorpe was later named the very first President of the American Professional Football Association, a precursor to the NFL.
In the Politics chapter we learn that modern western style democracy was inspired by the Haudenosaunee, six nations that speak Iroquois who came together hundreds of years ago to work peacefully together to make decisions for their communities. When the founding fathers were forming America, they were inspired by the style and work done by the Haudenosaunee as a framework for what they wanted. This was told via oral traditions and a group of Haudenosaunee women asked an Indigenous professor to prove the accuracy of stories using the white man’s method (footnotes and references).
Lastly in the Earth chapter we see first hand how Indigenous people are stewards of the land we all live on and without their conservation efforts we would all be worse off. We see how in British Columbia farm fishing was devastating the local ocean populations. Toxic waste made by these farms would blend in the water, causing marine life to get sick and die and larger animals like bears and whales were leaving the region because there was no food to eat. Thankfully the Indigenous groups who protested these companies were rewarded when the courts forced the companies to be shut down, allowing the ecosystem to begin to heal itself.
A lot of the themes and ideas in the film have been explored in other films like There’s Something In The Water, Inconvenient Indian, Angry Inuk and more. Speakers in the film include Zacharias Kunuk director of Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner and The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, a filmmaker who still lives in Igloolik, Nunavut where he makes films that document the Inuit lifestyle and traditions. Sterlin Harjo, the creator of Reservation Dogs highlights some of the impacts sports have within Nations and on a wider society. Gloria Steinhem praises Haudenosaunee tribes for having women not only be equal to men, but oftentimes were the main decision makers for their people and had the power to appoint and recall chiefs.
Most importantly though is we get some fascinating interviews with Indigenous people from dozens of Nations talking about their real world experiences regarding traditional culture and practices that they are known for. The positives of sharing themselves with more people and the negatives of appropriation, which lead to racism and admonishment from white society.
There’s plenty of comedy as Diamond is a gifted orator and his narration stays fresh all the way through as he mixes in equal parts knowledge and wonder. The subjects chosen to be interviewed are all passionate people, with a wealth of knowledge to share. It helps break down the mythos of the “savage Indians” white society has perpetuated and build up the impact Indigenous people continue to offer.
Diamond and Bainbridge have made a tremendous documentary that is so fascinating in its breadth of subject matter and ease these stories are told. The film features a few animated sequences to help show oral stories being told with some visual flair. Having access to plenty of historical photographs, media clips and film stock showcases how over such a long period of time, white society has been both co-opting and suppressing Indigenous culture. The film is an exciting addition to the documentary genre that is both fun and informative.
Red Fever was originally seen during the 2024 Hot Docs Film Festival.
