Red Fever

Directors Neil Diamond and Catherine Bainbridge previously made Reel Injun, a 2009 documentary that examined the portrayal of Native Americans in Hollywood movies. Their latest, Red Fever, examines the influence and appropriation of native culture in areas ranging from fashion and sports to democracy and the environment.

Diamond hosts this journey in both voiceover and on screen. He is able to add elements of humour to a very serious topic, as his face registers dismay at the tomahawk-chopping Kansas City Chiefs fans oblivious to his presence in a sports bar. We don’t lose sight of the fact, though, that the Western world still seems okay stereotyping and dehumanizing indigenous peoples when those same people may not consider it acceptable to act this way towards other groups.

One of the biggest examples of appropriation is found in the fashion world and the influence is not just on the North American designers but also in the design houses of Europe. Though some designs may reflect an appreciation of the beauty of the Native American designs, others may completely ignore that certain designs have highly significant spiritual and emotional meaning and aren’t meant to be worn by some entitled influencer.

Diamond and Bainbridge also manage to tackle (no pun intended) the area of sports, where native team names and stereotypes are countless. They also manage to focus on the achievements of Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School football team, who frequently outshone the famous and wealthy Ivy League football teams while introducing and perfecting many aspects of the game that are so important today.

The US system of government was inspired by the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment philosophers, who were in turn inspired by the governing systems missionaries found in the native communities of the New World. It’s maddening to remember how a government born from those indigenous ideas then led the way in the destruction of that society’s people, land and culture either through force or residential schools.

Red Fever, which I viewed as part of the 2024 Toronto Hot Docs festival, is at times entertaining and informative, maddening and inspiring. If you have a chance to see it in a theatre or on a streaming documentary service or channel, don’t miss it.