Neal Powless was born with a purpose: to be heard.

His Native American name translates to “his voice is heard among the people,” a phrase that has defined his life.

Months ago, he came across the opportunity to work on the Native American lacrosse movie “Crooked Arrows,” which was rumored to be riddled with cultural inaccuracies.

When he got the job offer, he wasn’t sure what to do. Powless is affiliated with the Onondaga Nation and is also the assistant director of the Native Student Program at Syracuse University. If Powless signed on, he worried it would hurt his own reputation with those organizations.

But Powless felt it was his duty to spread the correct message about Native American culture, so he signed on.

Powless grew up on the Onondaga Reservation, where he said, “lacrosse is part of our heritage and our culture.”

He played professionally for six seasons, was a three-time All-American and played in the World Lacrosse Championships in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2004 for the Iroquois team.

But lacrosse is far more than a sport in Native American culture. It’s a “medicine game,” or a spiritual healing game, and is still played in this tradition every year on the reservation.

“In this area, it’s very important to our identity and who we are,” Powless said. “It’s another way of sharing our culture.”

Though different versions of the game have been played throughout Native American history, the field version that’s now played internationally originated with the Iroquois people.

So, when filmmakers looking to create a Native American lacrosse movie had trouble with their audition process, they went back to lacrosse’s Onondagan roots.

That’s where they found Powless. Producers arrived at a lacrosse practice at the Onondaga Nation Arena and started talking to Powless on the sidelines. He gave them tips about lacrosse from a Native American perspective and also suggested players to keep an eye on.

“I was pointing out guys that not only had the skill, had the look with the long hair and the braids, but also understood the culture and heritage of what the sport meant,” Powless said. “Sure enough, these guys ended up with speaking roles.”

After helping find actors, Powless was offered a job with the movie. But before getting involved, he decided that the script needed to be rewritten, to protect both himself and the actors he helped to recruit.

“I couldn’t send them out to do the things they were expecting them to do for the movie,” Powless said. “They wouldn’t have been allowed to come home if their people saw the movie. They would’ve been embarrassed.”

At the time, Powless had just signed his contract to start his current position at SU. He hadn’t even moved everything into his office yet. This meant he had the time to rewrite the script. But it also meant he had more on the line.

“It was a big jump because I knew what was at stake,” Powless said. “I went in with both feet and I had to make sure that I committed to it. I did everything I possibly could to make sure that the end product was respectful, yet entertaining.

Ira Huff, a senior English and textual studies major and Tonawanda Seneca Nation lacrosse player, said he appreciated what the movie did to put the Native American image in a good light.

“Because you can only do cowboys and Indians so much,” he said.

Huff said he thinks the movie did what it could, but he doesn’t think the way to bridge the gap between Native Americans and others in the campus community is through a movie.

“There has to be dialogue,” Huff said. “We live so close together, we live amongst one another, but that kind of openness hasn’t really come about.”

Huff is a part of the Native American Students at Syracuse, which he said tries to raise visibility and get involved in the campus community.

“We have our challenges because not everyone’s willing to listen,” he said. “Or not everyone even knows we exist.”

Powless said though “Crooked Arrows” is still about two-thirds reality and one-third Hollywood, there are subtle things in the movie that make it so even Native American people can learn a little bit as they watch it.

He said some Onondaga parents have told him their children have watched the movie upward of 30 times, reciting it word for word, which magnifies the importance of the movie’s lessons.

“It’s these little things that are subliminal that are in this movie,” Powless said. “These kids are going to end up thinking about college and educating themselves and moving forward.”

Tyler Hill, a lifelong Onondaga lacrosse player who played Silverfoot in “Crooked Arrows,” said he appreciated the opportunity this movie gave him to serve as a good role model for those children.

“That’s who the movie really was made for anyways; the kids, our future players,” Hill said. “That’s just a really good feeling to know that you’re somebody’s role model.”

He has visited many different Native American communities and said that everywhere he goes, people and their children tell him they loved the movie.

“I knew no matter what this movie was going to be a positive thing for our people,” Hill said. “So I was just happy and grateful to be a part of it, to spread the game of lacrosse and make a difference in the youth.”

Hill and Powless are both striving for this idea of spreading the message and making changes for the future. For Powless, confirmation of his cause came in the form of an email from a mother thanking him for the opportunity the movie gave her daughter.

The girl was only about 13. Her mother and grandmother found out that she had been telling people she was Italian because she was ashamed of her Native American heritage.

When “Crooked Arrows” needed Native American extras, they sent her on the bus without telling her what the movie was for.

She stepped off the bus, surrounded by countless Native American extras, actors and a Native American co-producer. They were all proud to be Native American, all happy to be there and be playing the Native American role in this movie, Powless said.

At the end of the 12 hours on set, she walked through her front door, turned to her mother and grandmother and said: “‘I’ll never say that I’m Italian again.’”

“Why wouldn’t I get involved in this movie?” Powless said. “To have an opportunity to do that, for someone to be proud of who they are, that’s why I do what I do.”

 

Published on December 6, 2012 at 5:49 am