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| Apaches Sue Spielberg For Culturally Insensitive Haircut |
| 2006-03-18 |
| ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Producers of Steven Spielberg's T-V miniseries, "Into the West" are being sued because of a haircut. He should be sued for his mirror imaging of Mossad and Black September, in "Munich." A Mescalero Apache family in New Mexico has filed a federal lawsuit claiming a set stylist cut their daughter's hair without regard for tribal customs. They're asking for more than 300-thousand dollars for emotional distress and damages. The lawsuit claims the stylist cut the eight-year-old girl's hair to make her look more 'Indian' and like a male Indian child because there weren't enough young male extras. Mescalero tradition forbids cutting a girl's hair as she approaches puberty. "Tradition"? It wasn't that long ago that our tradition wouldn't let natives leave the reserves. We dumped ours; you dump yours. The lawsuit names Turner Films and an unidentified stylist as defendants. Turner Films says it doesn't comment on pending litigation. Good, then we won't have to hear from terrible Ted. |
| Posted by:Listen To Dogs |
| #13 Thanks for the info on the Mescaleros, OP. Our daughter was friends with both Apaches and Navaho from NM. Their extended clans weren't in on the riches that it appears this group has and I just extrapolated from that. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-03-18 22:40 |
| #12 I'd have $6 million dollars too if I didn't have to pay any taxes. |
| Posted by: Sheath Phath9207 2006-03-18 18:42 |
| #11 I'd have $6 million dollars too if I didn't have to pay any taxes. |
| Posted by: Sheath Phath9207 2006-03-18 18:41 |
| #10 I lived in Alamogordo 1969-1970,and visited the Mescalero Indian reservation east of there. Not only are these people warriors, they're some of the most savvy cattle-breeders in the world. They also have money - millions, not pocket change. My wife worked (head bookkeeper) at a bank that handled a couple of their accounts. One of the local bank officers mouthed off to some friends, and was overheard by one of the trustees of the Mescalero accounts. The Mescaleros retaliated the next day by withdrawing over $6M from the bank and putting it in another bank. You do NOT cross these people - they have the power to retaliate. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-03-18 18:38 |
| #9 I have some sympathy for this family. Whatever they might have been paid for the girl's participation was probably quite welcome: if they are traditionals they are probably living in poverty financially. My guess is that they were given vague promises that nothing would be done with her and then, when the producers realized they didn't have enough boys, someone just grabbed her and started trimming. 'moose is right about the US military veterans in that tribe. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-03-18 18:16 |
| #8 Q: Fastest way to a fight on the res? A: Insult the Marine Corps. The only men who won't get upset are prior service Army. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-03-18 12:17 |
| #7 I see smoke signals.. /warpath |
| Posted by: RD 2006-03-18 11:24 |
| #6 WTF, where were her parents while she was on set, she at least has to have some kind of legal guardian on set with her at all times, thats the movie biz. |
| Posted by: bk 2006-03-18 10:48 |
| #5 my point remains. If it is such a big, big thing.. who was supervising the kid and didn't object at the time? Children on sets are under supervision. |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-03-18 10:46 |
| #4 Nope,GS, our living encylopedia, Anonymoose, didn't have to make that one up. It's called the Sunrise Ceremony. |
| Posted by: GK 2006-03-18 10:34 |
| #3 LOL, TW. Anonymoose - you made that up, right? :) |
| Posted by: Glunter Sneash8888 2006-03-18 10:09 |
| #2 Make no mistake, Apaches are still a warrior tribe. And while they don't have so damn many taboos as do the Navajo and Hopi, they take the ones they have seriously. In this case, a young girl's coming of age ceremony is probably their biggest celebration. They permitted parts of one to be video taped some years ago. The ceremony lasts several days and the girl has seven bells beaten out of her in the process. The cost can run into tens of thousands of dollars. The girl is regarded as tremendous good luck, so several hundred people want to touch her as many times as they can. Everything is covered with yellow corn pollen, which is also good luck. The girl has a bodyguard of four old grandmothers, and goes through a dozen or more elaborate costume changes, leading into her doing a slow dance that lasts most of a day. About every four years or so, one girl in particular is selected for the "giant size" version of the ceremony, and not only gets a small fortune in gifts, but is on the fast track to a leadership position in the tribe. Yep, Spielberg and Co. really screwed up her bat Mitzvah all right. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-03-18 09:46 |
| #1 So the kid just wandered onto the set and was scalped and forced to play a role? Or did her parents/guardians farm the kid out for an acting job and then get ticked off that their little star didn't get a speaking role? |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-03-18 09:32 |