SKINS
EXPOSES THE DESTITUTE CONDITION OF NATIVE AMERICANS
Skins takes place at Pine
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, the poorest county
in the United States. When the film begins, a voiceover
recites statistics of the miserable plight of Native
Americans concerning their poor health and low income.
The story focuses on Rudy Yellow Lodge (played by Eric
Schweig), a police officer who is more social worker
than law enforcement officer. Lacking employment and
alternative means of pleasure, we see that most older
men on the reservation are idle and drink too much.
The film footage presents a pathetic picture of the
reservation and culminates in the death of Rudy's older
brother Mogie (played by Graham Greene) from liver cirrhosis.
After the funeral, Rudy buys a can of red paint, climbs
up Mount Rushmore, and pours the red stain over the
bust of George Washington. (Native Americans regard
the carved busts as desecration of a sacred mountain.)
Directed by Chris Eyre and based on a novel by Adrian
C. Louis, Skins has been nominated
as best exposé of 2002 as an eye-opener to many
filmviewers of the neglect of Native Americans by the
government and people of the United States. MH
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Skins
by Adrian C. Louis
SKINS
is Adrian C. Louis's realistic novel of life on Pine
Ridge Reservation, the story of two brothers--one a
rez cop, the other an alcoholic--and their relationship
with each other, with their people, with their environment. |