A lot of fuss. Many words to remind us of a man of words. McEvilley’s dead but it’s the man I’m remembering, not the words.

Tuesday nights teaching class at Rice. Art & the Mind. Always late. Coffee cups (two of them) loaded. Slide trays jamming. It’s the history of everything he whispered. It was and is because I filmed all his lectures. Forty-two hours of talking, drinking and challenging his audience to join his fierce quest on the edge. “Is this our glory or is it our doom?” he says finally about western civilization. The cups are empty, the lights are dim, the work is done.

[Below, a montage of footage originally composed as a tribute in honor of Thomas McEvilley's retirement from teaching at Rice University. Film by Brian Huberman.]

Mc-Evil Eye from Brian Huberman on Vimeo.

The filmmaker tries his hand at textile design

These bandanas (26 x 26 in.) are designed by Brian and screen-printed professionally by Black Swan Screen Printers in Houston.

Design inspired by this photo.

The bandanas are for sale, $10 each. To order, use the PayPal button below and follow the instructions for payment from there. We will ship the bandana(s) as promptly as possible.

Copyright chiricahua apache bandana 2012

American Indian activist and actor, Russell Means, with the author Brian Huberman. Means died on Oct 22, 2012. He was 72.

This is a photo of Russell Means shaking my hand at Rice Media Center April 20, 2001.

I think his full name was “Mean to his Horses.” He came to my class to speak about Indians and movies. A contract had already been agreed upon that required coffee be supplied him during the session…”lawsuit hot!”

A full-blood Lakota warrior, Means towered above me. Briefly, I imagined the last horrific moments of Custer’s men at the Little Bighorn who might have encountered such a person in hand to hand combat.

Talking about Hollywood westerns with Means was an equally fierce experience. I was quickly through the looking glass and forced to view the world from his point of view. History as genocide rather than Manifest Destiny. Heroes like Boone, Crockett and Kit Carson were reduced to a word…”killers.” Indian killers, rapers, land thieves, degenerates but doing God’s great work.

Means had little respect for the movies he had acted in considering them exploitation pieces and also lacking authenticity. “Leather in Summer!” was his derisive chant when describing how Hollywood insisted on dressing Indians in buckskins no matter the location or season. He did enjoy playing the Chief in Disney’s cartoon Pocahontas and also his character as a wise Indian in Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers.

His greatest achievement it seems to me was his stand at Wounded Knee against the United States of America in 1973. A leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM) he survived an armed insurrection against the US Government. I asked him what he had hoped to achieve at Wounded Knee and he replied, “I expected to be killed.”

Means was not killed but spent time in prison and also acted in movies. Some call him a self promoter while others saw him as a great American Indian leader.

Means could be entertaining but he had a dark angry side that threatened violence. He described himself as an extraordinary man and I guess he probably was.

water to water 3 from Brian Huberman on Vimeo.

*As told to Brian’s daughter, Bond.

Sam Peckinpah’s Wild Bunch was a favorite movie. I remember that as blood and thunder burst from the screen, Tom sat calmly before a giant magnifying glass and made fishing lures. Like the rough and tumble characters of the movie, Tom was not a religious person but he was ironically a terrific fisherman.

My best memory of Tom is when Peckinpah visited Houston. One day he turned up at the SWAMP offices, where Tom handed him a bullet inscribed with Peckinpah’s name.  ”This bullet has your name on it”, he proudly announced much to the amusement of old Sam.

Thinking of Tom now I’m reminded of a line from Larry McMurtry where a dead cowboy is eulogized. “Served in seven campaigns against the Comanches and Kiowas. Cheerful in all weathers. Splendid behavior.”

Adios, Tom.

Having successfully negotiated a few major life transitions recently (not least of which include his talented webmaster/youngest daughter getting married!), Brian is back to work and teaching at Rice University for the Spring 2012 semester. He is also warming up to the idea of reuniting with his friend Pilgrim (above) and taking riding lessons again.

Thanks to all the friends and allies out there who showed their support in the last year.

See you in the arena.

]]> http://www.brianhuberman.com/2012/01/15/back-in-the-saddle/feed/ 0 http://www.brianhuberman.com/2011/08/14/el-canyon-de-los-embudos-the-canyon-of-the-funnels/ http://www.brianhuberman.com/2011/08/14/el-canyon-de-los-embudos-the-canyon-of-the-funnels/#comments Mon, 15 Aug 2011 04:56:08 +0000 admin http://www.brianhuberman.com/?p=456

On July 28, 2011, Jerry Eagan and myself crossed over into Northern Mexico. This was the first stage of our journey to “the Canyon.”

In March 1886 Geronimo and what remained of his Chiricahua Apache followers met here with Gen. Crook of the US Army to discuss terms of surrender.

The meeting was notable for three reasons:

1) It was a failure. Some members of the “gang” surrendered, but Geronimo and what would be known as the “last holdout band” made a break for it and headed into the wild country.

2) Gen. Crook insisted that three interpreters be employed during his discussions with Geronimo and the others in order that the most accurate record possible might be made of the encounter. This record remains today – a remarkable instance of historical documentation and a rare opportunity to gain more direct insight into these characters’ motivations and thoughts. Geronimo, for example, reveals he is puzzled as to why so many people in the United States want to hang him. Crook, meanwhile, makes no secret that he considers Geronimo a total liar.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, 3) C. S. Fly, a photographer from Tombstone requested permission to join the expedition in order to photograph Geronimo and capture what he considered to be saleable images. Fly’s photos would become the iconic illustration of Geronimo’s outlaw persona. Few people realize that these photos are the only photographs ever taken of American Indians posed as “hostiles,” still under arms and in the field. (Typically, photos of American Indians represent them long after they have been taken captive – in costume, playing the warriors they had once been.)

Many of my colleagues and friends felt that it was foolhardy for our team to attempt the journey to this place.

Traveling in the borderlands of Northern Mexico right now is extremely precarious, unfortunately, due to extreme violent activity that creates a climate of fear in the region. Certainly, danger was always with us in our journey. However, with the support of individuals living in the state of Chihuahua, we were able to make it there and back safely.

Anyway, it was important for the film, and for me, to have this climactic scene. If you’re making films about Apaches…you can’t not brush with a bit of danger. We went in to get as close to the experience of the late 19th century as we could possibly get, knowing that it would be quite possible to end up in a patch of weeds.

None in our party had ever been to this place before, except Jerry. And even he didn’t have a clear memory of the dirt roads we needed to take. Sections of the road were boulders. It was a hard journey – about an hour off a paved road. At one point we encountered a vaquero on his horse who seemed much better equipped to deal with the rough terrain than we were in our non-four-wheel drive vehicle. He offered initially to guide us to the canyon – and then for no apparent reason, changed his mind. Eventually we found ourselves before the mountains, which, thanks to Fly’s photographs, proved we were in the right spot.

Just beyond the canyon, we stopped at a small farm house, where a blond woman wearing a filthy Mickey Mouse t-shirt marched over to us and began speaking in English. She knew the history of the ground and had two children hanging onto her. I noted this encounter as a strange contrast to the mythic “end game” I associate with this place. A bit hallucinatory almost.

I should credit my intrepid guide and subject, Jerry Eagan, who was really responsible for the effective planning of the trip. Despite previously expressed concerns about “reentering Indian country” – as the enemy territory was sometimes referred to in Vietnam – and taunts that I was romanticizing danger – he led the way.

This news of Kathryn’s death is hard to believe. When I knew her in the early ’90s she was a force to contend with. Half horse, half alligator; at our first meeting, she threatened to drive her six inch stiletto heel through my brain!

Despite a rough start, Kathryn persuaded me to film her daily life during the time she was preparing for surgery to become a “new woman”. Together we filmed at social events in Houston, a drag race, at her home with local transvestites and finally in England where she had the operation. The film, The Last days of Charles/ Kathryn was screened on PBS and won some awards.

I remember Kathryn as a great soul unafraid to live life to the fullest. Her closet shall forever remain empty.

~Brian Huberman

[You can preview Brian's film on Kathryn here:]

It’s a visceral experience, to say the least:

From the artist himself:

“In May of 2009, I was honored to be part of a Prison Issues residency at the Blue Mountain Center. While there I had the honor of being in the company of some amazing people. Artists, activist from around the world provided over two weeks of inspiration, knowledge, and camaraderie.

“While doing my individual research, I happened upon some maps created by Rose Heyer that showed the growth of the US Prison system. With that information, I was inspired to create Proliferation, an animated mapping of the US Prison system set to original music.”

Timeline

Green Dots: 1778-1900
Yellow Dots: 1901-1940
Orange Dots: 1941-1980
Red Dots: 1981-2005

Nathan Eyring – Animation
Aaron Bourget- Video Editing
Rose Heyer – Research
Troy Glessner – Music Mastering

Learn more about the artist’s work at paulrucker.com