Boulder Community Media (BCM) presents “The Arapaho Covered Wagon Redux” (Arapaho Redux), a documentary by Alan O’Hashi, which retells “The Covered Wagon,” an epic 1923 silent film.
The screening in the Boedecker Theater at the Dairy Center is free, but attendees must get a ticket for a headcount. Watch for the registration link.
https://thedairy.org/event/the-arapaho-covered-wagon-redux/
The movie screens with an intermission in the Boedecker Theater at the Dairy Center May 6th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.. A question-and-answer session happens after the movie.
What makes the Redux new, is a new soundtrack recorded by the Northern Arapaho Eagle Society led by Michael Ridgebear and the Boulder Symphony & Music Academy led by Music Director Devin Hughes. The soundtrack was recorded live before an audience during Indigenous People’s Month in October 2023.
The music retells the story from a tribal perspective and reverses negative Native American stereotypes perpetuated over six centuries. The Arapaho Redux provides a safe space for diverse and collaborative voices to support the Arapaho people as they pass on the tribal language and ceremonies to their children.
The screening is two hours with an intermission and a Question and Answer session with the filmmakers, Alan O’Hashi and Michael Conti, Boulder Symphony Director Devin Hughes, and invited Arapaho Tribal Representatives.
In 1923, “The Covered Wagon” included a prologue called “Pioneer Days” featuring Arapaho tribal members in full regalia telling stories in sign language translated by Cowboy actor, Tim McCoy.
Similarly, “Arapaho Days” is the Redux prologue about the making of the new soundtrack, Arapaho reversing negative tribal stereotypes in an effort to regain land from the city of Boulder.
The movie is about settlers traveling in wagon trains from Missouri to Oregon. Director James Cruze hired several hundred Northern Arapaho to be background actors.
The pioneers encounter conflicts with tribes along the way who are protecting their homeland. The mixed-genre music retells the story from a tribal perspective to reverse negative Native American stereotypes perpetuated by popular media over three centuries.
The Arapaho Redux provides a safe space for diverse and collaborative voices to support the Arapaho people as they tie the tribal language and ceremonies to their traditional homelands in Northern Colorado through their young people.
