Wholphin

AMERICAN OUTRAGE (excerpt from the documentary)
Directed by Beth Gage & George Gage

In the last few years, while we’ve all been busy “Freeing Tibetâ€? and dutifully monitoring human rights abuses against indigenous peoples half way around the world, filmmakers George and Beth Gage have been documenting equally infuriating human rights abuses taking place right in our own back yard. In a nutshell, for the past 30 years the U.S. government has been quietly, illegally, re-claiming land it had previously ceded to Shoshone Indians and then selling it off to various mining interests. Did you know about this? Neither did we. Despite the fact that the United Nations has passed a resolution condemning our government’s action’s against the Shoshone, actions which at times have involved physically roughing up 70-year-old Shoshone grandmothers, most of us have never even heard of this crisis. But after seeing the film, excerpted on Wholphin No. 5, it is hard to deny that it is a crisis of constitutional proportions, and one that, at the very least, deserves it’s own bumper sticker and the most celebrity-packed summer concert tour our nation’s celebritarian actorvists can muster. The following interview was conducted with George and Beth for the issue.

Filmmakers Beth and George Gage.

Q:Watching your film, I kept wondering why it takes an
independently produced documentary film for us to find out about the Dann
sisters?

Beth Gage: We’ve had a similar reaction from most of our audiences. People are amazed that this is going on today, in the United States, and they’re completely unaware of it. This is not by accident. Ed Bradley from 60 Minutes covered the story of the Dann sisters about ten years ago, but the episode never ran. It was deemed too “political.� This country is only too anxious to expose human rights offenses in other countries while ignoring the same abuses going on right under our collective noses.

Q: Did you experience any pressure or unwanted attention during filming from any people in dark sunglasses? Are your phones tapped? Will mine now be?

George Gage: One of the security men that very rudely escorted me off the Barrick gold mine property was the first “policeman� on the scene when Carrie Dann’s car mysteriously blew up later that afternoon. Luckily a young volunteer was driving it, on her way to pick up Carrie, and her fast reflexes saved her that day. A few months earlier there was an unexplained fire in the Western Shoshone Defense Project office. Also, Mary Dann’s death has never really been explained. Probably the most dangerous thing we’ve done is told you.

Q: Can you explain the role that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid played in this drama?

GG: We were told by key legislative staffers that Reid pushed the money bill for the Bush administration —he had at least one meeting with Karl Rove during that time. We didn’t feel it would be dangerous to bring this up in an election year, but it would raise very serious issues regarding collusion between industry and both parties. Reid’s not up for reelection this year so we could not be accused of trying to be political—just telling the story of what is happening. Regardless, neither political party is innocent of the abuses perpetrated on the American Indians.

Q: Do you consider yourselves filmmakers who document activists, or activists who make documentaries?

BG: I’m a storyteller drawn to accounts that inspire or infuriate, of indomitable spirit or gross injustice. George is drawn to powerful stories that offer dramatic visuals. The reporting about the Dann sisters in the New York Times really attracted our curiosity. We just couldn’t understand why the U.S. government was harassing two elderly ranching sisters in the middle of what appeared to be Nevada’s desolate desert.

Q: A friend of mine who saw the film thought the mention of Mary Dann’s death from a fencing accident seemed a little odd. He wondered if there might have been more to that story. Any comment?

GG & BG: We agree with your friend.

Q: When Carrie Dann spoke at the Native American Film Festival, her speech was an admonition against using a lot of toilet paper when going to the bathroom. What other important advice has she imparted to you?

GG: She’s brought so many things to our attention, but particularly the ongoing neglect and destruction of Mother Earth. Carrie and Mary try not to waste anything. When we went “pine nutting� with them, they counted the pinecones as they knocked them off the tree, and when they gathered them up, they counted again, making sure they found every single cone.

BG: Another thing they talk about a lot is “not taking all.� Whether it’s pine nuts that you leave for animals or water for the next seven generations, sharing is an important aspect of the Native philosophy. Their sharing was at the root of their problems with the European pioneers hungry for land. Also, Carrie talks a lot about gold and the damage that’s done to the earth to extract it. When you realize that 90 percent of gold is used for jewelry, you can’t help questioning the rape of the land that takes place in order to extract it.

Q: Do you ever have creative disagreements? If so, as a couple, how do you separate your creative disagreements from your personal relationship and vice versa?

GG: Sure, like when I don’t know an important answer is being delivered in an interview and I’m focusing on someone’s nose hair. You don’t want to be in the editing room when those moments suddenly appear on-screen.

BG: We usually only have disagreements in editing. George can’t stand an unaesthetic shot in the film, and I feel that sometimes it’s necessary for the story to work. Mostly we work together well; our strengths complement each other. We’ve been together so long, we can’t separate anything.