Adam Beach believes it’s time Indigenous people in Hollywood redefine the way they are represented onscreen.

Speaking on campus for the Gail Appel Lectureship in Literature and Fine Arts on Oct. 2, the actor known for Flags of Our Fathers, Smoke Signals and Suicide Squad told an audience at Convocation Hall that he plans to become more active in the coming years at “pushing the envelope (and) calling out people for misinterpreting us.”

Beach spent the day speaking with students at a series of events hosted by the College of Arts & Science before delivering his keynote talk, a lecture titled Rewriting the Hollywood Indian.

During the evening lecture, Beach criticized the negative or simplistic depictions of Indigenous people featured in many mainstream films, as well as the practice of casting non-Indigenous actors to play Indigenous roles.

“We as Native people have a voice, a language, a strength that we keep in our hearts to share with people. If you want it, we’ll give it to you,” he said.

Beach argued that the change will ultimately have to be driven by Indigenous artists, not by the Hollywood establishment.


“We must acknowledge and support our writers and directors. We are writing and creating our own projects,” he said. “This takes time, but the future of Native filmmaking is prosperous.”


The Gail Appel Lectureship in Literature and Fine Arts was established at the College of Arts & Science in 2002 by Gail Appel and her husband Mark. The lecture series invites high-profile artists, writers and musicians to speak to students and the general public on campus.
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Chief Theresa Spence’s home is smack-dab in the middle of this tiny, remote First Nation: a large, yellow trailer that was always bustling, with people coming in and congregating outside.

There is no one here now except a teenage girl house-sitting.

But Spence is not forgotten in Attawapiskat. While she is in Ottawa, entering the third week of her hunger strike, her people are behind her and worrying for her health — even the few who think her timing is wrong.

Spence has vowed not to eat until Prime Minister Stephen Harper sits down to talk with her and other aboriginal leaders from across Canada. She has called on the government to respect First Nations and their treaty rights and to help communities that are facing real crises, from poverty to housing, health and education.

Willie Sproule, who works at Northern, Attawapiskat’s only store, said it will be a grave injustice if Harper does not meet Spence.

Sproule, wearing a hat that says “Native Pride,” is outspoken: “Over the years, the government has thrown peanuts at the natives and treated us like Third World people. Why is Harper not helping native people? Does she have to die?”


Spence’s hunger strike is becoming synonymous with the Idle No More movement sweeping the country in a call for affirmative action on aboriginal causes and rights. A series of grassroots protests, the movement has become big on social media too; Spence’s name is a hashtag on Twitter.

The Prime Minister’s Office has referred matters to Minister of Aboriginal Affairs John Duncan, who has said he is willing to meet Spence. She has declined: she says she will talk only to Harper as she subsists on water, medicine tea and some fish broth every day.


In Attawapiskat, people tune into the news regularly to track Spence’s health.

“It must be torturous for the chief,” said Micheline Wesley, who works at a café called Nate’s. “She hasn’t had any food in two weeks.

“But thanks to Stephen Harper for waking up our people,” she added. “We are proud of her.”

Agnes Fireman, 66, said Spence is taking a stand for all First Nation communities in Canada, not just her own.


“It is the first time I have known for someone to stand up for us and our rights,” she said. “We are all hoping things go well for the chief.”

There are, however, voices of dissent. Andrew Koostachin, a head band councillor, questioned the timing of the hunger strike.

“It is the holiday season . . . . The Parliament is not in session,” he said. “It may have been better to start the protest in the new year.”
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