The Native American Studies program invites students to attend "The Business of Fancy Dancing," a part of the Second Annual Native American Film Series, "Queer(ing) Cinema in Native America." The film will be shown at 7 p.m. today in Burkhardt Building Room 300.
Colleen Boyd, director of the Native American Studies program, collaborated with her husband John Boyd, a Native American faculty member, to select films for "Queer(ing) Cinema in Native America." The films in the series share American Indian themes as well as explore queer theory, the study of the categorization of gender and sexuality, she said.
"In some traditional Native American cultures, there were allowances for people who did not fit into a sex binary," Boyd said. "People that we may call gay, lesbian or bisexual, they called 'two spirited.'"
Boyd said that she selected films that intersected two major topics to generate more interest by appealing in a broader way, while still incorporating American Indian culture. For next year's film series, Boyd plans on incorporating American Indian themes with environmental issues.
"The films cut across ethnic boundaries," Boyd said. "People who otherwise might not necessarily go to a film about Native Americans might be more tempted to go see something they know more about."
"The Business of Fancy Dancing" is about a young, gay American Indian poet who encounters personal conflict when he returns to the reservation for the funeral of a childhood friend. The film is based on Sherman Alexie's book of poetry of the same name. Alexie is a writer, poet and filmmaker from the Spokane Nation.
The Native American Studies program is sponsoring a trip to see Alexie read at Purdue University April 19. The trip is free. People interested in attending can sign up in the Department of Anthropology office.
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