Camera zooms in on a white guy with shaggy hair and casual clothing talking seriously to an elderly Lakota woman. He smiles brightly, formerly braced and now straight teeth gleaming in the light of a setting sun.
Narrator: What we’re seeing here is a real treat! The grandmother may look weary of this man’s offer to take pictures of her takoja, but with our special mic, we can hear how he promises his photos will help the outside world see her struggles and want to help her. How exciting! The Great White Savior is in his natural element, stalking prey with his most potent weapon: Good intentions.
A commenter on this blog wrote recently:
Hi, I know this is not directly related to your blog entry, but I’d be really interested to hear your perspective about Aaron Huey’s work with the Pine Ridge Community Story Telling Project and his TED talk stuff. Do you think this is a more representative approach, or is he just another white guy doing well off other people’s stories? – Sunshine
I thought I’d answer as a post, since this is (unfortunately) a consistently relevant topic of discussion. In fact, I was just having this conversation on Facebook with a friend the other day. Because his documentary, “Honor the Treaties,” was released to a worldwide audience a few days ago, Aaron Huey’s Native-inspired works (and his skills as a photographer aren’t being critiqued here, folks; he’s obviously a talented artist) are making the rounds on social media again. Good question/topic, Sunshine.
Yes, in my opinion, Huey is another of those Great White Saviors [GWS] who (1) rides onto the reservation with privilege and a colonial lens, (2) takes some pictures or makes a movie showing surface culture and poverty, (3) receives praise and notoriety for his efforts, and (4) leaves. This isn’t to say GWS folks like Huey and Johnny Depp (yeah, let’s drag him into it, too), aren’t good people. They probably are (I’m nowhere near cool enough to warrant a meeting to judge for myself).
But being a “good person” with good intentions is one of the overarching characteristics of the typical GWS. Yet as many people smarter than this blogger have noted, intentions aren’t worth crap if your impact isn’t measurable and/or worthwhile to the communities you claim to be helping. It’s one thing to bring attention to reservation plights, quite another to profit from it in some way (movie tickets for Depp, a National Geographic/TED spot for Huey, or even TV ratings for Diane Sawyer) without doing much about the problems you’re “bringing light to” in the long run. Again, it’s about impact, not intentions. This is where Huey (and others) fall flat.
The other issue here is that these stories (positive or negative reservation issues) belong to Native Americans. Really, what I love most (not really) about people like Aaron Huey or Diane Sawyer or Johnny Depp is that they talk about Native issues like they’re experts, and people EAT THAT ISH UP!!! Like, “Whoa! Huey said the government hasn’t honored the treaties! Shit just got real.” Or “Diane Sawyer is a true journalist exposing the poverty of reservations. Glad people know about it now.” WTF?!? Why is this news?!
“Revelations” like these are super-frustrating for those of us on the ground, and when some stranger can walk in, point a finger, get some publicity, and walk away from our very real issues it’s like a kick to the gut, and a reminder of how little we rate. The United States has been encouraging and perpetuating third-world conditions on reservations (South Dakota and elsewhere) for more than a century! This isn’t news, folks! It’s everyday LIFE for people, and privileged talking heads just keep getting (taking? hemorrhaging?) more and more out of the daily struggle of people just trying to survive.
These are our stories to tell, and while getting attention from Hollywood or TED or ABC can be a nice boost, the end result isn’t usually all that beneficial or useful to Natives. And, of course, what we’re missing when non-Natives tell OUR stories is balance. Huey and others focus on selling the poverty porn of reservation life, how broken our homes and spirits are. But we are not broken; we struggle – no doubt – but we are strong, and the outside world would know that if we could share our stories on the same platforms available to the GWS.
Beyond this is the fact that some of these stories are not meant to be shared outside a certain sphere. Huey, in particular, took many photos of Lakota ceremony that should never be recorded; that his excuse is a tribal member allowed him to do so tells me he doesn’t care about our community, only his end product. Make no mistake: This is cultural rape in its most basic form. Filming or photographing ceremony is a violent and abusive way of stripping our culture of its spirituality and pureness. One indigenous cosigner does not consent make.
Back to the original issue of Huey doing good work in Pine Ridge. The short answer is: He’s not. Disagree? Please, tell me – using tangible examples – how Huey, Depp, Sawyer, or any other White Savior Industrial Complex sideshows (Teach For America, church mission trips, etc.) have created lasting impact on our reservations…? How have their pet projects changed anything for the better? Maybe one or two or a hundred people can say their lives are better for having their picture taken. Maybe. But I think it’s the people who work with and among Natives day in and day out their entire lives who will be the true, (often unwritten) warriors and heroes in all this. Everyone else is just a voyeur getting off (and getting popular or even rich) on the desolation of our communities. Natives must be their own sovereigns and saviors. Help (attention, money) is great – but it’s on us to make it better in an appropriate and respectful way.
End Note: I’ve linked to her in this story, but please check out Lauren Chief Elk‘s Tumblr, “Life Returned” (scroll down to April 14 to read her take on Huey, then follow her on Twitter via @ChiefElk and @SaveWiyabi). She is the epitome of indigenous (and feminist) activism and advocacy. I learn something new everyday just reading her Twitter feed and guarantee you will, too.
Righting Red 
Wow, thanks for linking me! This is great, concise commentary. Thanks again! 🙂
Hey I’m white and I live on a Rez, I’m a teacher and what you are saying saddens me because you do nothing to fix the problems that exist on the Rez. If a white person creates something artistic it’s exploitive, a native makes some art exploiting the same culture and it’s ok. This article is so racist it’s not funny. I’m an Irish white man and my son is a Blackfeet descendant and according to this article, if I want to teach on the Rez I’m just an exploiter because it defers my student loans. Never mind that I actually care about the community. Reverse racism does nothing for us but continue the divide and allow the social problems to persist, because people are focusing on pissyness. We live in a capitalist society sadly, if you got beef with that then say so, focusing on the color of people’s skin sidesteps the true issue of capital exploitation.
Why are you identifying yourself (who actually cares about the community) with people who do shit things like “walk in, point a finger, get some publicity, and walk away from our very real issues”?
Here’s a good description of reverse racism.