Native Stun

It’s been more than a century since the glory days of Wyatt Earp and Geronimo, yet boys of all ages are still playing cowboys and Indians. And even when semi-automatics replaced six-shooters and battles over land moved into the legal arena, the, um, game has remained exactly the same. Take,...

By Wynter Holden

July 24, 2008

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It’s been more than a century since the glory days of Wyatt Earp and Geronimo, yet boys of all ages are still playing cowboys and Indians. And even when semi-automatics replaced six-shooters and battles over land moved into the legal arena, the, um, game has remained exactly the same. Take, for example, the documentary Cowboys and Indians: The Killing of J.J. Harper. The film tells the true story of a young Manitoba tribal leader in Winnipeg, Canada, who was gunned down by an overzealous cop in the late ‘80s. Following Harper’s death, a police cover-up ensued (which was exposed by the newly formed Manitoba Aboriginal Justice Inquiry), race riots erupted, and a police inspector went suicidal the day before he was scheduled to testify at trial. So the next time you get pissed about racial profiling or post 9-11 airport security and consider fleeing to Canada, you might want to think twice, eh.
Mon., July 28, 1:30 p.m., 2008

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