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Heather Rae

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Smart Mule:
She used her fake claims to clearly gain access and gate keep during Standing Rock in order to produce Akicita.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/16/movies/standing-rock-sioux-tribe-filmmakers.html

" “At one point do we get to create our own narrative?” asked Heather Rae, a filmmaker of Cherokee descent whose as-yet-untitled project on the protest is being made with the support of the Sundance Institute.

...The news media and video bloggers have a place at Standing Rock, Ms. Rae said, but in her view, many nonindigenous feature documentary makers are direct descendants of “the anthropologists” — which Ms. Rae uses as a term of derision — who have long relegated Native American subjects to the equivalent of a “human zoo.”

“We look at it with different responsibilities,” she said. “One guy on our team overheard a nonnative filmmaker say, ‘This is really going to make my career.’ This is different from speaking to one’s descendants and generations to come. We’re speaking to something that echoes into the future.” Ms. Rae and Ben Dupris are producing the film and Cody Lucich is directing."

...Not everyone sees it that way. Ms. Rae said: “There are only a couple of nonnative filmmakers who’ve been there since the beginning. There are others who have dropped in for a short amount of time and then put up GoFundMe appeals. We go: ‘Who is this person? We’ve never even seen this guy.’”

It also angers me that she was the exec producer for Dawnland which is about the Scoop. I personally know individuals involved who told their stories. Were their stories told and heard? Yes. But once again they have been given another reason not to trust non-Natives. Adam and the other white people involved were honest about who they were so there was no trust broken but with Rae, nope. She harmed people. For her own benefit. She didn't care about how her lie could or would impact people who experienced one of the more recent genocidal policies.

Smart Mule:
Okay, I'm really angry and this is personal regarding Dawnland. The folks in the film were abused. They were stolen from their families. They aren't even credited on the Dawnland or Upstander websites nor are they credited on the DVD box. This is out and out exploitation. An elder that I talked with is very upset by all of this crap with Rae. This is inexcusable. She sure does credit frauds in her other films though, doesn't she.

Defend the Sacred:
As a power broker in indy films and then in Hollywood, Heather Rae fooled Natives and Non-Natives alike that she could represent and speak for Natives. Then she made choices rooted in her lack of experience or understanding of Native life, and her lack of compassion for what Natives have been through.

By supporting and advocating for the casting and hiring of non-Natives, known frauds, or people with only vague claims of heritage but zero community connections (later proven to be frauds), Heather Rae has directly presided over the replacement of Native voices and Native experiences with non-Native voices and experiences masquerading as Indigenous representation.

This is truly harmful to Native cultural survival, and to the livlihood and wellbeing of Natives in the filmmaking world as well as to all who see these films, or have to interact with the people who see these films and TV shows, as she has directly contributed to white lens stereotypes replacing actual Native representation.

The more we find, the more we see how deep her network of frauds goes. All of them vouching for one another, every one of them replacing Natives.

Advanced Smite:
According to the tweet linked below, Heather Rae was given an opportunity based on falsely representing herself as Native American. A screenshot of the tweet is attached.


--- Quote ---Direct Link: https://twitter.com/davidshorter/status/1639997697594900481
Archive Link: https://archive.ph/llOgd

Surprise! In 2010, The Hammer Museum asked if I would speak about “The Exiles” and its impact on Indigenous film. I said sure. It’s an important film. They then later said they’d rather have a Native person speak. Sounded good. So instead, they had me introduce this person.
--- End quote ---

Advanced Smite:

--- Quote from: Smart Mule on April 11, 2023, 08:43:00 pm ---She used her fake claims to clearly gain access and gate keep during Standing Rock in order to produce Akicita.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/16/movies/standing-rock-sioux-tribe-filmmakers.html

" “At one point do we get to create our own narrative?” asked Heather Rae, a filmmaker of Cherokee descent whose as-yet-untitled project on the protest is being made with the support of the Sundance Institute.

...The news media and video bloggers have a place at Standing Rock, Ms. Rae said, but in her view, many nonindigenous feature documentary makers are direct descendants of “the anthropologists” — which Ms. Rae uses as a term of derision — who have long relegated Native American subjects to the equivalent of a “human zoo.”

“We look at it with different responsibilities,” she said. “One guy on our team overheard a nonnative filmmaker say, ‘This is really going to make my career.’ This is different from speaking to one’s descendants and generations to come. We’re speaking to something that echoes into the future.” Ms. Rae and Ben Dupris are producing the film and Cody Lucich is directing."

...Not everyone sees it that way. Ms. Rae said: “There are only a couple of nonnative filmmakers who’ve been there since the beginning. There are others who have dropped in for a short amount of time and then put up GoFundMe appeals. We go: ‘Who is this person? We’ve never even seen this guy.’”

It also angers me that she was the exec producer for Dawnland which is about the Scoop. I personally know individuals involved who told their stories. Were their stories told and heard? Yes. But once again they have been given another reason not to trust non-Natives. Adam and the other white people involved were honest about who they were so there was no trust broken but with Rae, nope. She harmed people. For her own benefit. She didn't care about how her lie could or would impact people who experienced one of the more recent genocidal policies.
--- End quote ---

Here is an archive link to the New York Times article for anyone having a hard time accessing it:
12/16/2016: New York Times ‘Respect the Feathers’: Who Tells Standing Rock’s Story? - By John Anderson
Archive Link: https://archive.is/ieaLZ

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