ALTERING AMERICA'S INDIAN IMAGES

In the 1950s TV series, Tonto never mounted his horse until the Lone Ranger climbed on his own first and never spoke to the masked man until he was spoken to. Tonto was a "good Indian" -- subservient. That is the kind of image of Native Americans Joseph Marshall III wants to help change.

A Native American novelist now living in Wyoming, Marshall has concluded that screenwriters have substantial influence in Hollywood. So he has written a screenplay called "Thundercave," which is based on a novel about a Native American boy's coming of age in South Africa. The movie is due to begin filming in the spring.

He spoke about his adventures in screenwriting Tuesday afternoon at Glenn Auditorium on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. About 50 people attended.

Marshall grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He has written novels, short stories, essays, magazine articles and newspaper columns in the language he learned after first speaking Lakota Sioux.

In one of his first movie-making experiences 10 years ago, Marshall became the technical adviser for a made-for-TV film called "Lakota Moon." "I wanted to have an impact on how that movie was made," he said.

He did, but the movie was to be a pilot for a TV series that was rejected by the network because it had no white central characters.

"The toughest nut to crack as far as Indians are concerned is Hollywood," Marshall said.

Hollywood has a fixed idea of what sells -- explosions, car chases, nudity and main characters who are white -- and fears straying from the formula, Marshall says.

Hollywood investors want to know two things, he said: Is there a finished script and who is going to be in it?

One producer who looked at the "Thundercave" script said the Native Americans would have to be turned into whites. Marshall's wife, who optioned the novel, said no.

Only two Indian movies have ever been made: "Smoke Signals" and "Medicine River," he says. He defines an Indian movie as a movie controlled artistically by Indians.

"Dances with Wolves" was not an Indian movie, he says, because it was told from the white main character's point of view.

The 15-year-old boy in "Thundercave" is half Native American. His father living in South Africa is a Native American animal biologist. Marshall, who appeared in the TV movie "Return to Lonesome Dove," is slated to play the father when the movie starts shooting.

The script -- not the novel -- points out that he is a member of one endangered species who is trying to help save other endangered species.

Marshall is one of a number of Native American writers and musicians coming to Southeast this year. On Nov. 4, Dr. Ray Pierotti will discuss the links between traditional knowledge and Western scientific thought. Pierotti, a Comanche, is an evolutionary biologist. The talk is open to the public.

On Nov. 7, three of the most popular Native American women singers on the planet will bring their Silver Feather Festival to Southeast. They are poet-singer Joy Harjo and her band Poetic Justice, flute player Mary Youngblood and singer Joanne Shenandoah.

They will perform at the University Center Ballroom.

Dec. 6., Okla-Choctaw counselor and therapist Rainbow Eagle will discuss Native American spirituality.

Scheduled later in the school year are appearances by female Native American artists, including Navaho poet Luci Tapahonso and Tewa Pueblo sculptor Nora Naranjo.

Dr. Susan Swartwout, an assistant professor of English, and Dr. Carol Morrow, an assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, wrote the Funding for Results grant that is bringing the artists to Southeast.

"We're working toward a more diverse student population," Swartwout said. "Awareness is part of that."