Indigenous Relocation to LA: A Dream Turns Tragic

The film "How We Stand" by Canadian indigenous director Marie Clements delves into the devastating consequences of the U.S. federal government's Native American Relocation Program. Launched in the 1950s, this initiative encouraged American Indians to leave rural reservations for urban centers like Los Angeles, promising improved job prospects and living conditions.

However, the film illustrates how this dream devolved into a nightmare of extreme poverty and trauma for a fictional single mother and her daughters. "How We Stand" exposes the pervasive racism, sexism, and violence stemming from historical U.S. government policies aimed at cultural eradication.

The narrative follows Angela and her three daughters, who find themselves in harsh conditions within Los Angeles's riverways. A violent tragedy leads to the sisters' separation, sending them down divergent paths before a dramatic flood reunites them in 1970s Los Angeles.

Clements, adapting her earlier play "Tombs of the Vanishing Indian," utilizes magical realism and indigenous storytelling. The film confronts the uncomfortable truths of historical injustice and challenges the "Vanishing Indian" myth, emphasizing that the erasure of indigenous peoples was often a violent outcome of government actions, not a magical disappearance.

The film portrays the sisters' adult lives, still marked by historical injustices. One becomes an activist, another struggles with authorities, and the third works in a clinic involved in the mass sterilization of indigenous women. Clements aims to provoke accountability for societal decisions, drawing parallels to the 1970s human rights movements that still resonate today.