The story of a Navajo man, Wing Foot (Richard Dix), who was taken as a child to a US government boarding school and forced to assimilate resonates with contemporary headlines. Victor Schertzinger’s film explores the damage done by prejudice as it brings up issues of racial identity and cultural insensitivity to tell Wing Foot’s story. The film’s title acknowledges a racial slur used against its protagonist and it is used to illustrate intolerance, not endorse it. Wing Foot navigates between his western education and the traditions passed down by the tribal elders. Shot in breathtaking two-color Technicolor at locations in New Mexico and Arizona (including Acoma Pueblo and Canyon de Chelly)—the film changes from color to black-and-white when it leaves the Navajo and Pueblo lands.
Live musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
Print (35mm) courtesy of the Library of Congress
Copresented by California Film Institute, Eat Drink Films, and Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum