SKINS EXPOSES THE DESTITUTE CONDITION OF NATIVE AMERICANS
Skins takes place at Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, the poorest county in the United States. When the film begins, a voiceover recites statistics of the miserable plight of Native Americans concerning their poor health and low income. The story focuses on Rudy Yellow Lodge (played by Eric Schweig), a police officer who is more social worker than law enforcement officer. Lacking employment and alternative means of pleasure, we see that most older men on the reservation are idle and drink too much. The film footage presents a pathetic picture of the reservation and culminates in the death of Rudy’s older brother Mogie (played by Graham Greene) from liver cirrhosis. After the funeral, Rudy buys a can of red paint, climbs up Mount Rushmore, and pours the red stain over the bust of George Washington. (Native Americans regard the carved busts as desecration of a sacred mountain.) Directed by Chris Eyre and based on a novel by Adrian C. Louis, Skins has been nominated as best exposé of 2002 as an eye-opener to many filmviewers of the neglect of Native Americans by the government and people of the United States. MH