Quechan filmmaker says he's grateful for blessings in life

The Quechan Tribe doesn't need far-off Hollywood. The Quechan have their own favorite filmmaker, and he's a true native in every way.

Tribe member Daniel Golding says being an American Indian who gets to tell stories on film means he's truly been blessed twice in life. Culture rich in color lies ever close to his camera's reach, and the award-winning artist is able to enjoy a fantastic career right here at home.

But Golding isn't just having fun making movies and documentaries that have been shown at prestigious film festivals, including Sundance. The loyal tribal son is also heeding an important call and following what he sees as a calling, a mission: a duty toward his people.

"I certainly feel like I have a responsibility to be doing this work. Our society on the reservation is changing so fast. There are all these things coming in as distractions to our cultural way of life. How are we going to remember our culture when all these elders pass away unless we start documenting some of these stories?"

Going to Hollywood isn't an option, either, even though it would have been a close move after graduating from film school in San Francisco.

"I wasn't sure I wanted to get more involved with the Hollywood side of it. I thought I would enjoy working more at the community level, the grassroots level, and help produce some stories that really need to be told."

Plus how else could Golding make documentaries about sacred places, ancient songs and amazing everyday folk fighting to preserve a way of life.

"If we're going to change the representation of native people in films, it's not like you go to Hollywood to make it happen. You just get thrown into that big machine and they're going to do what they want. If you really want to change something, you have to do it at the community level - the grassroots level."

Golding grew up on the Quechan Reservation until he was 12 years old. That's when the family moved to Los Angeles, where he graduated from high school in 1985.

"After that, I just traveled around. I really didn't know what I wanted to do."

But Golding finally realized what he didn't want - a strenuous diet of construction work.

"I was tired of beating myself up and I started to think about a career."

Golding attended San Francisco State University and enrolled in its film school.

"I found that film was what really allowed me to express myself artistically the way I want. It allows me to tell stories that are relevant to my and other native people's situations."

So far Golding has created one fictional movie and numerous documentaries. That fictional piece was his first and by far his most successful. "When the Fire Dims" earned showings at film festivals throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia. That's the one that also got invited to be shown at the famed Sundance Film Festival.

That first movie tells the story of a young American Indian man in L.A. who loses himself in alcoholism. Golding, who wrote the script and shot the film, distributed his work around universities coast to coast through a filmmakers' co-op. In addition to all the big festivals, the fictional film won honors at the American Indian Film Festival and the Marin County Film Festival.

But Sundance was the major feat. "It was kind of a big thing because I was still only a film student and here they were showing my work."

He graduated with honors in 1999 and remained living in San Francisco for several years.

Golding initially dreamed about making more fictional titles, but his career took a different turn.

"Once I started making the documentaries, I found out there wasn't much of a difference. You're still telling a story ... you're just dealing with real people and real situations," he said. "Besides documentaries are really the bread and butter (of filmmaking). It's so much easier to get grants for them."

He discovered early on the rewards of making documentaries for nonprofit organizations needing a special voice.

Then Golding moved back home in 2002, and his cultural preservation began. One of his most important documentaries since then has been "Journey From Spirit Mountain." The film takes traditional Quechan Lightning Songs that tell the tribe's origin story and traces the actual route from a mountain near Reno to the present homeland in Imperial County, Calif.

For another Quechan documentary, Golding turned to tribal elders for their knowledge of the native people's sacred places. Those locations include Indian Pass, where the tribe has fought attempts to build a gold mine. The site of the tribe's sacred trails has been designated in 2002 as one of the 11 most endangered historic places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

"They ended up using the film in the court cases, which felt great."

His current project highlights the tradition of native "chicken scratch" music, which is similar to Mexican norteño music. The film follows one musical family living on a reservation near Tucson.

But Golding is perhaps most proud of a film recently commissioned by the tribe's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Program. The project was born when several recovering addicts in the program expressed their dream to make a film based on their experiences to help grab the attention of young people.

Golding met with the program clients a handful of times, "hammered out a script," the scenes were shot around the reservation and "Rez Life" was born.

Golding has learned a lot about life, business and art during his journey and tribes near and far continually seek him out for speaking engagements. He just got back from speaking for a Sacramento-based program that trains native entrepreneurs.

Back at home, Golding has shared his talents with some of the tribe's youngest members by giving workshops on filmmaking. Over 10 days, he'll help them write their scripts, shoot their scenes and edit everything to perfection.

Films in the past have even been shown on the big screen at Main Street Cinemas.

Again, this is exactly why Golding chooses his roots over Hollywood.

"You know, it's not like I'm getting rich doing this stuff, but I'm able to support my family and do something I really enjoy," Golding said, thumping gently on his heart. "That's where the real reward is, right in there."

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For more information on Golding's company - Hokan Media Productions - go to www.hokanmedia.com.

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THE FILMS OF DANIEL GOLDING

- "Waila: Making The People Happy," currently in post-production, 60 minutes

This film tells the history and evolution of waila music or chicken scratch music, the contemporary social dance music of American Indian tribes of southern Arizona, through three generations of the Joaquins, a family of musicians. Funding by Native American Public Telecommunications (PBS).

- "Friendship House: A Place of Healing," 2005, 14 minutes

This promotional video highlights the services of American Indian Friendship House Inc. in San Francisco.

- "Native Entrepreneurs: Creating Opportunities In Our Communities," 2005, 8 minutes.

Golding made this promotional video on California Indian Manpower Consortium’s Entrepreneurial training program.

- "Over The Mountains," 2003, 30 minutes

This film documents a ceremonial trade route re-enactment between the Bishop Paiute tribe of the Owens Valley and Mono tribe on the other side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was produced for the Owens Valley Career Development Center in Bishop, Calif.

- "Journey from Spirit Mountain," 2002, currently in production, 60 minutes

Golding documents the people and places described in the Quechan Lightning Songs.

- "Olone and the Oaks," 2001, 8 minutes

Golding made this informational piece about the Olone Indians of the Bay Area and their traditional use of acorns.

- "Investing in the Health of our Future Generations," 2000, 12 minutes

This film is a promotional work for the Native American Health Center in Oakland, Calif.

- "Honoring Kumat," 2000, 14 minutes

Quechan youths led by elder Preston Arrowweed run through a religious site threatened to be destroyed by a proposed gold mine.

- "When The Fire Dims," 1998, 17 minutes

Jimmy, a Pomo Indian, has relocated to the city from the reservation and falls victim to alcoholism.

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Darin Fenger can be reached at dfenger@yumasun.com or 539-6860.