New film 'Cherokee Word for Water' shows pivotal moment in tribe's history
BY MICHAEL SMITH World Scene Writer
Sunday, November 25, 2012
11/26/12 at 1:22 PM
Listen: Voices of Oklahoma interview with Wilma Mankiller
The Cherokee concept of "gadugi" means working together to solve a problem. That's what happened in the tiny community of Bell about 30 years ago in building a waterline and bringing fresh drinking water to the people of the town, located southeast of Tahlequah.
The volunteer effort, and the efforts of Wilma Mankiller and her husband to facilitate the project, played a role in Mankiller later becoming the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation.
These are among the events depicted in "The Cherokee Word for Water," a feature film celebrating the courage and determination of a resilient people and a pioneering woman in Mankiller.
The picture opens with a private premiere Thursday followed by a week of screenings at Circle Cinema in Tulsa beginning Friday.
Working by her side for the Cherokee Nation was Charlie Soap, her husband from 1986 until her death from cancer in 2010. While the idea of a movie came from one of their friends, Kristina Kiehl (one of the film's producers), the film was on Mankiller's mind in her final days.
Kiehl saw greatness in Mankiller's leadership style not only on behalf of the Cherokees but also her boldness on behalf of the Black Panther movement in the 1960s and in supporting the Occupation of Alcatraz from 1969-1971 by the group Indians of All Tribes as just some of the reasons for making the movie.
Mankiller, meanwhile, saw the fortitude of the people of Bell as a watershed moment in Cherokee history.
"It was a week before she died that Wilma said to me, 'Charlie, this story has to be told about our people. Indian people make such contributions that they don't get credit for, and this needs to be told. We have a story to be told. You have a story to be told, so you promise me that you'll work with (Kiehl) like you and me worked together,'" Soap recalled.
What happened in Bell 30 years ago was such a shift in tribal thinking that the waterline project gained national attention. This was a time when some of the tribe's people didn't trust the tribal leaders - or the Bureau of Indian Affairs - for a decision that mandated American Indians like those in Bell - about 95 percent Cherokee at the time among the few hundred residents - to register with the tribe to prove their Indian heritage.
"Having to register offended a lot of Bell people," Soap recalled. "They needed services but couldn't get them, saying, 'Can't you tell I'm a full-blood? What do I need a White Card for?' Then it became a matter of getting people to trust us and the government again."
That's where Mankiller came in. Residents who had previously seen promises made and broken saw Mankiller keep her word, working in the early 1980s as the tribe's community development director.
She regained the people's trust, she remained visible in the community, and then she pushed through the idea of bringing fresh water to the residents of Bell, some of whom had never had indoor plumbing.
It was that idea of self-help - Bell residents supply the volunteer labor to build an 18-mile waterline, the tribe will supply the heavy equipment and the pump - that Mankiller and Soap, who was working with the tribe's housing authority, became known for.
It was "gadugi," Soap said.
He can still remember how excited people were to spread the concept from Bell to other Cherokee Nation communities. Volunteers building waterlines grew to them building better housing in the area and health-care facilities.
But still some tribal members questioned the ability of Mankiller - as a woman in their culture - to get the job done.
"I can just remember the way an elderly man described Wilma to a person who didn't trust she could get things done," Soap said of those early days of changing the fortunes of the Cherokee Nation.
"The man said, 'Na-du ah-ga-yah e-ga Ost-da,' which in Cherokee means 'That woman is good,' " Soap said. " 'Ske-du doa-u yu-de yest-stel-la ne-he,' the man said, which means, 'She really will help you.' "
The importance of what happened in Bell led Cherokee people to respect Mankiller, which in turn led to them electing her as chief in landslide elections for 10 years between 1985-1995.
During her administration, the tribe constructed several health clinics and re-established its judicial system, tribal marshal service and a tax commission. She met with Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton.
But she never forgot her people, like those in Bell.
"I'd like to see people know more about Wilma and the hope and resilience in the Indian community," Soap said of the message that he hopes "The Cherokee Word for Water" will convey.
"Wilma thought then that too many people would come out to (Cherokee Nation lands) and only see poor people and bad conditions, and not that there were people ready to change their situations if just given the opportunity. That's what she did."
"I think it's important to leave a legacy for her. I never realized the importance of a legacy until she was gone and so many people told me how they looked up to her and that she made them believe, 'If she can do it, we can too,'" he said.
"It's a powerful feeling that she's left with us, and plenty of people tell me that they still feel her presence here today."
film
'THE CHEROKEE WORD FOR WATER'
What: Film drama based on the story of the Cherokee Nation's Wilma Mankiller and Charlie Soap and the early 1980s development of a waterline in Bell, where residents worked together with the tribe's help to bring water to the Adair County community.
When: Opens Friday at Circle Cinema; invitation-only premiere Thursday at Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.
Where: Circle Cinema, 10 S. Lewis Ave. and at Dream Theater in downtown Tahlequah.
Note: Charlie Soap and cast introduce film 8 p.m. Friday at Circle Cinema before 8:30 p.m. screening.
Filming in Oklahoma
Film shoot: began September 2011 for four weeks in the Tahlequah area, including the downtown area, at Northeastern State University and the Illinois River. While funds were raised to shoot the film, it was also a beneficiary of the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate program operated by the Oklahoma Film & Music Office.
Talent in front of the camera: Kimberly Norris Guerrero plays Wilma Mankiller, and Moses J. Brings Plenty portrays Charlie Soap. Guerrero, a veteran of many TV shows and films, is perhaps best known as a girlfriend of Jerry Seinfeld from the "Seinfeld" episode "The Cigar Store Indian." Brings Plenty is also a veteran of both mediums, having appeared recently in "Cowboys vs. Aliens." Deanna Dunagan, the Tony Award-winning actress from the play "August: Osage County," is portraying Mankiller's mother in the film.
Talent behind the camera: San Francisco-area writer/director Timothy Kelly was joined by executive producer Paul Heller, a longtime Hollywood veteran of producing films as varied as Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" and Oscar nominees like "My Left Foot." The producers also include Soap and Kristina Kiehl, and their production emphasized hiring and training people from the areas of both Tahlequah and Bell, for work both in front of and behind the camera.
Filming in Oklahoma
Film shoot: began September 2011 for four weeks in the Tahlequah area, including the downtown area, at Northeastern State University and the Illinois River. While funds were raised to shoot the film, it was also a beneficiary of the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate program operated by the Oklahoma Film & Music Office.
Talent in front of the camera: Kimberly Norris Guerrero plays Wilma Mankiller, and Moses J. Brings Plenty portrays Charlie Soap. Guerrero, a veteran of many TV shows and films, is perhaps best known as a girlfriend of Jerry Seinfeld from the "Seinfeld" episode "The Cigar Store Indian." Brings Plenty is also a veteran of both mediums, having appeared recently in "Cowboys vs. Aliens." Deanna Dunagan, the Tony Award-winning actress from the play "August: Osage County," is portraying Mankiller's mother in the film.
Talent behind the camera: San Francisco-area writer/director Timothy Kelly was joined by executive producer Paul Heller, a longtime Hollywood veteran of producing films as varied as Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" and Oscar nominees like "My Left Foot." The producers also include Soap and Kristina Kiehl, and their production emphasized hiring and training people from the areas of both Tahlequah and Bell for work both in front of and behind the camera.
‘THE CHEROKEE WORD FOR WATER’
What: Film drama based on the story of the Cherokee
Nation’s Wilma Mankiller and Charlie Soap and the
early 1980s development of a waterline in Bell, where
residents worked together with the tribe’s help to bring
water to the Adair County community.
When: Opens Friday at Circle Cinema; invitation-only
premiere Thursday at Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.
Where: Circle Cinema, 10 S. Lewis Ave. and at Dream
Theater in downtown Tahlequah.
Note: Charlie Soap and cast introduce film 8 p.m. Friday
at Circle Cinema before 8:30 p.m. screening.
Original Print Headline: Pipe dream to reality
Michael Smith 918-581-8479
michael.smith@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
The efforts of the late Wilma Mankiller (above) and her husband, Charlie Soap, to build a waterline and to bring fresh drinking water to thepeople of Bell is the focus of the film, “The Cherokee Word for Water.” The picture opens with a private premiere on Thursday followed by aweek of screenings at Circle Cinema in Tulsa beginning on Friday. DAVID MCDANIEL/Courtesy
Charlie Soap restson a shovel whiletaking a breakfrom working onthe installationof a water line tothe town of Oaksin 2011. Soapwas married tothe late WilmaMankiller, whohelped bringwater to the townof Bell in 1982 beforeshe becameprincipal chief in1985.Tulsa World file
KimberlyNorrisGuerreroplays WilmaMankillerand MosesBrings Plentywill appear asCharlie Soap.MICHAELHELLER/Courtesy
Charlie Soap (left) is shown with Kimberly Norris Guerrero, who plays Wilma Mankiller, and Moses Brings Plenty, who plays CharlieSoap, on the set of “The Cherokee Word for Water.” Courtesy
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