American Indian Life 1935

This 1935 silent documentary, The American Indian: How He Earns a Living, shot in black-and-white 16mm, portrays Native American livelihoods in the West. A well-shot sequence captures salmon fishing at Celilo Falls, Oregon—likely by Columbia River tribes—before its 1957 submersion. The Coolidge Dam in Arizona underscores irrigation’s role, while scenes of agriculture and hop picking in Washington state highlight labor and adaptation. A pre-war ethnographic lens, it offers insight into indigenous economies, though framed by outsider views typical of the era’s limited cultural depth.