Sovereignty is a set of rules which dictates how a country relates with one another. When a country is said to be sovereign, it is not in a position to be invaded by others regarding how it conducts its internal affairs. The concept, therefore, can be viewed based on two lenses which are visual sovereignty, as described by Rahej in “Reading Nanook’s Smile,” and legal sovereignty, as presented in the films “ The Vanishing American” and “Broken Arrow.” According to Nanook, in visual sovereignty, the filmmakers can use individuals or groups to bring out their views on sovereignty and self-representation mean (Aleiss 70). As a result, the new American intellectual and cultural articulations can be reimagined to create powerful ideologies for the mass media On the other hand, legal sovereignty is a body that is tasked with giving commands in a state. The supreme powers created through legal sovereignty can be from an individual or a group and therefore make laws of any kind according to the law.
Based on the latter, the plots of the two films “The Vanishing American” and “Broken Arrow” raises various concerns and reflect on the concept of political sovereignty. In the movie “The Vanishing American,” political sovereignty is seen when oppression is directed at the American natives by the white settlers. Before the white settlers invaded the American natives, there were tribal clashes for the natives to gain political sovereignty. The battle is sacred and permanent land, and natives such as Indian Americans do not have land titles. The U.S government uses their influence to exploit the American Indians. They do so by trying to convert the American Indians through civilization, a move seen as racial assimilation. The U.S government asks the Nophaie, a warrior, and his people to relinquish their land and fight for the U.S government. In the film, political sovereignty is shown by the U.S government since they have managed to influence laws without being empowered to do them. The U.S government also shows sovereignty by forming laws to rob the Indians of their property, showing that they wielded power over them. The film “Broken Arrow” attempts to create peace between the white settlers and Cochise’s Apaches. Jeffords, an ex-soldier, saves an Apache boy, a move that makes him consider the Indians as human beings. He opens a dialogue between the two camps to establish peace between the settlers and Indians. In doing so, he also learns about their ways to make peace between the two camps, whose enmity for the other is deep since they have engaged in cruel wars for ten years. In the long run, Jeffords succeeds in delivering mail, a situation that could not happen due to the ambush conducted by the Indians. The film also highlights the changing policies that helped end segregation and identified minority tribes (Aleiss 72). Ultimately, the Indians win since they have asked the whites to re-evaluate their policies. The sovereignty shown in this case is legal since the laws are defined and enforced constitutionally. With this kind of sovereignty, the Indians can practice their rules alongside the whites to create a homogenous atmosphere.
In conclusion, both “Broken Arrow” and “The Vanishing American” plots show how the Native Americans suffered due to laws influenced by the white settlers. The stories, therefore, show that the most powerful tribe made the laws of the land and subjected the other tribe to oppression. Again, the peace talks and understanding between the Indians and whites show how sovereignty has been redefined from making laws based on the majority to integrating the rules for everyone to co-exist.
Work Cited
Aleiss, Angela. “Hollywood Addresses Postwar Assimilation: Indian/White Attitudes in Broken Arrow.” American Indian Culture and Research Journal, vol. 11, no. 1, 1987, pp. 67–79.