For the first time, Hollywood has released a film by and about American Indians, and it is a promising beginning. PNS commentator Jacqueline Keeler finds "Smoke Signals" amusing, moving, and more accurate in its way than a documentary. Keeler, a member of the Dineh Nation and the Yankton Dakota Sioux works with the American Indian Child Resource Center in Oakland, California.

The low roar of a hundred or so Indians laughing greeted me as I sat down to watch the film "Smoke Signals." They were responding to jokes about frybread, Indian cars that drive only in reverse and how to be "stoic," and the laughter was tinged with relief -- at last, we could watch a film written, directed, performed and co-produced by American Indians, the first distributed by a major studio.

After more than 80 years, Hollywood is finally listening.

Written by Sherman Alexie, the film tells of a young Native American, Victor Joseph (Adam Beech) and his cousin Thomas Builds-a-Fire (Evan Adams), who go from their Cour d'Alene Reservation in Idaho to Arizona to pick up the remains of Victor's father, Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer). Along the way, this "first of its kind" movie takes on Hollywood's old stereotypes about Indians -- and gives John Wayne his due.

As part of an impromptu pow-wow, Victor and Thomas sing about "John Wayne's Teeth" to a Greyhound bus full of white Americans.

A wonderful cast gives life to the characters. The standout is Evan Adams as Victor's talkative, nerdy cousin. Adams, who has been quoted as saying he felt like Vivian Leigh being discovered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara, fills the part of Thomas with a forceful vision that blends tradition with the painful realities of reservation life -- and provides the film with its power.

Thomas provides a counterpoint to Victor's silent, stoic, warrior-faced Indian male. The two constantly clash over how an Indian man is supposed to act.

Victor: "Don't you even know how to be a real Indian?"

Thomas: "I guess not."

Victor: "I guess I'll have to teach you then,? [Thomas smiles] First of all, quit grinning like an idiot. Indians ain't supposed to smile like that--get stoic!"

Victor struggles with a question familiar to all Native American people -- how to "be Indian" today? We all walk a fine line between modern American life and our traditional identities (even if we are unsure about what those are). In the movie, Suzy Song (Irene Bedard) is a modern, professional Native American woman living and working on the reservation who befriends Victor's father Arnold in the last year of his life. When he dies, her mourning keeps her from returning to work for a month. Even "successful" Indian people can find it impossible to always be all things to both their families and the "real world."

The film takes another serious turn when Thomas asks, "How do we forgive our fathers? Maybe in a dream. Do we forgive our fathers for leaving us too often, or forever, when we were little? Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage, or making us nervous because there never seemed to be any rage there at all."

This brought to mind last Father's Day weekend when about 100 urban American Indians gathered in San Francisco to "honor the warrior" and ask themselves that same question. Some children from the community refused even to attend, saying they wanted no part in honoring fathers, particularly their own. Those who did come drew a mural and asked, "Where is my dad? I love him. When will he come back?"

It is true that "Smoke Signals" is a sign that American Indians, an "invisible minority" are becoming more visible. More importantly to me as a young American Indian woman is what it tells us about ourselves. The film doesn't just document the alcoholism, abuse and abandonment that onefamily on the Cour d'Alene Reservation experiences, but the struggle weeach face to heal from the terms of our survival. The Native Americancommunity faces the highest rates of poverty, suicide, alcoholism, highschool drop-out and teen pregnancy in the United States. The terms of oursurrender of this beautiful and rich continent are stark.

"Smoke Signals" suggests that American Indians, an "invisible minority" are becoming more visible. More importantly, the film doesn't just document the alcoholism, abuse and abandonment experienced by one reservation family, but the struggle each Native American faces as a member of the community with the country's highest rates of poverty, suicide, alcoholism, high school drop-out and teen pregnancy. The terms of our surrender of this beautiful and rich continent have been stark.

Maciel Jacques, a 16-year old of Yacqui descent, wrote about the representation of Native Americans in her school, "I've heard enough about the savages, now I want to hear about the Native Americans."

This is a film for Maciel.