​A rare glimpse into the Native American past

After its fortuitous rediscovery about a decade or so ago, followed by a painstaking restoration, the long-lost silent melodrama “The Daughter of Dawn” received a limited theatrical release in 2014 and is finally being made available for Blu-ray home viewing next week. The independently produced 1920 feature had only a few showings when first made and then disappeared for nearly a century.

What is nearly unique about this historic 78-minute film is that it featured a cast made up exclusively of Native Americans recreating their ancient Kiowa and Comanche traditions and rituals within the context of the fictional story, filmed on location in southwest Oklahoma. The film allowed their pre-reservation lifestyle to be preserved for posterity while it was still within living memory of the participants or their parents, a period then not too far in the past. They even supplied their own authentic costumes and props.

This was at a time that the tribes were not only encouraged to assimilate into modern American culture, but prohibited by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs from speaking their own languages and performing their native customs. It was only 30 years earlier that the region was officially named “Oklahoma Territory” shortly after government organized the famous land rushes for white settlers to claim property for themselves -- on land that for over 60 years Congress had declared to be “Indian Territory,” and previously forced settlers to leave so it could be reserved as a home for a variety of tribes forcibly evacuated from other states. In 1907 it was formally made a state.

Interestingly, two of the film’s stars, White Parker (White Eagle) and Wanada Parker (Red Wing), were grandchildren of Cynthia Ann Parker, the inspiration for John Ford’s “The Searchers,” as well as an incident in “The Daughter of Dawn.” She had been abducted by Comanches at age nine, grew up to marry a warrior and have three children, and 24 years later was “rescued” by Texas Rangers and returned to a family she no longer remembered.

The plot of “The Daughter of Dawn” is a standard romantic melodrama with the conflict between Kiowa warriors White Eagle and Black Wolf, two rivals for the chief’s daughter (the eponymous Daughter of Dawn), while Red Wing suffers unrequited love for Black Wolf, who only wants The Daughter of Dawn so he can gain power and prestige, whereas White Eagle truly loves her.

Later a revenge subplot develops. This is all set against the background of normal tribal life, with White Eagle leading a buffalo hunt to relieve the current food shortage, and a rival nearby Comanche tribe plotting to raid horses and women from the Kiowa to relieve their own shortages.

The film’s staging, photography, and editing are all well done, on a par with typical Hollywood productions of the era. There are a number of in-camera dissolves, some simply from long shots to close-ups, but others to indicate what characters are thinking about. Director Norbert A. Myles had been an actor who went briefly into writing and directing, and later became a Hollywood makeup artist.

While picture quality on Milestone’s Blu-ray is generally good, unfortunately some nitrate decomposition had begun before the sole surviving 35mm nitrate print was copied. This resulted in the tell-tale mottling along the two sides of the picture, substantial minor splotches and dirt throughout the image, and sections where the film was too warped to stay in sharp focus when it was duplicated. The picture looks slightly soft compared to a film in pristine condition, but still in much better overall shape than many silents, with original amber and blue tints preserved. It’s amazing that it survived at all.

After the film’s 2007 restoration, the Oklahoma Historical Society commissioned a new music score by Oklahoma native classical composer David Yeagley, who happens to be Comanche. His score works quite well to follow the action and characters, although is mostly rather low-key, often playing down the melodrama. The 2011-2012 recording by the Oklahoma City University student orchestra, however, is excellent.

There is no audio commentary but for bonus features there are eight highly informative featurettes about the film’s history, rediscovery, restoration, and music scoring, produced by the Oklahoma Historical Society, including interviews with descendants of cast members recalling family stories. Although no booklet is included with the disc, a 14-page press kit with cast, credits, synopsis, and extensive program notes can be downloaded from the Milestone Films website at http://www.milestonefilms.com/pages/press.

The disc is unlikely to be found in most stores but can be ordered on Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon at retail price, or at a discount price directly from the distributor at http://www.milestonefilms.com/ with institutional and streaming rights available at an extra charge, and a theatrical DCP also available.

THE DAUGHTER OF DAWN on Blu-ray – Movie: B / Video: B / Audio: A / Extras: B