Daughter of the West (DVD)

A Navajo Indian returns to his reservation in the Arizona Territory, with a college education and ideas to improve their lives -- and instead finds himself in a hotbed of deceit and murder.

White Eagle's idealistic plans include schooling the youngsters and scientifically cultivating the land. Corrupt government agent Ralph Connors is determined to lay his thieving hands on the copper ore that he knows exists on indian territory. He proceeds to get the indian landowners drunk, then easily steals their property! When White Eagle's activities interfere with his plans, Connors and a henchman get him out of the way by framing him for murder.

Daughter of the West was a forerunner of the coming wave of movies in which the problem of Indian equality is addressed via tales of noble Native Americans as victims of white treachery. Amidst the action, its highlights include lifelike glimpses of the customs of the Navajos: a tribal dance in full dress, a funeral procession and a "test by fire" in which White Eagle must walk barefoot on searing embers to prove himself to his tribesmen.

• western