ROOTS IN THE SAND challenges prevailing impressions of the rugged frontier by enriching the landscape with stalwart Sikh, Moslem and Hindu settlers in this Mexican-Punjabi version of the "taming of the Wild West. Federal laws prevented "non-white Caucasians" like themselves from going home to marry, importing brides, or becoming American citizens. Instead, they married Mexican fieldworkers - women with the same color as themselves - with the blessings of sympathetic county clerks and judges. Through a combined use of extensive archival material and extensive interviews, ROOTS IN THE SAND paints a Wild West that demanded not only physical stamina, but an indomitable spirit as well
Notes
Title from title frames
Film
In Process Record
Performer
Narrated by David Singh Dhillon
Event
Originally produced by Center for Asian American Media in 1998
