Discovery '65: "Desert People -- Discovery Visits the Papagos" (1965)

Summary: 
TV program visits the Santa Rosa Ranch School and Tohono O'odham village of Sil Nakya. The host interviews and performs for local school children, and also a prominent family in the village and women cooking, and features a ceremonial wine dance.
Description: 

Discovery '65 program animated credit sequence: “Discovery '65” over gray background, next to spinning spiral pinwheel type object which zooms into an illustration of an olive branch over a tumbleweed, and a white dove flies over and lands on it, then I transforms into a flower dropping a petal, then a white butterfly landing on and strumming a guitars’s strings over the soundhole, then an atomic symbol; then an airplane in the sky and jet streams behind, then a sun emblazoned on the side of an air balloon, then a close-up of the smiling sun, then a return to the dove landing on the olive branch, and back to the pinwheel and title."  

“The Desert People Discovery Visits The Papagos” superimposed over men sitting and standing against a wall near buildings; Narrator Frank Buxton stands in a desert thicket, his full body in foreground; Buxton in a wide shot of the hillside of saguaro cacti (and palo verde trees?) behind him (Comobabi Mountains); he drags his foot through the sandy path he stands on; camera zooms in on a group of women with head scarves, children, and a man sitting against a wall; pan of buildings in the village of Sil Nakya and back to group sitting/standing against the wall while one child plays on the road; medium shot pan across all of those assembled; close up of Frank Lopez (holding a what might be a calendar stick) identified as the ceremonial leader of the village; camera moves to Angelo Miguel and his two smiling sons, John and Clement, playing with a dog; shots of boys and dogs playing in the square, adults chatting in background; medium shot of Buxton walking along the road speaking into a microphone then stops to chat with John and Clement Miguel, close-ups of the boys speaking into the mic; Buxton asks Angelo what the adobe homes are made of as the camera pulls back to show the house they're in front of and the hillside of cacti behind; close-up of Angelo explaining process of making adobe; wider shot of the group as a little boy runs into and out of the shot; Clement goes to retrieve a piece of saguaro cactus wood to show Buxton; return to wider shot of house and hillside as they exit towards the other side of the house; interior shot of a group of women in head scarves weaving baskets; medium shot of Angelo's wife weaving; pan over the another women; close-up of Mrs. Miguel's hands working; group shot; pan over the finished products and back; shot of Mrs. Miguel and woman next to her as Buxton walks behind and stands speaking into his mic; medium shot of Buxton back outside with hillside behind him, speaking with mic now attached to his sweater; camera pulls back to reveal a group of children sitting on the ground and teacher Mr. Philip Premi, slightly obscured addressing them; wide shot of Santa Rosa Ranch School buildings with a school bus parked alongside, a flag pole with American flag; boy going down a slide then camera pans to wide building with station wagon in front, water tower in the background; same building from another angle with children running towards it from foreground; interior of children with lunch trays in line as cafeteria servers place food on their trays; close-up of shots of boy eating, others in background; close-up of vegetable slaw (?) being spooned from a wooden bowl onto a tray; close-up of boys eating, drinking milk, then of a girl; wider shot of cafeteria and servers including cook Matilda Carrillo (?), Angelo's sister; close-up of young woman connecting words in two columns on a chalkboard; wide shot of the classroom where a teacher Mr. Premi and a young male student look at the board; wide shot of students; series of close-ups of the teacher talking, a girl listening, a group of two girls and a boy listening; medium shot of Premi at his desk; return to Buxton outside then pan past schoolchildren seated on the ground in a group; medium shot of Hal Gras (identified as from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum) lifting a gopher snake out of a pillow case, Premi alongside; wider shot of Gras holding the snake and walking before of group of students sitting in front of a Papago Schools school bus; Gras addresses a girl named Marlene (?) and kneels down with the snake before two little girls who smile and touch it; he then backs up and returns the snake to the pillowcase Mr. Premi holds out for him; Premi calls a girl named Louise to come forward to write the word "snake" on the small chalkboard on an easel; she erases the word "javelina" from the board and writes "snake"; as she returns to her seat the group says together says the word in Papago for snake -- "wamad"; wide shot of students as Gras holds up a coyote; close-up of coyote and then wide shot of group again as they say the Papago word "ban"; medium shot of students; pan back to include Gras who then brings the coyote to a group of students to pet; a girls identified as Esther gets up to write "coyote" on the chalkboard; she steps aside as Gras and Premi look on; medium-close shot of students; wide shot of the whole group; Buxton walks up and sits down on a log with the kids; medium shot as he pulls a white handkerchief out of his pocket and folds it into a mouse; shots of him pretending the mouse is trying to get loose; wide shot at night of Buxton standing with mic in open-air kitchen as women are preparing dinner, stirring big pots; he points out the roof made of lined up saguaro cactus wood planks (called a ramada) as camera pans up; medium shot of Luciana, Angelo Miguel's aunt; wide shot of group before camera pans closer to medium shot of Buxton holding mic out to her as she mentions what's for dinner; she hands him a spoon and he goes to a pot where another woman holds up a ladle to his spoon; medium shot of him tasting and reacting to the temperature of the stew; wider shot of his pointing to a dish of meat cooking and he and Luciana walk over to it; a woman holds up a large spoon to his small spoon; he tries it and points to a pot of coffee; they return to the previous spot and she offers him some bread on a cooking sheet; he places the bread back on the pan after tasting; he turns to camera with mic to address the camera; close-up of Angelo's father Juan Miguel holding a calendar stick and speaking in Papago (O'odham); close-up of the symbols carved on the stick; close up of Juan speaking again; medium shot of Juan flanked by his grandsons John and Clement; wider shot of group around Juan and Buxton speaking to the camera; close-up of man playing snare drum; pan out to wide shot of small band playing guitar, bass drum and fiddles while couples dances in pairs behind them on an open-air dance floor/social hall; Buxton walks up and addresses the camera with Angelo alongside until they turn to look at the dancers; wide shot of dancers of various ages making their way around the floor; camera focuses on a pair that are children or teenagers; back to Buxton interviewing Angelo on the ceremonial wine dance; wide shot of mixed-aged group walking in a row, holding hands, the men shaking rattles (of gourds?), performing a wine dance around the dance floor; Buxton back addressing camera with village people seated behind him on the floor's low wall; pan over and medium shots of members of Miguel family members; medium close-ups of individuals; back to wide shot of group; end credits over panning shot of group: "“with Frank Buxton, executive producer: Jules Power, producer Daniel Wilson, directed by Lou Volpicelli, written by Joseph Hurley, associate producer George Charles, associate director Michael Ream, assistant to the producer William Hilliker, Jr., music by John Winters, technical supervisor Len Bottom, Engineering supervisor Earl Mehaffoy, technical director Chuck Ciegelsky, video Jim Doyas, audio Corky Hendrick, graphic arts Hy Bley, Technical Facilities Furnished by KTVK-TV Phoenix, Arizona, books selected by American Library Association, produced in consultation with National Educational Association, a Jules Power Production in association with ABC News and Public Affairs."                     


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