Roots in the Sand

Streaming video - 1998

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.