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Protecting Indigenous and Sacred Land through Media: Bears Ears and Other Current Struggles

This Event Is Cancelled Due to the COVID-19 Virus.  In order to ensure the safety of all our guests, the Native American Film Series will be canceling the April 1 film event.  We hope to bring it back in the Fall so please check next season.  Thank you for your support and stay safe.

April 1, 2020

Shásh Jaa’ (Bears Ears)

Shásh Jaa’ (Bears Ears) encompasses 1.9 million acres of southeastern Utah wilderness and is considered sacred lands to local Native American tribes. The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition is an effort of 5 different tribal nations (Navajo, Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, Hopi, Zuni) coming together to protect this pristine ecological area from natural resource extraction development and environmental destruction. This documentary follows Angelo Baca and his grandmother, the director, and the developing Coalition’s efforts on the way to convince the Obama administration to make this area a designated National Monument with a collaborative management plan working in partnership with these tribes.

Join Angelo Baca (Navajo and Hopi) in his screening of Shásh Jaa’ (Bears Ears) and a discussion of current Indigenous land struggles concerning land, water, and natural resources.

About Angelo Baca

Angelo Baca

Angelo Baca is a Navajo and Hopi filmmaker and a PhD candidate in sociocultural anthropology at NYU.  A graduate of the Native Voices Program at the University of Washington, he has created numerous documentaries and collaborative works around such subjects as indigenous food sovereignty, Native youth development and indigenous international repatriation.  He has also taught Native American literature and media courses at Brown University.

 

Location and Time

Augsburg University
Sateren Auditorium, Music Hall, 715 22nd Ave South
Reception 6:15-6:45
Screening begins at 7:00
Discussion with participants follows
This event is free to the public

For parking directions visit: http://www.augsburg.edu/about/map/. You will need a parking permit. For parking permits contact M. Elise Marubbio at marubbio@augsburg.edu. Permits are limited in number.

Thank you to our sponsors: Augsburg University, American Indian, First Nations, and Indigenous Studies Department, American Indian Student Services, Augsburg Indigenous Student Association, Center for Global Education at the University of Minnesota, and Angelo Baca.

 

Blood Memory

February 19, 2020

Blood Memory

The title “Blood Memory” is derived from the concept that the experiences of one generation are passed onto the next through DNA. Future generations live with the shared knowledge of their ancestors – meaning there is a foundation of survival instinct and cultural identity that exists within us prior to learned experience. In many ways, this is a beautiful and poetic concept, but trauma and abuse can also be transferred intergenerationally, sometimes unknown to the carrier. This film is about acknowledging and honoring all aspects of blood memory, and how we as individuals and community members heal our collective traumas and learn to pass positive ancestral knowledge to the next generation–Director’s Statement (Blood Memory, Official Film Site)

 

Welcome of Adoptees

Join Sandy White Hawk for a special screening of Blood Memory, the untold story of the experiences she and many other Native children experienced during the American Indian Adoption Era. The era was a time when nearly “one-third of children were removed from tribal communities nationwide” based on arguments of blood quantum and ‘best interests’ (Blood Memory official film site). The film, directed and produced by Drew Nicholas, bears witness to Sandy’s journey and her work to bring home survivors of the adoption out process. Intertwined with her story is that of Mark Fiddler, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, who sided against the Indian Child Welfare Act as a lead attorney in the 2013 Supreme Court case Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl.  A compelling and complex film, Blood Memory grapples with issues of “blood quantum” and “best interests”,tribal and Native children’s sovereignty rights, and Indigenous activism.

 

About the People Involved

GUEST PRESENTER: SANDY WHITE HAWKSandy White Hawk

Sandra White Hawk is a Sicangu Lakota adoptee from the Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota. She is the founder and Director of First Nations Repatriation (FNRI), the first organization of its kind whose goal it is to create a resource for First Nations people impacted by foster care or adoption to return home, reconnect, and reclaim their identity. The Institute also serves as a resource to enhance the knowledge and skills of practitioners who serve First Nations people.

She is an Indian Child Welfare Consultant for Hennepin County, Minneapolis, MN Indian Child Welfare Unit and the National Child Welfare Capacity Building Center for Tribes.

Sandra is a contributing author to: The Kinship Parenting Toolbox, edited by Kim Phagan-Hansel; Truth Healing Reconciliation CW 360, a comprehensive look at prevalent child welfare issue, March 2015 issue; Outsiders Within, J. J. Trenka, J. C. Oparah & S. Y. Shin (Eds.); Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption Cambridge, MA, South End Press; and Parenting as Adoptees, Adam Chau, Kevin Ost-Vollmers (Editors).

Sandra served as a Commissioner for the Maine Wabanaki State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She also serves as an Honorary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Residential Schools in Canada.

Sandra was awarded the Women in Wellbriety Dana Tiger Award for Creating Change in Nations, named one of the Innovators in Color Lines Magazine, named one of the 50 Visionaries Who are Changing Your World, Utne Reader, named Outstanding Native Women Award from the University of Minnesota 2003 and was named 50 Most Influential and Cool People of Madison, WI, in Madison Magazine, November 2002 –National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition

 

Directors, Producers and Sandy White Hawk 

DIRECTOR/PRODUCER Drew Nicholas co-founded the film collective In Medias Res, for which he performs many tasks from concept to completion, including co-producing the micro-budget feature “I’m A Stranger Here Myself” and producing video content that helped raise over $420,000 to preserve the Pittsburgh community landmark Kraynick’s Bike Shop. Drew’s films have been recognized by Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Minneapolis-St.Paul International Film Festival, New Filmmakers: New York, the Sprout Fund, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments. In addition to independent filmmaking Drew also works as a Location Scout/Manager on industry productions such as the Netflix Original Series “Mindhunter” and AnnaPurna’s “Foxcatcher”. He earned a B.A. in Cinema and Digital Arts from Point Park University and studied creative writing/poetry at Naropa University. “Blood Memory” is Drew’s feature film debut. (Blood Memory official film site)

PRODUCER Megan Whitmer specializes in events and media production for nonprofit and community enterprises and is currently producing the 2019 documentary feature “Blood Memory” with support from Vision Maker Media and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Her nonprofit development work includes donor management and outreach initiatives for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, media production and a fundraising gala for the Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh, and the execution of national conferences for member-organizations including the National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition. Megan holds an M.A. in Rhetoric & Philosophy of Communication from Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit and a B.A. in Communication from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. (Blood Memory official film site)

PRODUCER Elizabeth Day (Ojibwe) was born on the Leech Lake Reservation and raised in the Twin Cities. Elizabeth blends her Native American heritage with her urban upbringing to create films that employ traditional Ojibwe-style storytelling while using contemporary filmmaking techniques. Her work often explores the tension between traditional Native teachings and the life of a modern, urban Indian. Elizabeth was an Associate Producer on the PBS Documentary Black Gold Boom, and her short directorial work has been recognized by the Tribeca All Access Connects program, Minnesota State Artist Board, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the Bush Artist Fellowship. Elizabeth currently works as a Community Organizer for the Native American Community Development Institute, as well as a Project Manager and Video Director for Wiigwaas Press in Minneapolis, MN. (Blood Memory official film site)

CO-PRODUCER Olivia Vaughn is a staff producer for the Sundance award-winning production company, Animal, where she helps to cultivate award-winning commercial and documentary projects. In 2016, she produced the documentary feature Fursonas, a humanistic exploration of the Furry subculture, which won the Spirit of Slamdance award, and was distributed to notable streaming channels worldwide. Olivia also produced four Vimeo Staff Pick shorts (The John Show – 2017, Voices – 2017, Echo Torch – 2016, Alone – 2016), and served as VFX coordinator for the ABC sitcom Downward Dog. Through her production experience, she has gained the support and trust of regional nonprofits, including The Sprout Fund and Steeltown Entertainment. (Blood Memory official film site)

 

Location and Time

Augsburg University
Sateren Auditorium, Music Hall, 715 22nd Ave South
Reception 6:15-6:45
Screening begins at 7:00
Discussion with participants follows
This event is free to the public

For parking directions visit: http://www.augsburg.edu/about/map/. You will need a parking permit. For parking permits contact M. Elise Marubbio at marubbio@augsburg.edu. Permits are limited in number.

Thank you to our sponsors: Augsburg University, American Indian, First Nations, and Indigenous Studies Department, American Indian Student Services, Augsburg Indigenous Student Association, Center for Global Education at the University of Minnesota, Blood Memory Project, LLC .

Crying Earth Rise Up

 

November 12, 2019

Crying Earth Rise Up (Suree Towfighnia, 2015)

 

CERU with fistsCrying Earth Rise Up, narrated by Tantoo Cardinal, tells the story of Debra White Plume and Elisha Yellow Thunder’s efforts to stop the uranium mining contaminating their community’s drinking water. Informed by Native perspectives and belief systems, the film addresses the sacred relationship between water and life itself, as well as the conflicts between nuclear power companies, activists, and locals. With a nuanced look at what is becoming an increasingly common environmental battle, the film offers a case study of contemporary conservation efforts in the face of corporate and capitalistic interests.   (Crying Earth Rise Up)

Crying Earth Rise Up acknowledges the centrality of Native involvement in opposing the particular practice of uranium mining and suggests Native communities’ wider spread contribution to a variety of other conversations related to environmental protection (although not always noted by mainstream media, e.g. the recent blocking of the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline) (Documentary Educational Resources site)

Join us for the film and a conversation with director/producer/cinematographer Suree Towfighnia and Debra White Plume.

About the People Involved

As Suree Towfighnia puts it, many people made this project possible, including but not limited to:  “Owe Aku and Lakota Media Project (directed by Rosebud White Plume) worked at most stages of the project, helping with production, outreach, and screenings. Reuben Cruz (…artist Che Christ) was writer, helped with the story, did much of the branding and graphics, wrote poetry and hiphop music, and helped with outreach and events (in particular designing the Waters Connect Us outreach and education-which featured Crying Earth Rise Up as a way to engage SW native communities around water protection). Of course, Debra, Elisha and their families were at the heart of the story and anchored our work. Autumn Two Bulls did some singing and the Crazy Horse Singers did drumming, along with other drum groups who sang water songs for the story.” (email with Director of Augsburg Native American Film Series)

Photo of Suree Towfighnia

 

Suree Towfighnia is a documentary filmmaker and educator originally from Chicago, IL.  Her work centers around creative explorations of environmental justice and human rights issues. Suree directed Crying Earth Rise Up and Standing Silent Nation  in collaboration with Owe Aku on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The films have been broadcast nationally on PBS and in screenings around the world.  She produced Haskell Wexler’s documentary Four Days in Chicago, about the largescale 2012 protests against NATO. Suree’s current project documents specialty coffee growers in southern Mexico and incorporates child-centered narratives and animation. Suree mentors next generation filmmakers, including women in the Lakota Media Project, which she co-founded in 2003 to support a Lakota perspective in media.  She is currently a Visiting Artist and Adjunct Faculty at Evergreen State College, where she teaches approaches in nonfiction and community media in the Mediaworks program. In addition, she has taught film writing, producing, documentary, editing, and cinematography at Columbia College Chicago, Arizona State University (online), for non-profits and organizations, and at the EICTV film school in Cuba. She received her MFA from Columbia College in Chicago, and her BA in History and Latin American Studies from UC Santa Cruz.

Debra White Plume, Consulting Producer
Debra was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota. Debra has been involved in Lakota cultural preservation and revitalization work her entire adult life, including work to protect Treaty Rights and Human Rights. She has been an active community organizer around such issues for 40 years, from the grassroots level to the United Nations, where she participated in the drafting of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Permanent Forum for Indigenous Peoples and Issues. She lives along the banks of Wounded Knee Creek with Alex, her husband of 30 years, where they raise horses and provide stewardship to the small buffalo herd kept for spiritual and cultural purposes. Debra earned undergraduate degrees from the Oglala Lakota College on the Pine Ridge Reservation. She is Director of Owe Aku/ Bring Back the Way.

Rosebud White Plume, Lakota Media Project
Rosebud is Oglala Lakota, and has been involved in film making since her teenage years, creating video shorts on Lakota Way of Life, as well as videos which reflect current social issues on her homeland. She utilizes social media to educate and inform her peers and many relatives. After elementary school, Rosebud was home schooled by her parents and older siblings. She has performed the pow-wow Fancy Dance in dance troupes across America, sharing her Lakota music and dance. Rosebud toured Europe with her father, Alex, promoting Industrial Hemp as a solution to the fossil fuel industry and a land friendly agricultural option. Rosebud is a stay at home wife and mother, raising her children in the Lakota Way of Life.

Reuben Cruz, Writer / Outreach / Graphics
Reuben is a Pee Posh, Maricopa, Quechan father/musician/poet/organizer/humanist from the Gila River Nation near Phoenix, AZ. He documents stories of love and circumstance gathered from places he’s seen or lived.  As an emcee (Che Christ), he uses his storytelling skills to bring messages of social justice and respect for all peoples through positive hip-hop music. Reuben teaches writing workshops with youth in urban centers and in Native communities. He collaborates on events that use film, art and music to celebrate contemporary activist movements. As a member of Prairie Dust Films, Reuben works as story consultant, writer, sound recordist, artist and post-production assistant on feature documentaries, including, Crying Earth Rise Up. He is also involved in outreach with Standing Silent Nation
.

Location and Time

Augsburg University
Sateren Auditorium, Music Hall, 715 22nd Ave South
Reception 6:15-6:45
Screening begins at 7:00
Discussion with participants follows
This event is free to the public

For parking directions visit: http://www.augsburg.edu/about/map/. You will be parking in Lot D. You will need a parking permit. For parking permits contact M. Elise Marubbio at marubbio@augsburg.edu. Permits are limited in number.

Thank you to our sponsors: Augsburg University, American Indian, First Nations, and Indigenous Studies Department, American Indian Student Services, Augsburg Indigenous Student Association, Center for Global Education at the University of Minnesota, Vision Maker Media, Documentary Educational Resources.

Warrior Women

October 5, 2019

 

Madonna and MarcyJoin us for the screening of WARRIOR WOMEN and video conversations with Director Elizabeth Castle and activist Marcella (Marcy) Gilbert.

“In the 1970s, with the swagger of unapologetic Indianness, organizers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) fought for Native liberation as a community of extended families.

WARRIOR WOMEN is the story of Madonna Thunder Hawk, one such AIM leader who shaped a kindred group of activists’ children – including her daughter Marcy – into the “We Will Remember” Survival School as a Native alternative to government-run education. Together, Madonna and Marcy fought for Native rights in an environment that made them more comrades than mother-daughter. Today, with Marcy now a mother herself, both women are still at the forefront of Native issues, fighting against the environmental devastation of the Dakota Access Pipeline and for indigenous cultural values.

Through their story, WARRIOR WOMEN explores what it means to balance a movement with motherhood and how activist legacies are passed down from generation to generation in the face of a government that has continually met Native resistance with mass violence”  (Warrior Women, GOOD Docs, 2019).

 

Please spread the word and follow us on facebook

About the People

(Information from GOOD DOCs Press Packet)

Madonna Thunderhawk

Madonna Thunder Hawk, Native American Studies, Human Rights, Women’s Studies, Environmental Studies, Ethnic Studies, US History

Madonna Thunder Hawk, an Oohenumpa Lakota, is a veteran of every modern Native occupation from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee in 1973 and more recently, the NODAPL protest at Standing Rock. WARRIOR WOMEN is the story of Thunder Hawk’s lifelong career fighting for Native liberation, and the generations of activists she has shaped and inspired. Born and raised across the Oceti Sakowin homelands, she became a leader in the American Indian Movement in the 1960s and co-founded Women of All Red Nations and the Black Hills Alliance. In 1974, she established the We Will Remember Survival School as an act of cultural reclamation that provided a radical alternative to government-run boarding schools.
An eloquent voice for Native resistance and sovereignty, Thunder Hawk has spoken throughout the United States, Central America, Europe, and the Middle East and served as a delegate to the United Nations in Geneva. In the last three decades at home on Cheyenne River, she has been restoring self-determination to reservation life. She works as the tribal liaison for the Lakota People’s Law Project to fight the illegal removal of Native children from tribal nations into the state foster care system. She established the Wasagiya Najin “Grandmothers’ Group” on Cheyenne River Reservation to help rebuild kinship networks and support the Nation in its efforts to stop the removal of children from Native families. GOOD TALK proceeds support this work.

MarcyMarcella Gilbert, Community Health Educator and Activist

Marcella Gilbert, featured in WARRIOR WOMEN, is the daughter of Madonna Thunder Hawk and a Lakota and Dakota community organizer with a focus on health education, food sovereignty, and cultural revitalization. Gilbert graduated from the We Will Remember Survival Group and at seventeen was a delegate to the International Indian Treaty Council to Geneva in 1977. She earned a Master’s Degree in Nutrition and worked as a Community Development Field Specialist for South Dakota State University Extension on Cheyenne River reservation. She works to reintroduce sustainable traditional foods and organic farming to her reservation as an expression of the most fundamental form of survival and empowerment. Gilbert currently works with the non-profit Simply Smiles where she manages a garden project that includes wild food identification, harvest, and food processing. She is also working on launching the pilot project of her own survival school Waniyetu Iyawapi (Winter Count) Mobile Learning Experience. Areas of Focus: Indigenous nutrition, decolonized education, intergenerational activism and trauma, health and fitness for survival

 

Dr. Elizabeth Castle–Director, Scholar, Activist Elizabeth Castle, Director

Dr. Castle brings almost 20 years of experience as a scholar, activist, and media-maker working in collaboration with Native Nations and underrepresented communities. WARRIOR WOMEN is based on research for her book Women were the Backbone, Men were the Jawbone: Native Women’s Activism in the Red Power Movement. Castle is a committed anti-racist ally and descends from the Pekowi band of the Shawnee in Ohio – both shape how she engages with communitybased scholarship, media-making and organizing. While completing her Ph.D. at Cambridge University, she worked as a policy associate for President Clinton’s Initiative on Race and in 2001 she served as a delegate for the Indigenous World Association at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. While working as an academic specialist for UC Berkeley’s Oral History Office, she received the University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at UC Santa Cruz under the supervision of Professors Angela Davis and Bettina Aptheker. Dr. Castle was a professor in the Native Studies Department at the University of South Dakota and is the founder and Executive Director of The Warrior Women Oral History Project. Areas of focus:  History & application of Indigenous women’s activism, decolonizing research and media methods, anti-racist/ally-based activism & Indigenous communities, cross-cultural/racial media production; community-based, oral history projects

Christina D. King, Director & Producer

Christina D. KingAn enrolled member of the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma, Christina D. King’s work spans broadcast news, commercials, documentary, film, and television with a focus on human rights issues, civic engagement through storytelling, and democratizing filmmaking opportunities for marginalized voices. King most recently debuted the narrative feature film We The Animals at Sundance 2018 to critical success. The film was awarded the NEXT Innovator Award and was nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards. King’s other producing credits include This May Be The Last Time (Sundance 2014), which explores the origins of Native Mvskogee worship songs in Oklahoma, as well as the POV documentary Up Heartbreak Hill. King is based in unceded Lenape land in Brooklyn, New York. Areas of Focus: Decolonizing the filmmaking voice, ethical filmmaking, working with verité in Indigenous communities

Location and Time

Augsburg University
Sateren Auditorium, Music Hall, 715 22nd Ave South
Reception 6:15-6:45
Screening begins at 7:00
Discussion with participants follows
This event is free to the public

For parking directions visit: http://www.augsburg.edu/about/map/. You will be parking in Lot D or G off of 21st between Riverside and Butler Pl. You will need a parking permit. For parking permits contact M. Elise Marubbio at marubbio@augsburg.edu. Permits are limited in number.

Thank you to our sponsors: Augsburg University, American Indian, First Nations, and Indigenous Studies Department, American Indian Student Services, Augsburg Indigenous Student Association, Good Docs.

 

 

 

CELEBRATING NATIVE VOICES: SHORT FILMS BY INDIGENOUS FILMMAKERS

 

April 16, 2019

Join us for a night of short films that include films ranging from narrative fiction based on historical reality to documentary to youth produced work. The filmmakers will participate in person and via zoom at the University of St. Thomas.

 

 

Firemakers (N’We Jinan, 2018, 4 min)This short music video was recorded with Image of Youth GroupOjibwe students of Zhingwako Zaiganing School in Lac La Croix First Nation in Ontario, Canada.  There song and imagery talks to the issues close to their heart and lives.

 

GO GREEN AND STAY CLEAN (First Person Productions: Melannie Bice (White Earth Ojibwe), 2018) This youthMIZIINTERVIEW produced video investigates different forms of renewable energy at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus and Edison High School campus. We as the youth want to influence society on new knowledge about renewable energy and the sources used on these campuses of how you could use green energy. Renewable energy is leading to the near future that will soon be accessible for all as a fundamental ongoing initiative.

 

Image of girl from SoldierSOLDIER (Myrton Running Wolf, 2018, 25 minutes)

In this half-our short film, two young Lakota sisters, refugees of the Wounded Knee Massacre, fight to survive against a relentless enemy.  The film is written and directed by Myrton Running Wolf and executive produced by the renowned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated director Terrence Malick.”

 

Reclaiming Sacred Tobacco (Leya Hale, Dakota & Diné, 2016, 27 minutes ) This documentary depicts RedWillowMinnesota Native communities reclaiming traditional practices around sacred tobacco and discouraging commercial tobacco use in order to promote a healthier lifestyle. It received award nominations at the American Indian Film Festival (Best Public Service doc) and Red Nation Film Festival (Best Documentary Short), and was an official selection at Highway 61 Film Festival. It is still currently being screened at small Native Film Festivals around the country.

 

Sami BoySÁMI BOJÁ (Elle Sofe Henrikson (Sami), 2015, 15 min) Mikkel is a reindeer herder who has the entire responsibility for the herd of his family. He has a tough shell like a Sami boy should have. But in his inside there is chaos. Screened in collaboration with the Norwegian Film Institute

 

 

 

About our Filmmakers:

 

MIOGIZI YouthFirst Person Productions Melannie Bice (White Earth Ojibwe), Director  with Adyn Pence, Isaiah Smith, Noah Kennedy. Staff mentors were John Gwinn and Binesikwe Means)

FPP is part of MIGIZI Communications Summer Media Institute, a summer employment program and filmmaking workshop for Minneapolis American Indian high-school aged youth. The program has been running for ten years. In 2018, youth media interns
had to select topics about “Green Energy and Sustainability”.

 

 

Leya-HaleLeya Hale is from the Dakota and Diné Nations and resides in Saint Paul, MN.  She currently works as a Producer for TPT-Twin Cities PBS. In 2013, she co-produced The Past is Alive Within Us: The U.S.-Dakota Conflict,  an Upper Midwest Emmy Award-winner for Best Historical Documentary.  In 2016, Reclaiming Tobacco was her directorial debut and winner of the 2017 Upper Midwest Emmy Award for Best Tropical Documentary.  In 2018, she produced a Vision Maker Media-funded documentary, The People’s Protectors, which was an official selection at the American Indian Film Festival, Los Angeles Skins Film Festival, and the First Nations Film and Video Festival of Chicago.  She also received a 2018 Upper Midwest Emmy Award for Climate Smart: Cities Working Together  for Best Science/Environment Documentary.  In addition, she was selected as a Knight Fellow for the 2017 John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through the Sundance Film Institute and was selected for the 2018 Big Sky Film Institute Native Filmmaker Initiative Fellowship program. Leya continues to work on a variety of local content documentaries in an effort to create social change within Minnesota communities.  

 

Myrton Running Wolf holds a Ph.D. in Theater and Performance Studies from Stanford Myrton Running WolfUniversity as well as masters degrees from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. Professionally, he worked behind-the-scenes in Production Management for Walt Disney Studio’s ABC Television Group on primetime series LOST, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Brothers & Sisters, and Criminal Minds and as a Creative Producer for The CW and NBC network television affiliates. As a performer, Myrton held numerous supporting roles in Academy Award winning feature films The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The New World as well as Steven Spielberg’s Into the West and several other network television shows. On stage, he originated numerous lead roles in theater productions in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Myrton is also a multi-award winning writer, director, and producer with film and theater productions playing across our nation.

 

N’we Jinan-is a “music initiative that brings a mobile recording studio and a video production Youthteam into schools and youth centers across First Nation and Native American communities.  The program offers youth the chance to create an original song and music video that explores relevant issues and topics while promoting positive messaging, community engagement and collective voice” (http://nwejinan.com/)

 

 

Elle Sofe Henriksen is a freelance director and choreographer who works with performingElle Sofe Henriksen arts and movies. She produces her own stage and film productions. In addition, she offers choreography and director services for theater, film and music video, as well as tailor-made events and lectures. Together with her colleague Maret Anne Sara, she has started DÁIDDADÁLLU, a Sami interdisciplinary artists’ collection with 18 artists in Kautokeino.

 

 

 

 

Location and Time:  4:00-5:30

University of St. Thomas
O’Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium
(located on Cleveland Ave and Portland Ave)
University of St. Thomas
2115 Summit Ave
St. Paul, MN 55105
St. Thomas Campus Map

Thank you to our sponsors:
Augsburg University, American Indian, First Nations, and Indigenous Studies Department, MIGIZI Communications, N’We Jinan, TPT Twin Cities-PBS, The Norwegian Film Institute, the University of St. Thomas’s American Culture and Difference Program

 

AWAKE: A DREAM FROM STANDING ROCK

March 29, 2019

 

AWAKE overhead shot
The Backwater Bridge on Highway 1806 over Cantapeda Creek. Water Protectors during a peaceful prayer ceremony in front of the police brigade. Image from the film AWAKE, A DREAM FROM STANDING ROCK

Come join us for a special screening of AWAKE: A Dream from Standing RE. Suzi at Turtle Islandock at Augsburg University followed by a conversation with director, digital storyteller, journalist and media activist Myron Dewey.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is a controversial project that brings fracked crude oil from the Bakken Shale in North Dakota through South Dakota, Iowa and eventually to Illinois. The Standing Rock Tribe and people all over the world oppose the project because the pipeline runs under the Missouri river, a source of drinking water for over 18 million people, and pipeline leaks are commonplace. Since 2010 over 3,300 oil spills and leaks have been reported.

Moving from summer 2016, when demonstrations over the Dakota Access Pipeline’s demolishing of sacred Native burial grounds began, to the current and disheartening pipeline status, AWAKE, A Dream from Standing Rock is a powerful visual poem in three parts that uncovers complex hidden truths with simplicity. The film is a collaboration between indigenous filmmakers: Director Myron Dewey and Executive Producer Doug Good Feather; and environmental Oscar-nominated filmmakers Josh Fox and James Spione.

The Water Protectors at Standing Rock captured world attention through their peaceful resistance. The film documents the story of Native-led defiance that has forever changed the fight for clean water, our environment and the future of our planet. It asks: “Are you ready to join the fight?” (Bullfrog Films)

Guest Director: Myron Dewey

Myron Dewey drone footage made him one of the most important journalistic voices to come out of the Standing Rock movement. Founder and owner of Digital Smoke Signals, Dewey is Newe-Numah/ Paiute-Shoshone from the Walker River Paiute Tribe, Agui Diccutta Band (Trout Eaters) and Temoke Shoshone. He is a professor, filmmaker/editor, digital storyteller, historical trauma trainer, drone operator and journalist. Digital Smoke Signal’s goal is to help bridge the digital divide throughout Indian Country and indigenize media through indigenous eyes with cultural core values (Culture, Reciprocity, Respect and Family).

Location and Time

Augsburg University
Sateren Auditorium, 2200 Music Hall, 715 22nd Ave South, Minneapolis, MN 55454
Reception 6:15-6:45
Screening begins at 7:00
Discussion will follow
This event is free to the public

For parking directions visit: http://www.augsburg.edu/about/map/. You will be parking in Lot L off of 26th between Riverside and Butler Pl. You will need a parking permit. For parking permits contact M. Elise Marubbio at marubbio@augsburg.edu. Permits are limited in number.

Thank you to our sponsors: Augsburg University, American Indian, First Nations, and Indigenous Studies Department, American Indian Student Services, Augsburg Indigenous Student Association, Bull Frog Films, and the Institute for Global Studies at the University of Minnesota.

Ohiyesa: The Soul of an Indian

November 14, 2018

Ohiyesa Film Image“Ohiyesa: The Soul of an Indian” is “a deeply personal family film that follows Kate Beane, an urban, Dakota scholar, and her family as they trace the remarkable life of their celebrated relative, Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman), an important author, activist, lecturer and one of the first Native American doctors.  Along the way, Beane uncovers uncanny parallels between their lives, through they were born more than 100 years apart” (Vision Maker Media).

Please join Kate Beane and executive producer Syd Beane for an evening of conversation about this remarkable film and their family heritage.

 

About Our Hosts

Photo of Syd BeaneSyd Beane (Flandreau Santee Sioux) is an educator, community organizer, and documentary filmmaker.  His great-grandfather was Rev. John Eastman, the older brother and mentor of Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohiyesa).  Syd served as Project Manager of The Dakota Land Study in Minnesota Before 1862 Research/Book Project, which was completed with the publishing of the book “Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota.”  This book was awarded Minnesota History Book of the year for 2012.   He was writer and co-producer of the documentary film “Native Nations: Standing Together for Civil Rights” shown nationally on ABC, NBC, and the Hallmark Channel.  He is Executive Producer/Producer of “Ohiyesa: The Soul of an Indian.”

Image of Kate BeaneKate Beane (Flandreau Santee Sioux and Muskogee Creek) holds a BA in American Indian Studies and a PhD in American Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.  With an employment history rooted in education, she has worked in the Twin Cities as an after school mentor for American Indian youth, an early childhood Dakota language immersion teacher, a local public history consultant, and as a community college instructor.  Previously she served as a Charles A. Eastman Pre-doctoral Fellow at Dartmouth College, and as a President’s Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of California, Santa Cruz.  Currently, she is the Dakota Program and Outreach Manager for Native American Initiatives at the Minnesota Historical Society.

Location and Time

Augsburg University
Sateren Auditorium, Music Hall, 715 22nd Ave South
Reception 6:15-6:45
Screening begins at 7:00
Discussion with participants follows
This event is free to the public

For parking directions visit: http://www.augsburg.edu/about/map/. You will be parking in Lot L off of 26th between Riverside and Butler Pl. You will need a parking permit. For parking permits contact M. Elise Marubbio at marubbio@augsburg.edu. Permits are limited in number.

Thank you to our sponsors: Augsburg University, American Indian, First Nations, and Indigenous Studies Department, American Indian Student Services, Augsburg Indigenous Student Association, Vision Maker Media, and the Institute for Global Studies at the University of Minnesota. VisionMakerMediaLogo

 

 

The Eagle and The Condor–From Standing Rock with Love

 

October 8, 2018

Map of Turtle IslandThe Augsburg Native American Film Series invites you to join us for the international opening of The Eagle and The Condor–From Standing Rock with Love. Our evening event will include a virtual introduction from the filmmaker (Kahstosera’a Paulette Moore), a global broadcast through Free Speech TV to supporters like the Augsburg Native American Film Series, and stories from students, alumni and community members who participated in the fight against DAPL.  We look forward to hearing your memories of Standing Rock as part of our conversation after the film.  Bring your cell phone to participate in live streaming conversation with the filmmaker and other groups participating in this global experience.  

 

The film is based around prophecy of the Eagle and Condor that originates with nations from the South and features ceremony held at the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) site on Indigenous People’s Day, October 10th, 2016. The ancient prophecy predicted the epic Standing Rock water protection actions – and continues to challenge all to identify and unite our gifts and power.

From 2016 – 2017 Standing Rock water protection camps located at the heart of Turtle Island became the largest assembly of Indigenous peoples in recent history. Gathered nations confronted big energy’s extreme extraction through the strength of their ceremonies, histories, and connections. Despite being met with violence, many who brought their best intentions to this historic fight continue to expand their love and sovereignty – while they shift our world away from the trauma and isolation of modern days.

Directed by Kahstosera’a Paulette Moore, Produced by Rebecca Kemble.  The film also features: Seneca Nation’s Onödowá’ga:’ Protectors and singers (Darelyn Spruce, Nicky Thompson, Robin Jones, Jason Corwin, Kyle Spruce, Lor Seneca); pediatrician Dr. Sara Juanita Jumping Eagle (Dakota/Lakota-Standing Rock); Canupa (Pipe) carrier Grandmother Theresa Black Owl (Singugu/Rosebud); oil pipeline activist, economist and author Winona LaDuke (Ojibwe); independent journalist Jenni Monet (Laguna Pueblo); Wisconsin alderperson Rebecca Kemble; traditional dancers Helga and Jose Garza (Azteca); investigative journalist Will Parrish; water protector/builder Brennon “Bravo1” Nastacio (San Felipe Pueblo, Zuni Pueblo); traditional dancer Adriana Betti and the Cuautli Mitotiani Mexica Group; and lawyer and activist Germaine Tremell (Dakota/Lakota–Standing Rock).

Organizations and communities that are participating in this global event include: Eastern Montana University, Northwestern University Center for Native American and Indigenous Research, Augsburg University Native American Film Series, University of Massachusetts-Boston, University of Michigan, Conrad Grebel University College/University of Waterloo, Simon Frasier University, Six Nations Territory, Western Kentucky University, Adriana Betti and the Cuautli Mitotiani Mexica Group in Berkley, Hamilton/Wentworth School District of Ontario, Echo Valley Farm of Wisconsin, Showing Up for Social Justice (Rochester, NY), Northland College, Seattle community, University of the Arctic, Apotheosis Farm (MD), and University of Vermont.

 

About the Director & Producer

Director with Water ProtectorsDirector Kahsto’sera’a Paulette Moore is an independent filmmaker, artist and affiliated professor of Indigenous Media and Philosophy at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. Moore is Kanien’keháka (Mohawk) and an enrolled member of Six Nations of the Grand River territory, where she lives.

Moore spent two decades based in Washington DC working as a director, producer and writer with Discovery Channel, National Geographic, PBS, ABC and other media outlets. In 2009, Moore began work as an associate professor of media arts and peace-building at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA. There, she collaborated with students to create “To Wisconsin with Love,” a film about Ojibwe resistance and envisioning in response to what would have been the world’s largest open-pit Taconite mine. In 2016, Moore collaborated with Northland College students to create “From Wisconsin with Love,” which focuses on the spiritual, economic, and legal aspects of the act of harvest from the perspective of Ojibwe prophecy and practice. Between 2016/17 Moore made six trips to Standing Rock protection action sites to cover the largest gathering of Indigenous people in recent history.
Moore is a novice Kanien’keha (Mohawk) language speaker and a PhD candidate in Continental and Haudenosaunee Philosophy with European Graduate School based in Saas Fee, Switzerland.

 

Producer Rebecca Kemble, alderperson for Madison Wisconsin District 18, is a founding member, writer and editor for the Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative and is a contributor to The Progressive magazine. She is a recent President of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives and the President of CICOPA North. America, Vice-President of CICOPA Americas and serves on the Executive Committee of CICOPA worldwide. Rebecca is a worker-owner of Union Cab Cooperative where she has worked since 2000 as a night shift taxi driver as well as a mediator. Rebecca is featured in the film.

Location and Time

Augsburg University
Sateren Auditorium, Music Hall, 715 22nd Ave South
Reception 6:00-6:25
Screening begins at 6:30 with Zoom conversation with filmmaker and participating screening organizations, followed by the film at 7:00.
Discussion with Standing Rock participants follows at about 8:00
This event is free to the public.

 

For parking directions visit: http://www.augsburg.edu/about/map/. You will be parking in Lot L off of 26th between Riverside and Butler Pl. You will need a parking permit. For parking permits contact M. Elise Marubbio at marubbio@augsburg.edu. Permits are limited in number.  PLEASE NOTE this is also Augsburg University’s homecoming week so parking will be limited.  Plan ahead and if you are able, consider using parking garages at Fairview (across Riverside) or on the city streets.   We are sorry for this inconvenience.

Thank you to our sponsors: Augsburg University, American Indian, First Nations, and Indigenous Studies Department, American Indian Student Services, Augsburg Indigenous Student Association, NACDI, and the Institute for Global Studies at the University of Minnesota.

 

 

 

 

NATIVE AMERICAN CONVERSATIONS ON LAW ENFORCEMENT, JUSTICE, AND REDEMPTION

March 28, 2018

Join our hosts, Shirley Sneve (Vision Maker Media) and John Gwinn, Binesi Means, and Tiana LaPointe (MIGIZI Communications) for a night of films focused on Native Americans’ experiences with and perspectives on law enforcement, racism, and healing.

 

Vision Maker Media Productions:

Photo of peopleA Conversation with Native Americans on Law Enforcement (Charles Kennedye and Georgiana Lee, 2017)

“A Conversation with Native Americans on Law Enforcement” is a short documentary film with a collage of interviews from Native sons, mothers, fathers, educators, and leaders expressing their thoughts on “the talk”—or lack thereof—in Indian Country from their own experience. The film provides insight from personal experience, giving an overall perspective and impressions from Native Americans interacting with law enforcement today.

The interviews offer the Native American perspective and individual impressions from Native American interactions with law enforcement today.
  • Chandra Walker (Omaha Nation) is a Community Health Educator at the Office of Health Disparities & Health Equity in Lincoln, Nebraska.
  • Jared Long Soldier (Oglala Lakota) lived much of his childhood running into the law. More recently, he has discovered a faith led journey of sobriety that has helped him turn his interest to giving back to other men who are looking for a sober lifestyle.
  • Larry Voegele (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe) is CEO for Health Services Division at Ponca Tribe of Nebraska.
  • Joseph B. Rousseau (Cheyenne River Sioux) is an Administrator within Lincoln Public Schools for the Expelled Student Program and also serves on the Lincoln Public Schools Indian Parent Advisory Committee.

Leo Yankton – A Redemption Story (Edmund Frazer Myer, 2017)

In this short film, Leo Yankton (Oglala Sioux) tells how he changed his life around from having a troubled past and growing up on the Pine Ridge reservation to being an international speaker. Leo contributed in efforts to protect the water on the Standing Rock reservation, and continues to find ways to have a positive impact within Native Country and the rest of the world.

 

Migizi Communications’ First Person Productions (2016):

Failure of Justice (Caitlynn Anoka)Image from Failure of Justice

A look at the current state of police/community relations, especially as it relates to American Indians and other people of color, and how candidate for president Hillary Clinton plans to address these issues if elected.
 

 

 

 

TaPhoto of Protest at Governer's Houseking Action (Brian Bohanan, Tyereh House and Lorenzo Castaway, 2016)

This video looks at several police killings of civilians during 2016, including Philando Castile in St. Paul and Loreal Tsingine in Winslow, AZ. The filmmakers ask people how these tragic incidences can be stopped through a change in legislation and policy.

 

About Our Hosts:

Photo of Shirley SneveShirley Sneve (Sincangu Lakota) is the Executive Director of Vision Maker Media, whose mission is to empower and engage Native People to tell stories.

An enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, she has been in Nebraska for 10 years. She has served as director of Arts Extension Service in Amherst, Massachusetts, and the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science’s Visual Arts Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Shirley was assistant director for the South Dakota Arts Council, and she was a founder of Northern Plains Tribal Arts Show, the Oyate Trail cultural tourism byway, and the Alliance of Tribal Tourism Advocates. She started her career as a producer for South Dakota Public Broadcasting. She serves on the boards of The Association of American Cultures, the Friends of the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, the South East Nebraska Native American Coalition, and the Arts Extension Institute. She chairs the board of Native Americans in Philanthropy. Shirley is also a consultant with Creative Community Builders.

 

 

Photo of John Gwinn John Gwinn is Project Coordinator/Media Specialist at MIGIZI Communications.

Binesi Means and Tiana LaPointe are Native filmmakers that work with the First Person Production program at Migizi Communications.

First Person Productions is a program of Migizi Communications that consists of multi-media production  (film, video, radio) and a New Media Pathway Program to train Native American youth to produce and distribute content via conventional and virtual media. First Person Productions (FPP) provides multi-media production training to approximately 50 Minneapolis Native youth each year.

 

 

Location and Time

Augsburg University
Sateren Auditorium, Music Hall, 715 22nd Ave South
Reception 6:15-6:45
Screening begins at 7:00
Discussion with filmmakers follows
This event is free to the public

For parking directions visit: http://www.augsburg.edu/about/map/. You will be parking in Lot L off of 26th between Riverside and Butler Pl. You will need a parking permit. For parking permits contact M. Elise Marubbio at marubbio@augsburg.edu. Permits are limited in number.

 

Thank you to our sponsors: Vision Maker Media, MIGIZI Communications, Augsburg University, American Indian, First Nations, and Indigenous Studies Department, American Indian Student Services, Augsburg Indigenous Student Association, and the Institute for Global Studies at the University of Minnesota.

Logo for Vision Maker MediaLogo for MIGIZI Communications

 

 

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to the Augsburg Native American Film Series or this project, please send your checks to:

Augsburg Native American Film Series
Augsburg University, CB 115
2011 Riverside Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55454

CELEBRATING NATIVE VOICES: SHORT FICTION AND DOCUMENTARY FILMS BY NATIVE AMERICAN FILMMAKERS

 

April 11

Join us for a night of short films that include fantasy-drama, hybrid poetry, narrative and documentary.  Our screening will include conversations with the filmmakers about their work.

 

posterimage from filmMissing Indigenous (LaRonn Katchia, director; Isaac Trimble, producer, 2017)
Set in a rural reservation town, Missing Indigenous begins as two detectives, played by Solomon Trimble (Sam Uley of Twilight), and Isaac Trimble (Producer) investigate the homicide of a young woman marked with a killer’s deadly signature. With the assistance of entomologist Brett Rivers, played by actor David Velarde, the detectives soon realize Brett may have a lead on this murderer’s lethal trademark. Taking them on a mysterious journey through the dense forests of the reservation, the detectives are soon on the trail of an elusive, faceless killer. What unfolds is a heart wrenching story of a silent epidemic, the disappearance of Native American and Indigenous women. The film won “Best Film” and “Best Cinematography” at the Portalnd 48 Hour Film Festival.  According to the team, “To us it is bigger than film. We are a part of a movement of awareness for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women” ~ Isaac Trimble, Team RedFawn

 

 

This is Who I Am photo

This is Who I Am (Manuel Ibanez (Quechua, Director), Kalvin Hartwig (Anishinaabe, Producer), Janene Yazzie (Dine, Co-Writer), Andrea Landry (Anishinaabe, Co-Writer), Marie-Celine Einish (Naskapi, Protagonist) and Yanis Ait Mohamed (Kabyle, Director of Photography), 2017).

“This is Who I Am” is the story of a young Ojibwe woman seeking to reconnect to her language and culture in the big city. The   creative team of filmmakers’ hope is that the film will inspire more Indigenous youth to be proud of their heritage and to take responsibility for their languages, cultures, land and rights. The world is a better place with rich linguistic and cultural diversity and a strengthened identity can help Indigenous youth overcome barriers.

 

My Once Life (Pamela J. Peters, 2016)
“My Once Life” is a hybrid video poem about the continuing impact of colonization on tribal peoples.  Native people resist their violent history and contemporary political Image of My Once Lifestruggles through engaging with deep historical knowledge and creating new oral histories.  I asked my native female friends to read my poem for a few reasons; one is that I want to show the diversity of tribal nations living in Los Angeles, and secondly,  to show the passion and collective connection we have as Indigenous women to our tribal history.

The poem is read by 12 Native women living in Los Angeles whose strong voices embody empowerment : Nanabah Hill, (Navajo-Oneida), Diana Terrazas, (Paiute), JaNae Collins, (Dakota-Crow), Xelt’tia Temryss Lane, (Lummi Nation), Viki Eagle, Sicanqu (Lakota-Sioux), Cheyenne Phoenix, (Northern Paiute-Navajo), Stephanie Mushrush, (Washoe Tribe), Hakekta Winyan Jealous Of Him (Lakota), Chrissie Castro, (Navajo), Neyom Friday, (Cheyenne-Arapaho and Mskoke Creek), Vivian Garcia, (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma), and Deja Jones, (Eastern Shoshone).

 

Metal Road (Sarah del Seronde, 2016)Steel workers

For decades, thousands of Navajos worked the railroads maintaining the trans-continental network. Like the highly skilled Mohawk ironworkers, this connection of aboriginal people leaving their homeland to work conveys a dedication to their livelihood. Metal Road enters the world of Navajo families amid history of railroad work by the 9001 Heavy Steel Gang. Replacing rails on more than 64,000 miles of track, the unknown journey of the Navajo trackmen in the United States reveals an invisible group of workers striving to earn retirement benefits and inspires us to rethink the American work ethic.

About our Filmmakers:

LaRonn Katchia  is a Director/Cinematographer/ and tribal member of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.  He is currently pursuing a passionate film making career in Portland, OR. LaRonn grew up on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and transitioned to the city of Portland for film school. His love and passion for film resides from the influence of the commonly mistreated portrayal of Native Americans in Hollywood films today.  His mission “is to change the Native stereotypes of film and get it right this time. The Native American perspective is what’s missing in Hollywood today and needs to be brought to light. There are too many untouched original stories waiting to be filmed, and that are being filmed by a Native American director”.

Isaac Trimble  (Apache / Yaqui) is a well-known and respected Native American Flute Artist and Film Producer in the Northwest. His love for the performing arts started in 1988, when he first joined a group called Raven Wind Players formed by playwright Maury Evans. Isaac’s passion for theater and film comes from wanting to make sure Native Americans are accurately portrayed.  About his productions he says  “We want to make film that accurately represents Native people and garners the respect of the film industry” – Isaac Trimble

Marie-Celine Einish, hails from the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach and grew up in the Cree community of Chisasibi, a part of Quebec that can only be reached by train or airplane.  She is a champion hoop dancer and studied psychology at Concordia University.  Marie-Celine lives in Montreal and serves as an Associate at National Public Relations – Cabinet de relations publiques National, working in community development and communications for First Nations governments.

Janene Yazzie (Dine), studied International Politics at Columbia University and is a Human Rights and Indigenous Rights advocate that has made a career out of her advocacy through social entrepreneurship. The co-founder and CEO of Sixth World Solutions, she works to advance economic, environmental and social justice through development of community policy, projects and programs that promote long-term sustainability. Her work is centered on empowerment and founded in Indigenous concepts of seventh-generation planning.

Andrea Landry is Anishinaabe and holds a Master in Communications and Social Justice from the University of Windsor.  She is the Governance Development Officer of Pays Platt First Nation and teaches indigenous studies and political science at the University of Saskatchewan.  Andrea is a former youth executive for the National Association of Friendship Centres and North American Representative for the United Nations Global Indigenous Youth Caucus. She does community work in the areas of grief and recovery, suicide prevention, sexual abuse and family systems.

Manuel Ibanez, is Quechua and an award-winning filmmaker. He is a founding member of Habitat Pro Association and the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus to the UN, and is a producer of its documentary, “An Introduction to the UNPFII.” Manuel is a certified cinema director from Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University and the Hollywood Film Institute. He has volunteered and worked for UNTV and holds several television credits as a director, cameraman and producer in diverse media networks in the US. He has produced the feature film “Tales From A Ghetto Klown” along side Oscar winning filmmaker Fisher Stevens. He’s currently in pre-production for an Indigenous TV series pilot for the National Peruvian Television Channel.

Kalvin Hartwig, is Bear Clan Anishinaabe from the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.  He holds an MA in International Relations from Yale University, where he focused in indigenous rights and indigeneity.  Kalvin also holds a Graduate Diploma in Communication Studies from Concordia University in Montreal.  Kalvin was recently the On-Site Country Director for the Peace Exchange, a fair trade organization working in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is currently working for his Tribal government conducting research for developing a full-immersion language program in Anishinaabemowin for youth living in his community, and on a full-feature film about native identity.

Sarah del Seronde is an instructor in the Cinema/Communications Department at Dawson College and producer for Aboriginal Lens LTD. She is from the Bennett Freeze area of the Navajo Reservation, an undeveloped area of land still in ownership dispute with the Hopi Tribe. She obtained a MA degree in American Indian Studies from University of Arizona. Making the River, a biographical tale of an American Indian charged with the murder of a prison guard, took her inside the Washington State Penitentiary. Sarah Del also directed a film about Navajo Railroaders titled Metal Road.

Pamela J. Peters (Diné Nation) is an Indigenous multimedia documentarian born and raised on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. She has a BA in American Indian Studies and Film Television from UCLA.  Her work presents personal stories of contemporary urban Indians in photography and film.  She pushes viewers to critically analyze the psychological and historical structures of Native Americans in mass media.   Her multimedia work reflects the perseverance of American Indian cultural identities today. She produces living portraits of American Indians reflected through an indigenous aesthetic lens. Pamela works as a culture consultant and native talent referral for many networks such as: FX, Comedy Central, HBO and MTV. She has also professionally produced five award winning films for the Southern California Indian Center’s InterTribal Entertainment multimedia program, co-created film workshops for Native youth, produced PSA’s for Fox Studio’s American Indian Summer Institute program, and co-hosted “Bringing the Circle Together,” a monthly showcase of Indigenous documentaries at the Japanese American National Museum National Center for Preservation of Democracy Tateuchi Forum in Los Angeles.

 

Location and Time:

University of St. Thomas
O’Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium
(located on Cleveland Ave and Portland Ave)
University of St. Thomas
2115 Summit Ave
St. Paul, MN 55105
St. Thomas Campus Map
3:30-5:30

Thank you to our sponsors:
Augsburg University
American Indian, First Nations, and Indigenous Studies Department
American Culture and Difference Program, University of St. Thomas
Institute for Global Studies, University of Minnesota