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I had the opportunity to interview Frank Blythe, who is my grandpa and Founding Executive Director of Native American Public Telecommunications, Inc. (NAPT), as well as my mom, Francine Blythe, who is Executive Director of the National Geographic All Roads Film Project. The three of us were in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the same time and we got together for a cookout.

I remember watching screenings of Native films and documentaries as a young kid. I understood that grandpa was the Executive Director of NAPT, but I did not know the details of his work. In school, I was learning about the mainstream history of Native Americans but at home, I was learning about the other half of our survival.

My mom was interested in theatre and I can remember a time when she was a part of a traveling Native play ensemble. Later, she would have roles as extras in various film projects. I thought that film and theatre were her and grandpa’s thing and at that time, I did not have the desire to study film or theatre.

When I was hired as a Production Assistant at NAPT, I realized the significance and impact that Native media has to offer. After starting at NAPT, I began to co-host two Native American radio programs--Native Sounds Native Voices and The Drum--on 89.3 FM (KZUM) in Lincoln, Neb. When I proposed the idea of a conversation between the three of us, my grandpa and mom were both enthusiastic about the idea. This is the interview from our conversation from April 2011.

Short Version | Extended Version | NAPT Fan Page | All Roads Film Project

This past Saturday was the world premiere of my documentary The Thick Dark Fog at the 36th annual American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. Walter Littlemoon, the subject of the film, and his wife Jane Ridgway were in attendance. A packed house watched the film and then had the opportunity to ask Walter and myself questions afterwards. Also joining us were producer Jonathan Skurnik, composer Kathryn Bostic and wardrobe person and actress Joyce Ferrer. There was a discussion panel on Friday at the S.F. Public Library that was also well-attended and gave all present the chance to speak freely about the boarding school experience. A wider context of the consequences of childhood abuse that was rampant at the schools was provided by the panel and by those in the audience. The boarding school as a safe haven from violent households on the reservation was brought up by an Alaskan Native woman. All in all it was a grand kick-off for the film and once again I want to thank those at the festival for having us and providing a first-class event for our film. Also thank you NAPT for your support and in helping Walter and Jane attend the festival.

I also want to thank Pam Grady for the helpful and well-written article she wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle that was responsible for directing people to our screening. Check it out at: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/30/PKK51LL29M.DTL

J-Sav is an Omaha tribal member and a founding member of the Native Hip Hop group Savage Family. The group formed while members where attending Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS. J-Sav earned a bachelors degree and continues to create music. J-Sav started to build an interest in Hip Hop in high school and free-styling. While attending Haskell J-Sav began to understand the struggle of the Assimilation of Indians into the mainstream.

Savage Family promotes a faceless movement because they represent a message of unity instead of individuality. J-Sav’s involvement with Savage Family encouraged him to follow the Red Road and promote a substance free lifestyle. J-Sav has an ability to create lyrics that is parallel to poetry as well as carrying a message in the song. Tobias (Omaha, Dakota, Dineh, Cherokee) and Jessica (Paiute, Bannock, Washo) co-hosts of The Drum interviewed J-Sav in the studio, they talk about Savage Family, Haskell and his transformation. Check out the live broadcast of The Drum every Sunday from 630-8pm CT on the web at www.kzum.org and follow them on facebook at www.FaceBook.com/TheDrum402 and at www.MySpace.com/TheDrum402.

Interview with J-Sav Part One | Part Two | Savage Family Reverb Nation Page | FaceBook Page | MySpace Page

Getting together with a group of thoughtful, determined media makers to discuss the future is always a meaningful experience. Add a group of top-notch educators into the mix and what you have is something special.  That’s what happened last month when NAPT, along with the Institute for American Indian Arts, graciously hosted a gathering of media makers and educators in Santa Fe to discuss everything from how media can effectively reach students in the classroom to creating national media campaigns for that very same media.

For the first half of the day-long workshop the participants were divided into two groups based on whether you are a media makers or an educator.  With the energetic Molly Murphy of Working Films leading the way, the media makers morning workshop focused on all the aspects of audience engagement for our documentary films, from raising money to building alliances with other like-minded entities, covering everything along the way such as goal setting, long-term planning, budgets, community outreach and educational strategies.  We also did a short exercise that I liked very much where we talked about our projects, our goals, why we came to the workshop and what we hoped to learn while we were there.

After the morning session, we broke for a very short but very tasty lunch, then it was back to the main room where the two groups were combined for the afternoon portion of the workshop.  At one point during the afternoon session we broke up into smaller groups in order to discuss everything we had talked about up to that point, with each group being a mix of both educators and media makers. In our group we discussed our projects and how they could be fully utilized in an educational setting by using our documentaries as well as all the ancillary media that goes along with each project such as interactive web sites and transmedia pieces, all of which could be used to enhance the learning process around a singular theme or topic.

At the end of the exercise, each table had someone stand up and tell everyone what their table had discussed. Many of the discussions were very interesting, dealing with problems such as the physical delivery of media into classrooms, how that can be done more efficiently and cheaply, and how educators can then use that available media to help them achieve their goals in the classroom. One of the possible solutions mentioned for this problem was the idea of a subscription service where educators or their institutions could pay a monthly or yearly fee and would then have access to a vast library of digital media that they could be delivered on demand and utilized in the classroom whenever and however each educator saw fit.

After the workshop wrapped, the discussions continued over dinner near our hotel. And this is where I have to voice my one complaint about the workshop: it wasn’t long enough. It felt as if the workshop ended just as we were starting to get to know each other, just as we were starting to get at the heart of our discussions and get to some real answers.  In my opinion, it would have been better as a two-day event. That way, all the discussions we had throughout the day could sink in. Then, the following day we could get together again and really see where we could take all the ideas and concepts we had discussed the day before. 

Hopefully next year we can do it again and maybe have the workshop extended an extra day. Because I’m sure it wouldn’t be difficult for all who attended to stay an extra day in Santa Fe during Indian Market. I mean, who is going to complain about that? Certainly not me.