November 2005

From Executive Director: Frank Blythe

Siyo, and Hello for November. I hope you’re enjoying a more regular monthly newsletter from NAPT instead of only twice a year. And we thank all our subscribers from the mail list for signing up for it. Please feel free to forward this to your friends and relations.

Our more current E-newsletter will bring news of AIROS, PBS, and VisionMaker programming your way, as well as; events; training; grants; newsmakers; and resources for viewers, listeners, and media makers related to our NAPT mission to 'support the creation, promotion and distribution of native media.'

We also hope to invite commentaries and guest articles from time to time from those in the field of independent, public broadcast and native community media. We also invite your feedback on all our programming and native media work.

In the coming months we will be announcing a PBS airdate for Indian Country Diaries, our two-90 minute contemporary stories of the Urban Indians of Los Angeles, and the Eastern Band Cherokee Indians of North Carolina. Over the next year, we will be offering over eleven hours of programs on public television including Trudell and Aleut Story, two great Native American stories for TV. As we announce airdates, check your local stations for their scheduling, or request they carry our programs in your city or town. We thank you for supporting these producers in showing their work on a national network.

So, as we head into the winter count season, all of us at NAPT wish you good things in all that comes to you, and have a happy Thanksgiving holiday.

VisionMaker Video Celebrates Native Heritage Month with New Educational Releases

Visit VisionMaker Video's educational catalog at http://www.visionmaker.org/catalogeducation.html for these new programs, all of which are being broadcast on public television this month.

Aleut Story - Nominee for "Best Feature Documentary" at the 2005 American Indian Film Festival. In the throes of World War II, Aleut-Americans were taken from their homes and placed in government camps. In this little known struggle for civil rights, the Aleuts joined Japanese-Americans in seeking justice.

Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action - Nominee for "Best Feature Documentary" at the 2005 American Indian Film Festival, and winner of "Best Environmental Film" and "Best Film" awards at the 2005 Jackson Hole Film Festival. From Alaska to Maine, Montana to New Mexico, Native American activists dedicated to protecting Indian lands against environmental hazards preserve their sovereignty and ensure the cultural survival of their peoples.

The Native Word: Stories Past and Present - Includes short film The Oneida Speak, winner of "Award for Documentary Excellence" at the 2004 Indian Summer Film Festival Historic Wisconsin Oneida journals from the 1930s come to life, Oklahoma boasts the oldest running American Indian radio program, and award winning poet/musician Joy Harjo reveals a glimpse of her world.

Three VisionMaker Films Vie for Best Feature Documentary Award

Aleut Story, Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action, and Trudell have all been nominated for Best Feature Documentary at the 30th Annual American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. Winners will be announced at the awards program Saturday, November 12 at 7:30 PM PT. Aleut Story is just newly completed and is beginning its film festival run in conjunction with its broadcast premiere on public television this month. Homeland and Trudell have been enjoying immense success on the festival circuit, with numerous nominations and awards tallied up for both of these great documentaries.For more information, visit the websites for the films at http://www.aleutstory.tv, http://www.katahdin.org, and http://www.trudellthemovie.com

Featured VisionMaker Video

Now available in the VisionMaker Video home and educational catalogs, Indian Casinos: What's Next? This "town hall" style program features a panel of national experts discussing and answering audience questions about the future of casino gambling on American Indian reservations. Recorded during the annual conference of the Native American Journalists Association held in Lincoln, Nebraska in August of 2005, the program provides an open and balanced discussion on the current state of casino gambling operated by Native American tribes, and examines the economic and social impacts on the reservations and the surrounding communities. To purchase this video for $30, visit http://www.visionmaker.org/icwn_h.html for home customers and http://www.visionmaker.org/icwn_e.html for educational institutions.

AIROS Native Radio Network Special Programming

Worlds Apart: Indigenous People Bridging Traditional and Modern Ways of Life is a special 3-part series from Radio Netherlands that brings rich, first person stories of native culture from three different regions of the world - the United States Plains States, the Canadian Arctic, and Australia: stories of the Sioux, Inuit, and Aboriginal people. For detailed descriptions and feedtimes for Worlds Apart: Indigenous People Bridging Traditional and Modern Ways of Life go to http://www.airos.org/audio.html#special and to download the audio of the programs go to The Worlds Apart Website: http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/features/cultureandhistory/050930wa

Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement on Best Practices in Fair Use

The Center for Social Media (CSM) in the School of Communication and the Program on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest (PIPPI) at the Washington College of Law are releasing the Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement on Best Practices in Fair Use. Documentary filmmakers have all too often found their creative work hobbled by unnecessarily harsh copyright clearance practices. Now, filmmakers have taken the initiative to change their environment. Five leading filmmaker organizations have collaborated with the American University project to make public shared professional understandings of when and how to invoke fair use. (More information: http://centerforsocialmedia.org/fairuse.htm) Fair use is the legal, unlicensed use of copyrighted materials. But filmmakers find that broadcasters and cablecasters, lawyers and insurers tell them that fair use is too hard to define. Fair use is interpreted by discipline and profession. Therefore, working professionals deliberated together in meetings over the last year and across the nation, through their organizations, to devise this Statement. The CSM and PIPPI coordinated the meetings, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

On November 18, filmmakers such as Gordon Quinn (Hoop Dreams; New Americans), David Van Taylor (With God on Our Side; A Perfect Candidate; Attica), Katy Chevigny (Deadline) and Gerardine Wurzburg (Academy-Award winning Educating Peter) will be joined by representatives of the five signatory organizations: Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers, Independent Feature Project, International Documentary Association, National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture, and Women in Film and Video (Washington, D.C., chapter). As well, representatives of some public broadcasting and educational organizations will be present to pledge their use of the Statement. Friday, November 18, 2 pm, Room 602 Washington College of Law, 4801 Massachusetts Av. NW, Washington DC.

2006 Educator in the Newsroom Fellowship

The Radio-Television News Directors Foundation (RTNDF) is accepting applications for the 2006 Educator in the Newsroom Fellowship. The fellowships place university journalism educators in local television and radio newsrooms for four weeks during the summer. Fellows work full-time at TV stations, working in daily newsroom operations and performing specific assignments for a hands-on, professional experience.

Fellowships will run for four consecutive weeks between May 22 and Aug. 25, 2006. Fellows will attend a professional development/orientation seminar in Washington, D.C., on May 17-20 prior to their newsroom assignments. Fellows are required to submit a two-page essay detailing lessons learned during their station fellowship and how these lessons will be incorporated into their teaching. Application deadline: Dec. 16, 2005.

The Educator in the Newsroom Fellowship Program is funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more information, go to http://www.rtnda.org/resources/excel.shtml or contact Carol Knopes at 202-467-5215.

Native American Family Technology Journey

While technology is hailed by many for its potential to advance today’s society, Native Americans are encouraged by the promise it holds to help sustain languages and cultures several centuries old. The 2005 Native American Family Technology Journey (The Journey), launching on November 1, will offer Native People across the United States a chance to explore what technology and innovation can mean for their families as they embrace the full potential of the Internet. A study released by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, titled Falling Through The Net: Defining The Digital Divide, found that Native Americans “are not able to access the important information resources via computers and on the Internet that are quickly becoming essential for success.” At least 15 events will be held during the month of November, in cities ranging from Tucson, Arizona to Nenana, Alaska. To learn more about the Native American Family Technology Journey, please visit http://www.nativeamericanfamilynet.net or call (410) 244-7101.

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

The National Park Service announces the 2006 Challenge Cost Share program for the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. The program will distribute matching funds to non-federal organizations for projects that educate the public about the Lewis and Clark story and preserve the resources of the National Historic Trail, including projects that commemorate the bicentennial of the historic expedition. Local communities, states, Indian Tribes and non profit organizations are encouraged to apply for the Lewis and Clark Challenge Cost Share funds. Application packets and more information may be obtained at the Internet Web site http://www.nps.gov/lecl or from Richard Williams, Chief, Resource Management, 402-661-1830, toll free 888-237-3252, or richard_williams@nps.gov. On-line applications must be submitted by January 20, 2006.

FCC Laws

The Federal Communications Commission has launched a new, user-friendly Web site, http://www.fcc.gov/eb/oip , designed to educate the public about the laws governing the airing of obscene, indecent and profane material and the Commission's enforcement of those laws. The site explains how to file a complaint and what happens to the complaint once the Commission receives it. In addition, for each year dating back to 1993, it provides useful statistics on the Commission's enforcement efforts, including the number of obscenity, indecency and profanity complaints received by the Commission; the number of Notices of Apparent Liability issued by the Commission and the total forfeitures imposed by the Commission. Finally, the site answers frequently asked questions on a wide range of topics ranging from how a consumer can determine the status of a complaint he or she filed to what makes material obscene, indecent or profane. The site can be found at http://www.fcc.gov/eb/oip .

Native American Indian Songs Taught by Louis W. Ballard

Dr. Louis W. Ballard (Quapaw) is a preeminent Native American composer and music educator. His works are performed regularly by major symphony orchestras, choral societies, chamber music ensembles, and ballet companies. He is also a teacher and mentor for students of music. Among Dr. Ballard's most frequently performed works are: Scenes From Indian Life for symphony orchestra; Incident At Wounded Knee for chamber orchestra; and Music For The Earth And Sky for Native American instruments and standard percussion including numerous other compositions. Native American Indian Songs Taught by Louis W. Ballard includes a guidebook with two audio CD's. Contact New Southwest Music Publications P.O. Box 4552, Santa Fe, NM 87502-4552, 505-986-3984 for more information.

Native American Public Telecommunications is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.