Native Stories Air on Public TV
Public television audiences will see seven programs this year from Native American Public Telecommunications, including two that are featured in the PBS series Independent Lens. Interested viewers should check local listings for airdates and times, or contact local PBS stations to request carriage of the program.
Aleut Story
This is the little known story about the anguish of Aleut-Americans who were taken from their homes and placed in government camps during World War II. As the Aleut people prayed for deliverance, “friendly forces” looted their homes in the Aleutian Islands. An estimated 10 percent of the men, women and children sent to the camps would die there – a steep death rate comparable to that suffered by American POWS in foreign camps. Those Aleuts who survived would fight for their rights on Capitol Hill. In a historic action, one that still impacts our lives today – Aleuts joined Japanese Americans in seeking wartime reparations from the federal government. Executive Producer is Carolyn K. Robinson, Producer/Director is Marla Williams.
Walela: Live In Concert
This award-winning performance is a musical journey for the spirit. Walela is comprised of pop-singer Rita Coolidge, her sister Priscilla Coolidge, and Priscilla’s daughter Laura Satterfield. Walela blends gospel, folk and pop influences with the traditional songs of their Cherokee heritage for a contemporary take on Native American music. This program captures the trio live in concert in Dallas, Texas, performing songs such as “Gathering of Eagles,” “Wash Your Spirit Clean,” and many more. This concert program won a Native American Music Award for Best Short or Long-Form Video. It was recorded at the Dallas Theater Center, Kalita Humphreys Theater. The program will be seen in both Standard and High Definition formats. Walela: Live in Concert is produced by Rich-Heape Films.
Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action
Nearly all Indian nations sit on land threatened by environmental hazards: toxic waste, strip mining, oil drilling, and nuclear contamination. Homeland takes a hard look at these realities. From Alaska to Maine, Montana to New Mexico, the film tells the stories of five remarkable Native American activists in four communities who are fighting these “new Indian Wars”—each in their own way passionately dedicated to protecting Indian lands against disastrous environmental hazards, preserving their sovereignty and ensuring the cultural survival of their peoples. Produced by Katahdin Foundation. Director is Roberta Grossman, and the Executive Producer is Lisa B. Thomas.
Native Word: Stories Past and Present
Native Word brings together three short films by independent Native
producers. The half-hour program is hosted by Patty Loew (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe) noted author, educator and public television producer. Each of the stories demonstrates how storytelling remains crucial to the preservation of Native culture as it embraces modern technology.
Indian Casinos: What’s Next?
This town hall style program was taped before a live studio audience, August 13 at the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications studios. The broadcast was part of the annual Native American Journalists Association conference that was held in Lincoln, NE. Panelists included Mark Van Norman, Executive Director of the National Indian Gaming Association; Kurt Lugar, Executive Director of the Northern Plains Indian Gaming Association; Ernie Goss, Chair in Regional Economics at Creighton University; Charlene Alden, Gaming Manager for the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and Laurel Ekdahl, United Methodist Church, Nebraska Conference. Patty Loew (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe) served as moderator.
Featured in Independent Lens This Year
Race Is The Place – To Be Seen on November 11, 2005, 10:00 ET
This program is a bold, lyrical, poetic, musical montage of words and images presented by actors, poets, comedians and performance artists from African American, Latino, Asian American, Native American and Pacific Island communities, using words, spoken, sung, or chanted, to explore the pain, humor and frustration that form their responses to how Americans of different races treat each other. Executive Producer is Rob Tranchin, KERA-TV in Dallas, Co-Producer/Co-Director Rick Tejada-Flores and Ray Telles.
Trudell – April 11, 2006
This program follows the life work of Native American poet/activist John Trudell – from the occupation of Alcatraz to the devastating death of his family – an event that ultimately ended his political activism and sparked a rebirth through poetry and music. Filmmaker Heather Rae uses a poetic and cinema verite style to chronicle Trudell’s life. She traces his travels, weaving archive footage from the late 1960s and 1970s with concert and interview footage. This film challenges traditional documentary form, and meshes fable and fact, stylistically mirroring the coyote nature of Trudell himself. Produced by Heather Rae (Cherokee).
California’s “Lost” Tribes: The New Gold Rush
California’s “Lost” Tribes delves into the current conflict over Indian gaming, explores the historical underpinnings of tribal sovereignty, and the evolution of tribal gaming rights over the last thirty years. Concern over gaming is further stoked by the development of rural lands for casinos, often placing tribes at odds with organic farmers and tract home developers as stakes are claimed in the rush for the state’s last rural lands. California’s “Lost” Tribes captures the impact of gaming on Indian self-determination, and the challenges Native people face in defining the identity of their people for the future. Lost Tribes airs in the four part series about California and the American Dream.