Shirley K. Sneve's blog

SDPB and NAPT founder dies

Martin Busch, the founder of the South Dakota Public Broadcasting system, died April 14 at the age of 89 at his home in Atchison, Kan. Busch was instrumental in the establishment of Native American Public Telecommunications 35 years ago. Busch served as executive director for SDPB from 1960 to 1984. He was first appointed director of KUSD-AM in 1960, and in 1961 oversaw the establishment of KUSD-TV, the first educational television station in the state and flagship station of SDPB. During his tenure, he participated in the early development of organizations that eventually became Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio. He served on the PBS Board of Directors from 1973-1979 and retired from SDPB in 1984. Memorials may be sent to the Friends of SDPB, P.O. Box 5000, Brookings, SD 57006-5000.

LPB Director Resigns

The Board of Directors at Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) announced today that Patricia Boero, Executive Director since 2007, has decided to resign, effective March 8, 2011. 

In her resignation letter, Ms. Boero stated she has enjoyed working at LPB and is proud of their accomplishments. “I am sad to be leaving the Board and my team, but trust that the organization will see this transition as another opportunity for renewal and growth.” 

LPB, www.lpbp.org, funds public media programs, which provide impactful stories from a variety of Latino producers across the country.  LPB is a nonprofit organization and supports the development, production, acquisition and distribution of public media content that is representative of Latino people, or addresses issues of interest to Latino-Americans. These programs are produced for dissemination to public broadcasting stations and other entities.

Ms. Boero is proud to leave a talented and motivated team at LPB’s Burbank office that will be more than capable of continuing the work in her absence.  An executive search firm, WBCP (www.wbrowncreative.com), is managing the search for LPB’s Executive Director.  Luis Ortiz, Managing Director for LPB, will be filling the role as Interim Executive Director in Boero’s absence.

Edward James Olmos, Chairman of the Board and founder of Latino Public Broadcasting said, “We are sorry to see Patricia go, and thank her for her outstanding work and contribution to the organization, and the Board is grateful to Luis for agreeing to be LPB’s Interim Executive Director during the search process.”

Ms. Boero has decided to spend more time in Uruguay, so she can be closer to an ailing family member.  “Since I started my work at LPB, I have committed all my energies to fulfilling our mission. I trust I’ve made a positive contribution, delivering exciting new Latino content to public media, and developing collaborations with PBS stations, funders and producers across the United States.  During my tenure, LPB broadcast a second season of the VOCES series and many exciting Latino programs, obtained a significant increase in funding, and helped grow LPB’s capacity.”

Boero wrote, “I feel confident and proud that LPB will continue to make a difference in the lives of Latino communities. I have appreciated your guidance over this fruitful period, and I will miss you and my LPB colleagues enormously.”

Merata Mita

NAPT joins our colleagues around the world in mourning the loss of renowned Maori filmmaker and festival patron Merata Mita, of Ngati Pikiao and Ngai Te Rangi.

Merata was recognized as a key figure in the history of Indigenous filmmaking for her incredible contributions to film, both in New Zealand and around the world. As a passionate advocate, leader, and mentor, her unflinching body of work profoundly shifted the landscape of Indigenous cinema by highlighting on screen a more complex and contemporary portrayal of the experiences of Indigenous peoples.
 
From the Bay of Plenty in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Merata began her filmmaking career in 1977, directing and co-directing films while also reporting and presenting for the Maori television news show Koha.  Merata's acclaimed documentary Patu! documented the violence between protestors and police during the 1981 Springbox tour and was the first feature-length documentary in New Zealand directed by a Maori woman.
 
In 1988 Merata wrote, directed and produced her first dramatic feature, Mauri, which was only the second feature film drama to have a Maori woman director. Mauri centred around issues of birthright and racism in an isolated rural community, with land rights activist Eva Rickard playing the central role of the grandmother. The film was a training ground for many young Maori crew members and won a best prize at Italy's Rimini Film Festival.

Merata's groundbreaking documentary on artist Ralph Hotere (Hotere, 2001) premiered in Canada at imagineNATIVE in 2002. She was also a producer on the feature film Spooked (2004) that screened at imagineNATIVE in 2005 and was executive producer on The Land has Eyes (2004), the first feature directed by a native Fijian, which opened imagineNATIVE in 2004. She was also on the producing team for Taika Waititi's internationally-acclaimed New Zealand box office smash Boy (2010).

Merata recently returned to New Zealand after many years spent working and teaching in the United States.  She was an advisor for the Sundance Film Institute and taught at the University of Hawaii. Earlier this year, Merata was awarded the CNZM (Companion of the Order of New Zealand Merit), for her services to the Film Industry.
Most recently she has been a driving force behind Te Paepae Ataata, the New Zealand Film Commission/Nga Aho Whakaari development initiative to foster and encourage Maori film written, produced and directed by Maori people. A message from Nga Aho Whakaari Chair Tearapa Kahi read: "Merata Mita is a towering giant whose body of work stirs, ignites and guides our emotional and cultural understanding of our country and our people. She was a fierce advocate, a cultural revolutionary, an intellectual and artistic practitioner and mentor, a beautiful mother, a youthful grandmother and a dear friend."
Merata Mita passed away on May 31, 2010. She was completing Savage Grace, a documentary focusing on the importance and love of tamariki -- an artistic and personal response to a spate of recent child abuse cases in New Zealand.
 
Merata Mita directed or collaborated on: Karanga Hokianga Ki O Tamariki (1979); The Hammer and the Anvil (1979); Keskidee Aroha (1980); Bastion Point: Day 507 (1980); The Bridge: A Story of Men in Dispute (1982); Patu! (1983); Mauri (1988); Mana Waka (1990); The Shooting of Dominick Kaiwhata (1993); and Hotere (2001); The Land Has Eyes (2004); Spooked (2004); Keao (2008); Boy (2010).

NAPT's Winter Count

Listen to Shirley read NAPT's 2009 Winter CountNAPT Executive Director Shirley Sneve

Seasons greetings from NAPT! It’s a time of reflection and preparation for the new year. Lakota people record their reflections through the winter count. Waniyeta wowapi, in our language.

Winter counts are histories or calendars in which events are recorded by pictures, with one picture for each year.

This is our 33rd year of bringing listeners and viewers excellent TV and radio programming through public broadcasting and the Internet.

This year, the picture on the winter count is a TV transmission tower to mark the end of analog broadcasting and the digital conversion.  We bought boxes for our old TV sets or bought a new flat screen HD TV. It already seems like a long time ago.

But the digital conversion opened new doors for viewers—and for NAPT programming. This year, we released six video documentaries and two Native Radio Theater programs.

Waila: Making the People Happy by Dan Golding about chicken scratch music of the Southwest.
Jim Thorpe, The World’s Greatest Athlete by Tom Weidlinger and Joe Bruchac.
Power Paths by Bo Boudart, Chris Phillip, and Norman Brown. Featured on Independent Lens, it looks at the quest of tribes for renewable energy.
River of Renewal by Stephen Most and Jack Kohler accounts the damming of the Klamath River.
To Brooklyn and Back: A Mohawk Journey by Reaghan Tarbell and Paul Rickard. It’s the history of the women behind the Native steelworkers who changed the skyline in New York City.
For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska by Jeff Silverman tells the story of Elizabeth Peratovich and other Alaska Native civil rights leaders.

And on the radio, The Red Road, a one woman show by Arigon Starr, and Raven’s Radio Hour, a variety show set in Alaska.Native Radio Theater is a project with Native Voices at the Autry.

Native Sounds-Native Voices and The Drum are weekly shows that NAPT staff create for Lincoln’s community radio station and the AIROS Native Network—NAPT’s own 24/7 Internet radio station. Web specialist Eric Martin works with students in hosting the program. Sina Bear Eagle and Aden Marshall co-hosted the program until the fall. Sina got an opportunity to study in England, so Tobias Grant took over the microphone. Tobias also carries on a family tradition—he’s NAPT founder Frank Blythe’s grandson.

In addition to programming, we’ve provided training opportunities and launched new websites for nativetelecom.org, airos.org and visionmaker.org

NAPT’s mission is to share Native stories with the World, and we’d like you to join us by making a tax deductable contribution.  Click on the donate button on the right hand column on the NAPT website.

Your support helps make these important Native stories possible. Thanks and happy new year!

Curly Bear Wagner

I received word this weekend that our friend and Blackfeet elder Curly Bear died. I got to meet him years ago during my tribal tourism days in South Dakota with ATTA. We were reacquainted a few years ago when we brought the doc he did with Dennis Neary to Public Television. http://www.visionmaker.org/blackfeet_e.html

What a kind and caring soul who fought so hard against racism and for cultural identity. He opened his heart and home to many folks from all over the world who wanted to learn about the Montana Indians. Rest in peace, Curly Bear.

BROWNING — Clarence "Curly Bear" Wagner, 64, an Army veteran and Native cultural historian, died of natural causes Thursday at a Browning hospital.

Rosary is 7 p.m. Monday at KW Bergen School in Browning. Funeral Mass is 11 a.m. Tuesday at Little Flower Catholic Church, with burial at Billedeaux Ranch in Babb. Pondera Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Survivors include daughters Judy Gail Wagner of Crow Reservation, Tamara Wagner of Browning and Ann Wild Gun of Heart Butte; sons Bobby Jo Wagner of California, Joseph Wagner of Browning, and Junior Wells and Waylon Wells of Heart Butte; sisters Jean Billedeaux of Babb, and Melvina Johnson of St. Mary; and 13 grandchildren.

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