Watch "Injunuity: Buried" for free online

sshipp — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:02:11 +0000

Watch 2013 Festival | Injunuity: Buried on PBS. See more from PBS Online Film Festival.

Using a mix of animation, music and real audio, Injunuity: Buried highlights Ohlone activist and educator Corrinna Gould as she discusses the ongoing destruction of sacred tribal shell mounds in Northern California. The film focuses on the largest shell mound in the bay area, which was completely removed during the dot-com boom in order to build the Bay Street Mall in Emeryville, California.

Injunuity: Buried, directed by Adrian Barker, is a production of ITVS and is being shown as part of the 2013 PBS Online Film Festival. The festival showcases 25 films that feature a diversity of subjects, voices, and viewpoints. Viewers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite short film from March 4 through March 22; the film with the most votes will win the People's Choice Award, which will be announced in early April.

For more information about the film festival, please visit pbs.org/filmfestival.

Watch "Hoverboard" for free online

sshipp — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:49:56 +0000

Watch 2013 Festival | Hoverboard on PBS. See more from PBS Online Film Festival.

After watching Back to the Future Part II, a young girl and her stuffed teddy bear try to invent a real, working hoverboard. Armed only with some household objects and a healthy imagination, they set out to make their goal a reality.

Hoverboard, directed by Sydney Freeland, is part of the 2013 PBS Online Film Festival. The festival showcases 25 films that feature a diversity of subjects, voices, and viewpoints.Viewers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite short film from March 4 through March 22; the film with the most votes will receive the People's Choice Award, which will be announced in early April.

For more information about the festival, please visit pbs.org/filmfestival.

Wounded Knee 1973

laura_waterman_wittstock — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:59:35 +0000

Even though nearly all of 1973 America knew of the occupation of the little village of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation and came to know of the atrocious conditions under which many of the Lakota people lived out their lives, time has faded memories. As the 40^th anniversary of Wounded Knee approaches, many of those who were part of the occupation, or indeed instrumental in it, have died. Appallingly, conditions have not improved in the lives of many of the people who live on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Some of these are the children and grandchildren of the original occupiers. It was thought that much more would have happened; much more would have changed than it has.

Wounded Knee was the brainchild of the American Indian Movement (AIM). This informal organization grew quickly from its 1968 origins in Minneapolis, MN, and developed a strong leadership core of young men and women. They didn’t always agree with one another, and sometimes violently disagreed, but they managed to design a national agenda. In 1972 they filled the highways on the way to Washington, D.C. to talk with the president about 20 points of vital interest. The promised meetings did not materialize, so Wounded Knee, just three months later, was intended to force the U.S. government to make good on its word.

Before nightfall on February 27, 1973, about 250 members of the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO), residents of Wounded Knee Village, Indians from all over the United States, unaffiliated Vietnam veterans and AIM moved into and occupied the little village. The federal government did not listen to those who went to Washington in 1972. Now the government would have another chance to listen.

Tipped off, FBI agents and U.S. marshals were already there, having been called out to protect the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) building from an attack by AIM. Over time, they would completely surround Wounded Knee and pin the occupiers down in fire that heavily outgunned the occupiers. Armored personnel carriers, overflying jets, and semi-military tactics were used without regard for innocent, unarmed individuals inside the Wounded Knee compound. Had there been only armed men inside the compound against armed groups on the government side, there may have been some justification for the torrent of gunfire. It would later be disputed in court whether the U.S. Army and Air Force had authority to move in on the Indians as they had.

At the end of 73 days, Leonard Garment, counsel to president Nixon reaffirmed a guarantee of a meeting with five White House representatives and Oglala Sioux tribal elders if the occupation would end by May 11. The White House agreed to discuss broken treaties and compensation for lost tribal lands.

The Sioux National Anthem filled the air at sunrise on May 8 and 125 Wounded Knee defenders surrendered to federal authorities in three predetermined groups. The federal authorities overran the village, searching for expected explosives and large weapons. None were found and the marshals drove out empty handed.

The Nixon administration, in a flourish more suited to movie scripting, stated that it wanted to halt Indian militancy. It said Indian militants comprise a “revolutionary Indian element” involved in symbolic actions arising from attempts to redress the bloody Indian past. And further, they are not representative of the Indian population at large, are criminally oriented, and must be stopped by criminal prosecution before they create more havoc throughout Indian America.

But the subsequent trials did not yield the desired Nixon-ion result. Chief defense attorney Kenneth Tilsen wrote in 2012, “Of the 1200 people arrested at Wounded Knee, 99.89% were not found guilty of any offense and only 0.05% were found guilty of an offense serious enough to justify a sentence that required incarceration”

Editor's Note: Laura Waterman Wittstock has written about AIM in the forthcoming book: We Are Still Here: A Photographic History of the American Indian Movement by Laura Waterman Wittstock, photographs by Dick Bancroft and and an introduction by Rigoberto Menchu Tum (May 15, 2013)

Native Sounds: Brent Michael Davids

AIROS Native Network — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 20:18:17 +0000

Brent Michael Davids (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Nation) is a classically trained musician and composer. He has been a long-time fixture in the music scene of the Minneapolis-St. Paul region of Minnesota, but is now building a new home and studio on his reservation in Wisconsin. Through the American Composers Forum (ACF), he’s a founder of the First Nations Composer Initiative (FNCI). Known for his artistic flair and top hat, through the Blue Butterfly Group, Davids has received numerous commissions and honors.

Davids holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music Composition from Northern Illinois University and Arizona State University respectively. He scored Sherman Alexie’s The Business of Fancy Dancing. Most recently, his music is featured in Opal, by Navajo filmmaking Ramona Emerson.

Interview with Brent Michael Davids | Brent Michael David's Website | Subscribe to the Native Sounds Podcast

Producer Profile: Suree Towfighnia and Debra White Plume

rosebudshirley — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:10:53 +0000

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Crying Earth Rise Up

Standing Silent Nation

Prairie Dust Films

by Shirley Sneve

Crying Earth Rise Up is a film by Suree Towfighnia of Prairie Dust Films with consulting producer Debra White Plume (Oglala). The name of the film comes from an old belief of the Lakota that Mother Earth needs to be cared for through good stewardship of the land—caring for its natural resources.

The location for the documentary is on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation—the land of the Oglala Lakota—on the South Dakota-Nebraska border.

The story of Alicia Yellow Thunder is central to this story as we learn about the health problems that plague her family. Her daughter was born with serious birth defects. Yellow Thunder believes that the cause lies in the contaminated well water that she drank while she was pregnant on the Reservation. As a geology student she has been testing the soil and water at various places on the reservation. For many years, the water in several locations around the reservation has texted positive for carcinogens.

This environmental concern is paired with issues of uranium, which is plentiful in the region. Thirty miles south of the reservation, near Crawford, Nebraska, is a uranium mine. Environmental concerns clash with economic concerns on both sides of the border.

Crying Earth Rise Up is not the first film for Towfighnia and White Plume. In 2007, Prairie Dust Films’ documentary, Standing Silent Nation, was featured on POV, the PBS documentary series. It’s a story of tribal sovereignty, economic development and federal government agricultural policy.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe passed an ordinance to allow the cultivation of industrial hemp within the borders of the reservation. White Plume’s family planted hemp, but the crops were destroyed by the federal drug enforcement officers—just as it was readied for harvest. To learn more about this project: http://ow.ly/hBN8M. To purchase the DVD go to www.shopvisionmaker.org.

Both films highlight the issues and opportunities for what many economists call “the poorest county in America.” Obstacles of jurisdiction between the sovereign Tribal government, the states of Nebraska and South Dakota—as well as the federal government compound the intense rural poverty facing Native Americans.

Towfighnia is an independent filmmaker and co-founder of Prairie Dust Films with Courtney Hermann. She began the Lakota Media Project (LMP) initiative in 2003 to provide mentorship and documentary training to Lakota girls and young women dedicated to documenting their stories and way of life.

As an educator, Suree teaches master classes and workshops on documentary directing, fundraising and shooting at Columbia College Chicago, EICTV in Cuba, Cinema Chicago and for non-profit groups. Since 2005, she has worked with the Center for Community Arts

Partnership, Project AIM, working in Chicago public schools to create films with teachers and elementary students. She now lives in Arizona.

White Plume descends from Chief Red Cloud on her Father’s side, and from the Northern Cheyenne on her Mother’s side. 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 has been involved in Lakota cultural preservation and revitalization work her whole adult life, this includes working 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. Debra and Alex and their extended families founded Owe Aku, Bring Back the Way, in the late 1990s to serve as a formal vehicle to pursue their work.

Towfighnia and White Plume discuss these films in the podcast interview recorded in January 2013. Crying Earth Rise Up is in post-production now, with an anticipated late 2013 release.

Thoughts on Elizabeth Peratrovich

princess_lucaj — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:16:14 +0000

As an Alaska Native woman passionate about seeking protections for the land and indigenous people of our state, I find the life of Elizabeth Peratrovich truly inspiring. For this woman, to stand up and speak her heart and mind in a room full of scorn, with all the cards stacked against her, is tribute to the unconquerable spirit of Alaska Native people.

On the day of her testimony before the Senate when asked this question: ‘Will the Equal Rights bill eliminate discrimination in Alaska?’

Elizabeth answered:

"Have you eliminated larceny or murder by passing a law against it? No law will eliminate crimes but, at least you as legislators, can assert to the world that you recognize the evil of the present situation and speak your intent to help us overcome discrimination."

Injustices and inequalities against Alaska Native people still exist, yet there are many of us that are speaking up and taking a stand out of a moral obligation not just to our own communities, but to humanity as a whole. The gift and legacy of Elizabeth Peratrovich is that she turned that question back on to the legislatures, acknowledging the power they possessed and the moral obligation they were elected to uphold, and by doing so proved to us all the power one singular voice has in making the world a better place.

Princess Lucaj is Neets’aii Gwich’in and the Executive Director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee (www.ourarcticrefuge.org Twitter: @ourarcticrefuge).

More information about Elizabeth Peratrovich:

Sundancing in Park City, 2013

jonny.cournoyer — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:51:51 +0000

I am happy and grateful to have been chosen for a 2013 Sundance Institute/Time Warner Native Producer Lab Fellowship. It was an amazing and transformative week at the Sundance Film Festival last month. Overseen by Bird Runningwater and Owl Johnson, myself and my fellow fellows of the Native Lab were hosted for a curated week of screenings, industry workshops, panels and roundtable pitch sessions. Being in the middle of my first film project, if my understanding of the definition of a “producer” was still a little vague going into the fellowship, it had definitely solidified more by the end of the week. My time in Park City was intense, insightful and jam-packed; specifically with all the work that goes into a film once you (think) you finish it. Outreach campaigns, fundraising techniques and festival runs were key components of the dialogues. Sitting down for face-to-face sessions with key producers, directors and festival programmers gave a deeper insight into the way the film-industry machine works and built the beginnings of a healthy network. And personally it was a blast, myself and the other fellows: Ross Cheney, Razelle Benally, Ciara Lacy and Brooke Swaney were all sad to say goodbye.

"Growing Native" on the Green Screen

btarpalechee — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 21:19:10 +0000

The production team for the upcoming Vision Maker Media series Growing Native recently came together to put the finishing touches on the Northwest episode. Chris Eyre (Southern Cheyenne/Arapaho) stopped by our offices in Lincoln, Nebraska on his way to the Sundance Film Festival. Eyre worked with series Producer Brandon Verzal and Associate Producer Blue Tarpalechee (Muscogee Creek) on the voice over, editing, and green screen elements for the recently filmed Northwestern episode. Vision Maker Media’s Executive Director, Shirley Sneve, was also in attendance for the green screen segments, pulling from her years of experience working with Native people to provide valuable insight into the process.

“I always enjoy getting to work with such skilled individuals as the team we have here,” Eyre said, “The episode is coming together really well, and I’m excited to get it out there for audiences to enjoy.” The Northwest episode will be the first of seven planned episodes for the Growing Native series. Coming up soon for the Growing Native team will be trips to Alaska, Oklahoma and the Great Lakes, so be sure to check back often for updates!

Austen Brauker - Music/Video Series

austen brauker — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 19:01:38 +0000

LOOMING KUNDALINI by Austen Brauker

austen brauker — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:31:53 +0000

Original music track and photos of sacred Michigan spring called KITCHI TIKIPI by AUSTEN BRAUKER.

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