Public Education & Information
AAIA 88th Meeting of the Members and 7th Annual
Native American Short Film Showcase
AAAIA will hold it's 88th Meeting of the Members and 7th Annual Native American Film Showcase on November 17, 2011 at the Tribeca Screening Room located at 375 Greenwich Street in New York City. The event will begin at 6:30 pm.
John Haworth (Cherokee), Director of the George Gustave Heye Center at the National Museum of the American Indian will be honored for his contributions to the Native community.
This free event is open to the public. Any voluntary contributions received would be greatly appreciated and will be used to offset the costs of the event.
The following short films will be screened.
Blood Memory Director: Marcella Ernest (Ojibwe) 4 Minute- With tools old and new—8mm home movies and the iPhone—the filmmaker explores family and collective memory.
Tonto plays Himself Directed by: Jacob Floyd (Muscogee (Creek)/Cherokee.) (21 Min) While researching American Indian actors in Hollywood during the Great Depression, aspiring Native filmmaker Jacob Floyd finds a surprising and unknown personal connection to a strange footnote in Hollywood history. This discovery leads him to confront his own issues and anxieties about representation in film, as he revisits his love of movies, and his aversion to film Westerns.
Geronimo E-KIA, a poem by the 1491s (5 min) Ryan Red Corn (Osage) On May 1st around 3:30 pm President Obama received a message from a Navy SEAL saying "Geronimo- E KIA" the code meaning Osama bin Laden is dead. We humbly disagree.
Geronimo was a product of his environment. A human. One with flaws. One with enough history that the person charged with defining who he is can shape the narrative any which way he likes. People chase him today, just as they did then. His story, or peoples versions of it, lead us to this point where we are today. But this poem isn't about Geronimo is it?
Don't confuse the war with the warrior. Support your soldiers and veterans
Growing Native Trailer, Chris Eyre, (Cheyenne)
Growing Native -- Celebrating Tribal Cultures and Traditional Ways. A Public Television Film Production. Promotional Trailer, featuring Santa Clara Pueblo artist Roxanne Swentzell with host, film director Chris Eyre (Cheyenne & Arapaho); produced by Beverly Morris (Aleut) at KNME in Albuquerque, N.M. NAPT
Ignite Director: Ryan Begay (Navajo) 3 min. Spoken word and reverberating images of kinetic bodies in a game of stick-ball fuse to invoke the raw power of resistance and a call to act “now!”
Breaths for Apache Violin-: Dustinn Craig (White Mountain Apache/Navajo) (2min)
Music Video of White Mountain Apache violinist Laura Ortman
Native Representations in Video Games by Elizabeth Lameman (Anishinaabe ) (8 min) This short film briefly overviews Native (Indigenous, Native American, American Indian, First Nations, Aboriginal) representations in digital games.
Story of Priest Point Director: students of Tulalip Heritage School
(2min.) US Produced by Longhouse Media
In Lushootseed with English subtitles.
Killer whales rescue the residents of Priest Point from starvation in this traditional Tulalip tale.
15th Annual Upper Peninsula Indian Education Conference
Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI
Friday, September 30, 2011
See www.nmu.edu/nativeamericans for more information.
Federal Indian Law Immersion Course
A Federal Indian Law Immersion Course will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel in Tulsa, OK on June 13-14, 2011.
Presenters:
Walter Echo-Hawk, Supreme Court Justice of the Pawnee Nation and Board Vice Chairman of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation
Stephen L. Pevar, Senior staff counsel of the American Civil Liberties Unionand former legal services attorney for the Rosebud Sioux Reservation
Jack Trope, Executive Director of the Association on American Indian Affairs and former Director of the Western Area Office of Save the Children Federation
Earn up to 10.5 hours MCLE Credits
Course Highlights include:
Fundamentals of Federal-Tribal Relationship
American Indian Religious Freedom
Creating an American Land Ethic
An Overview of National Historic Preservation Act for Indian Country
An Overview of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
See the SAIGE website at www.saige.org for more information.
March 2, 2011
Call for Presenters
18th Annual Anishinaabe Language & Culture Camp
Manistee, Michigan
July 29, 30, & 31, 2011
Please provide two different presentation outlines.
Presentations should be 1 1/2 hours long. If you require a longer presentation period, please indicate ahead of time so your workshop can be accommodated. Also indicate
if your presentation is meant to target a particular age or demographic and if your presentation is total Anishinaabemowin immersion and you will have a translator, or if you will be presenting in English with Anishinaabemowin incorporated.
The deadline for all of this information is May 15 2011
Please contact:
kpheasant@lrboi.com
kennypheasant@charter.net
231-398-6892 (work)
231-590-1187 (cell)
Aa miigwech
Gaabaabaabiiyin wiibizhibiimoyin
Kenny Neganigwane Pheasant
January 26, 2011
Cobell Settlement --
The Official Notification in the $3.4B Indian Trust Settlement came out today. If you're eligible for a disbursement, call 800-961-6109 or go to www.Indiantrust.com
AAIA 6th Annual Short Film Showcase and
87th Annual Meeting of the Members
Thursday, November 18, 2010
6:30 PM
Cantor Film Center, New York University
36 East 8th Street
(between Broadway & University Place)
New York City
This year we are excited to honor Stanley Nelson for his support and promotion on behalf of Native American and other minority filmmakers.
Mr. Nelson is a 30 year veteran director, producer and writer, whose works include Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, Freedom Riders, and Episode 5 of the PBS American Experience Series We Shall Remain, entitled Wounded Knee. Mr. Nelson is the Executive Producer of Firelight Films and the Executive Director of Firelight Media and Firelight Media's Producer Lab.
The event is free to the public.
Sponsorship of this event is welcomed. Sponsors will be listed in the event program. Suggested Sponsorship: $250. If you are interested in sponsoring this program, please contact Lisa Wyzlic at 240-314-7155.
2010 Featured Films
Macnpc, Director: Tvli Jacobs (Choctaw), 1 Minute, Short parody of popular commercial
Steve's Special, Director: Sonya Oberly (Nez Perce), 3 Minutes, Music Video
The video was shot on location on the Tohono O'odham reservation. Gertie and the T.O. Boyz perform Steve's Special.
Bonanza Creek, Tesuque Pueblo Youth Film Group with Marcella Ernest and Rachael Nez, 10 Minutes, Live Short
In the Wild West, the cowboys don't always win. In this old family tale of cow-boys and Indians, a grandfather tells the children of two kidnapped Indian girls that are rescued by his great-great-great-grandfather, a young Mohawk boy.
LaDonna Harris: INDIAN 101, Director: Julianna Brannum (Comanche), 10 min excerpt, Documentary
A documentary film about Comanche activist LaDonna Harris, who led an extensive life of Native political and social activism, and is now passing on her traditional cultural and leadership values to a new generation of emerging Indigenous leaders.
In the Footsteps of Yellow Woman, Director: Camille Manybeads Tso (Dine-Navajo), 26 Minutes, Documentary Short
In the Footsteps of Yellow Woman is about a 13 year-old Navajo filmmaker who finds her own strengths through interviewing her Grandmother about their ancestral history. She imagines what it would be like to be her Great-Great-Great-Grandmother, Yellow Woman, who lived through the Navajo Long Walk (1864-1868).
Yatika Goes to Paris, Director: Yatika Fields (Osage), 1 min
Osage artist Yatika Fields “goes” to Paris.
How Birds Got Their Song!: Nuweetooun School Students, 5 Minutes, Short Animation
A film based on a traditional story of the Narragansett Indians and adapted by local filmmaker Jo Dery in collaboration with the students of the Nuweetooun School. Under her direction the students created the figures and scenes used in animating the story as well as playing the instruments in the film’s original sound score. The result is a memorable story that will leave you yearning for the sound of a wood thrush.
Grab, Director: Billy Luther (Laguna Pueblo) Trailer, Documentary
The trailer of Grab is an intimate portrait of the little-documented Grab Day in the villages of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, who annually throw water and food items from the rooftop of a home to people standing below. A community-wide prayer of abundance, thanks, and renewal, Grab Day exists at the intersection of traditional Native and contemporary Western cultures. Luther’ s film follows one family as they prepare for the annual event, chronicling their lives for the year leading up to this day.
We would like to note that Sonya Oberly, Director of Steve’s Special, was the 2006-2007 recipient of the AAIA Florence Young Memorial Scholarship. The Nuweetooun School, whose students helped in the creation of the film How Birds Got Their Song, received AAIA funding for their youth summer camp in 2004.
AAIA Launches New E-Newsletter
February 12, 2010
On February 10th AAIA sent it's first e-newsletter. E-newsletters will give us the ability to communicate with our supporters and others interested in our work inexpensively and quickly. Keeping them informed of activities and accomplishments relating to each of our programs and providing information about other issues affecting Native Americans that may be of interest. We will also post information about AAIA events taking place throughout the year. We hope that this will be an interactive tool and invite readers to submit comments, ideas and questions by replying to the e-mail. Subscription to the e-newsletter is free. Anyone who would like to be added to the distribution list please send your e-mail address and request to aaia.enews@verizon.net.
AAIA's Native American Short Film Showcase to be Shown in Sedona, Arizona June 5, 2010
As may you know, in recent years AAIA has put on a Native American Short Film Showcase each year in conjunction with our Annual Meeting of the Members in New York City. This year our event was held and co-sponsored by the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) and featured 8 short films produced and directed by Native American filmmakers.
AAIA was recently contacted by the Arizona Archeological Society Verde Valley Chapter in regards to showing the films at the Festival of Native American Culture. The film portion of the festival is being organized by the Sedona International Film Festival and sponsored by the Salt River Materials Group.
Tickets for the event are $9 each with a portion of the proceeds going toward AAIA's Scholarship Program. Additional events are scheduled for June 5 and 6. See www.nafestival.com/films.htm for more information.
AAIA Native American Short Film Festival/Showcase
For the past 5 years, AAIA has been proud to presented short film festivals or showcases in New York City in conjunction with our Annual Meeting of the Members. This event showcases the talent of Native American filmmakers whose films cover a range of contemporary Native topics. For the past 4 years, this well received event has been coordinated by Raquel Chapa (Lipan Apache/Yaqui/Cherokee) and held at venues such as New York University's Cantor Film Center, The New School, and The National Museum of the American Indian.
The following is a sampling of the films shown.
Little Red Riding Hood: A Dakotah Language Puppet Show,
A Production of the Association on American Indian Affairs Native Language Program
Kinnaq Nigaqtuqtuaq (The Snaring Madman), Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, Inupiaq, NYU Film Student
Home, Dustinn Craig, White Mountain Apache
Kawdan’s Song by Annabel Wong (Salt River Pima) The story of a young mother from the Salt River-Pima-Maricopa Indian Community in Arizona who goes to New York City for a violin audition. Lead actress Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache) also composed the score.
Half of Anything by Jonathan Tomhave (Hidatsa/Prairie Band Potawatomi/ Hocak)
Responding to "What is a real Indian?" four interview subjects—including John Trudell and Sherman Alexie—share their various perspectives.
Indians for Indians: A Radio Program by Ava Hamilton (Arapaho) In a profile of the oldest continuous Native radio program in the United States, based in Oklahoma, two of the producers share their experiences.
Ancestor Eyes, directorial debut by award winning screenwriter Kalani Queypo (Blackfeet/Hawaiian). After getting sick, a young Native American woman, Willa, returns to her mother's home where they both must come to terms with her illness. Willa's mother, who had been a long time 'shut in' begins venturig outside with her camcorder, taping the sunrise and mountains, bringing the outside world in to the bedridden Willa.
In Horse You See Ross, by Melissa A. Henry (Navajo), explains the very essence of being a horse.
American Cowboys, written, produced and directed by Cedric (Umatilla) & Tania Wildbill, excerpt, about the first Native American to be inducted to Pendleton Roundup. Narrated by William Hurt.
Preview Comanche Boy Trailer and excerpt by Thomas Yeahpau (Comanche)AAIA first ever webisode - following Native American boxer, George "Comanche Boy" Tahdooahnippah, through a few boxing matches that lead up to his undefeated 17-0 professional boxing record.
Magic Wand by Elizabeth Day (Anishinabe), A grandmother tells her granddaughter a story in Ojibwe revealing why the ricing sticks are “magic wands”.
Open Season by Raquel Chapa (Lipan Apache/Eastern Band Cherokee/ Yaqui), An account of the high rate of sexual assault among Native Women and the work that The Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women in Albuquerque is doing to stem the tide of violence.
Honoring the Work of The Kennedy's Commitment to Indian Education
November 3, 2009
On November 3, 2009, a reception was held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building to honor Senators Robert and Ted Kennedy for their lifelong commitment to Indian Education on the 40th Anniversary of the release of the Kennedy Report on Indian Education. That report was the catalyst for the enactment of laws such as the Indian Education Act which have increased tribal control over the education of their children.
The event was sponsored by Three Affiliated Tribes, United South and Eastern Tribes and The National Alliance to Save Native Languages and co-sponsored by the Association on American Indian Affairs (AAIA), Rosebud Sioux Tribe, National Indian Gaming Association, National Indian Head Start Directors Association, National Indian School Board Association, National Indian Education Association, Tribal Educational Departments National Assembly, National Johnson O'Malley Association and the Native American Rights Fund. Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Tom Udall (D-NM) and Lisa Murkowski, (R-AK) and Representatives Betty McCollum (D-MN), John Lewis (D-GA) and Tom Cole (R, OK) all paid tribute to Senator Kennedy and spoke about the continuing need to support efforts to improve Indian education. Other distinguished speakers included Ryan Wilson (Lakota, President, Alliance to Save Native Languages), Jefferson Keel (Chickasaw, President, National Congress of American Indians), John Echohawk (Pawnee, Executive Director, Native American Rights Fund and Board Member, Association on American Indian Affairs), Lillian Sparks (Lakota, Executive Director, National Indian Education Association), Patsy Whitefoot (Yakima Nation, President, National Indian Education Association), Ernie Stevens, Jr. (Onieda of Wisconsin, Chairman, National Indian Gaming Association) and Jack Trope (Association on American Indian Affairs), along with several others. The speakers emphasized that progress had been made in educating Indian students, but that there was still much to be done. Among the issues raised were the lower high school and college graduation rates of Indian students, the need to ensure culturally-relevant education, including the preservation of Native languages, and the importance of further legislation, including a proposed Tribal Sovereignty Education Act.
Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D, RI), son of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, was presented with a Native headdress in honor of his father and uncle. The headdress will be given to the Kennedy Library where a Native American exhibit will be created.
