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A Raven Above Press in Association
with The Japanese American National Museum presents-
2012 Bringing The Circle Together: A Native American Film Series
Hosted by Pamela J. Peters
Upcoming Screenings!
Date: Feb 22nd - 6pm, in collaboration with Valena Dismukes
Title: American Red and Black: Stories of Afro-Native Identity
The film follows its protagonist Vella, as she makes tentative forays
into the Native American portion of her lineage. This process leads her to
consider a more expanded racial identity, despite the fact she has always
thought of herself as an African American or Black woman.
Vella's saga is interspersed with the stories and/or opinions of five other
individuals: Tall Oak, Rick, Minty, Jolene and Sequoyah- all of whom possess
strong multicultural identities.
Date: Mar 21st - 6pm, in collaboration with Pamela Peters
Title: From the Badlands to Alcatraz
About: On September 15, 2003, Richard Iron Cloud and Armando Black Bear, from Pine Ridge, made history as the first two Lakota men to complete solo swims from Alcatraz as participants in a program called PATHSTAR. The night before arriving in San Francisco, Richard Iron Cloud led a traditional talking circle in the Badlands, close to his home in Porcupine, one of a handful of villages scattered across the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Dr. Nancy Iverson developed a program for Pine Ridge residents to experience the Bay Area and immerse themselves in healthy nutrition practices, community activities, physical challenges, and—literally—in the icy waters of the San Francisco Bay! In recognition of the spiritual and cultural significance of Alcatraz for American Indians, the week culminates with the Alcatraz swim.
Each year Iverson returns to Pine Ridge and brings people out to participate—to learn, to teach, to prepare food, to get active, and, especially, to ‘escape’ from Alcatraz, all in the spirit of creating a more healthful Pine Ridge.
The film weaves the past and present of both Alcatraz and the Pine Ridge Reservation into a vivid depiction of the awe-inspiring journey the five youth navigate. It follows the group’s first plunge into the San Francisco Bay through their personal and collective challenges, disappointments and triumphs as they strive to conquer both the Alcatraz swim and the dispiritedness connected to conditions on Pine Ridge. “From the Badlands to Alcatraz” brings to life the insight a Los Angeles man offered to Richard Iron Cloud: “You are an inspiration, not only to the Lakota, but to everyone who wishes to go the ‘extra mile’ in their lives.”
Date: April 25th - 6pm
Title: More than Dolls: Being Otomi in Central Mexico
About: Wyoming journalist and documentary producer Katharine Collins, and her husband, John, spent three summers volunteering in the Otomí community of San Ildefonso Tultepec, two hours northwest of Mexico City. After gaining the trust of several families, she was granted unprecedented access to their family life, which she captured on nearly 30 hours of video footage.
"Gradually the seeds of a documentary were planted in my mind," Collins said. "I decided to go back to San Ildefonso for a month in the Fall of 2001 to interview these family members and try to understand how they balanced being Otomí and surviving in the modern world."
Collins spent that month with Jeronimo and Cecilia Gonzales and their nine children, the same family she had lived with during her summer volunteer stints. During that time she interviewed members of three local families, and also two Mexican academics at the University of Queretaro, whose research and publications have focused on the Otomí.
"Materially, these families have so little," she said. "But it was obvious from spending time with them and tracking them at work, in church, at home and in the corn fields, that they have a very clear idea of who they are and that they are immensely proud of being Otomí."
Corn – the mainstay of the diet, culture and spirituality of the Otomí – is skillfully woven throughout the stories of three men and women who challenge the negative stereotypes of the indigenous group.
Otomí children from very early ages are socialized as adults, and given adult responsibilities, according to Abel Piña, an anthropologist at the University of Queretaro, who has published a lengthy study of Otomí culture, and who appears in the documentary. The program provides numerous examples of families working together to survive.
Date: May 12th - 2pm
Title: Act of War - The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation
About: In mid-January, 1893, armed troops from the U.S.S. Boston landed at Honolulu in support of a treasonous coup d'etat against the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen Lili'uokalani. The event was described by U.S. President Grover Cleveland as "an act of war."
Stylized re-enactments, archival photos and film, political cartoons, historic quotes and presentations by Hawaiian scholars tell Hawaiian history through Hawaiian eyes.
Produced in association with the Center for Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawai'i. Featuring historians and scholars Haunani-Kay Trask, Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, Kekuni Blaisdell and Jonathan Osorio. The documentary made a significant impact, in 1993, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution admitting the illegal taking of Hawai'i and formally apologizing to the Hawaiian people. President Clinton signed the resolution in November of the same year.
Date: Jun 20th - 6pm, in Collaboration with the Red Circle Project
Title: Byron Chief-Moon: Grey Horse Rider
About: Father of three, successful TV actor and artist and proud member of the First Nations two-spirited gay community, Byron Chief-Moon is a fascinating mesh of dynamic personae. But when he dances alone in the forest, the complexity of the real world washes away, and we can see his spiritual self take hold. Interviews combine with mesmerizing footage of his performances to capture the essence of this cutting-edge artist who founded the Coyote Arts Percussive Performance Association. By melding the history and art of his Canadian Blackfoot Confederacy tribe with issues of contemporary life, Chief-Moon’s work makes profound statements about identity and tradition.
Date: July 18th - 6pm, in collaboration with Pamela Peters
Title: Waterbuster
About: Filmmaker J. Carlos Peinado revisits his ancestral homeland in North Dakota to investigate the impact of the massive Garrison Dam project. Constructed in the 1950s by the Army Corps of Engineers, the dam destroyed a self-sufficient American Indian community, submerging 156,000 acres of fertile farmland and ranchland, and ultimately displaced Peinado's family and others at the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. Peinado traces the footsteps of his maternal grandmother back to the reservation, where he learns more about the building of the Garrison Dam and the effects of the federal government's relocation policies upon sovereign Indian nations. Through interviews with elders, he begins to understand the proud and resilient nature of the Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara Nation, their contributions to American culture and history, and their deep attachment to the harsh and storied landscape of the Northwestern prairie — an attachment for which they paid a heavy price.
Date: Aug 22nd - 6pm
Title: Warrior in Two Worlds: The Life of Ely Parker
About: Ely Parker was a Seneca chief, a legal scholar, an engineer, a Civil War hero, and a Cabinet-level commissioner -- all by the age of 40. At first glance, his story appears to be one of success and triumph.
Yet Parker died in poverty far from the land of his birth. In later life he was estranged from his people and dismissed by political leaders he once considered friends. Today, American history remembers him as a mere footnote, and inside the Seneca community, he is a controversial figure -- considered a hero by some, branded a traitor by others.
Date: Sep 19th - 6pm in collaboration with Hecho de Mano
Title: TBA
Date: Oct 24th - 6pm
Title: Mystic Voices: The Story of the Pequot War
About: In May 1637, English Puritan colonists torch a Pequot Indian village at Missituck (Mystic), Connecticut, massacring 400-700 men, women and children in less than an hour.
Pequots are forbidden to use their tribal name and are subjugated to other Native Tribes allied with the English. With the help of sympathetic English leaders, they eventually are able to reestablish their own communities, which become the first Indian reservations in America.
Narrated in part by Roy Scheider, Mystic Voices tells the story of a pivotal event in the early history of the Colonial America that set the stage for the ultimate domination of Native Peoples by European settlers. Although this seldom told story was a small conflict by today's standards, the Puritans' rhetoric made their victory over the "heathens" a significant factor in the formulation of Colonial/American Indian policy over the next three centuries. Mystic Voices tells the story of this tragedy and presents viewpoints of historians and Native descendants as it investigates the underlying causes and legacy of the first declared war in America.
Date: Nov 15th - 8pm, in collaboration with the LA Skins Fest
Title: TBA
Date: Dec 19th - 6pm
Title: The Trail of Tears. Cherokee Legacy.
& The Twelve Days of Native Christmas
About: “Trail of Tears Cherokee Legacy” explores America’s darkest period: President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation to Oklahoma in 1838. Nearly a quarter of the Cherokee National died during the Trail of Tears, arriving in Indian Territory with few elders and even fewer children. Presented by Wes Studi and narrated by James Earl Jones.
all speakers and performers to be announced as they are confirmed
How you can help make a difference to ensure the film series longevity and reach!
1. Support the film series with a donation to the film series. All proceeds go towards the costs of film liscensing to show the films.
2. Purchase a copy of 'Me'ma and the Great Mountain', novel written and illustrated by Lorin Morgan-Richards, with a special foreword by Corine Fairbanks. All proceeds go towards the costs of film liscensing to show the films. (preorder now for shipment on January 1, 2012!)
3. Become a sponsor. Contact lorinmorg@aol.com for sponsor opportunities.
4. Blog, tweet, and write about the film series! Tell everyone you know.
5. Bring your family and friends!
Bringing the Circle Together: A Native American Film Series is a FREE film series located in downtown Los Angeles at the National Center for Preservation of Democracy. The film series was established to provide quality documentaries by and about Indigenous cultures of the Americas, and bring together a central gathering place where discussion and awareness of issues can be shared with the Native community and its supporters.
The film series is held at the National Center for Preservation of Democracy located at 111 North Central Avenue, between 1st Street and Central Avenue, in downtown Los Angeles. Directly across from the Japanese American National Museum, our host sponsor. The NCPD can be reached via train, bus, or parking in the area.
