Sámi National Day, Sápmi (Norway/Sweden/Finland/Russia) – Feb. 6
National Waitangi Day, Aotearoa/New Zealand – Feb. 6
National Black History Month, U.S. – Feb. 1-March 1
STREAMING, SCREENINGS and FESTIVALS
Showtime Network
Murder in Big Horn
2023. Documentary series. On cable and streaming
Directors Razelle Benally (Diné) and Matthew Galkin craft a powerful portrait of tribal members and their communities within Big Horn County, Montana battling an epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) that has been prevalent since colonization. The three-part docuseries examines the circumstances surrounding many of these cases, told solely through the perspectives of those involved: Native families, Native journalists, and local law enforcement officers.
Indigenous Film & Arts Festival – Monthly Series
River of Renewal
Feb. 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Mountain time. Online. In-person at DMNS/Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Free, donations welcome.
River of Renewal Documentary. U.S. Carlos Bolado. Producers: Jack Kohler, Stephen Most. A detailed look at the heated conflict over water rights among three communities on the Klamath River with competing interests: commercial fishermen, farmers and the American Indian tribes. And a realization after a critical event that they had to join forces if the river was to be saved. Watch the film live or at the link. Following the in-person screening, online audiences can join theater audience for a live discussion with film producers Jack Kohler and Stephen Most on Zoom. Click here for the Zoom link to the conversation.
National Museum of the American Indian
Native Cinema Showcase presents Encanto
Feb. 11, free. In-person in Washington D.C. and New York City
Encanto Feature animation. U.S. Byron Howard, Jared Bush, Charise Castro Smith. This film from Disney studios tells the tale of an extraordinary family of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a charmed place called an Encanto. Every child in the family has a unique gift from super strength to the power to heal — every child except one, Mirabel. But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her family’s only hope.
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Feb. 17-26: In-person in Missoula. Between Feb. 20-March 1. Online Tickets
Indigenous Feature Documentaries
Aitamaako’tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun Canada Banchi Hanuse. An intimate and thrilling portrait of a young Siksika woman as she prepares for one of the most dangerous horse races in the world. Indian Relay rider Logan Red Crow vaults bareback from horse-to-horse; in this male-dominated sport, victory is an uphill battle.
Detached Russia. Vladimir Krivov. On the remote plains of Siberia, a Chukchi family struggles to maintain their Indigenous traditions, in the face of the contemporary challenges facing their community, including a changing political system and economic hardship.
Indigenous Short Docuumentaries. Many of these are screening in-person only
Shirampari: Legacies of the River Peru, Spain. Lucia Florez. An Asheninka boy must overcome his fears to start his journey as an adult.
Snqʷeyłmistn: the place where you do your best Canada. Ivan MacDonald The word given to the Salish people to call themselves is Sqelixʷ, which translates to “flesh and land.”
Jonathan Thunder: Good Mythology U.S. Sergio Mata’u Rapu (Rapanui). Follow Anishinaabe artist Jonathan Thunder as he dives deep into the inspirations behind his surrealist paintings and animations. A film selected by PBS’ American Masters as part of the national broadcast series “In the Making.”
NuWu Means the People U.S. Ben Alex Dupris (Colville Tribes, Minicoujou Lakota). A magical future for the NuWu, the first people of Nevada, through artists who are turning a cluster of dilapidated buildings in Las Vegas into a vibrant community hub.
Lakota U.S. Kyle Bell. Lakota Beatty walks us through her personal journey of spiritual healing and wellness by staying connected to her identity and using the sport of basketball. In-person only.
Learning I’m Home U.S. Victoria Cheyenne. Following student leader Maleeya Knows His Gun the film examines generational educational trauma through the eyes of student leaders.
Sagebrush Gold U.S. Marcus Widger. A lithium mine being built in Nevada’s remote sagebrush desert promises us a greener future, but local ranchers, environmentalists, and Indigenous tribes share a different side to the story.
Mamapara Peru. Alberto Flores Vilca. In the highlands a son lives with his mother, who recounts for him during the rainy season–when the heavens cry–passages of her life.
Native Ball: Legacy of a Trailblazer U.S. Jonathan Cipiti, Megan Harrington. Annually, nearly 5,000 high-school girls basketball players earn a full-ride Division I scholarship. In 1992, only one was Native American: the Blackfeet Nation’s Malia Kipp.
Berlinale | Berlin International Film Festival
Feb 16 – 26. Tickets. In-person in Berlin
Sweet As Narrative feature. Australia. Job Clerc (Nyul Nyul/Yawuru). During a short but intense photo excursion through her Aboriginal homeland, 15-year-old Murra has life-changing experiences. She discovers her love for photography and the importance of telling her own story in a world that is constantly changing.
Short films
O Estranho (The Intrusion) Narrative. Brazil. Flora Dias, Juruna Mallon. The name of Brazil’s biggest airport, Guarulhos, references the fact that it was built on Indigenous territory. In a blend of realistic and stylized scenes, the film follows a member of the ground staff as she seeks her roots beneath the runway.
Marungka Ualatjunu (Dipped in Black) Documentary. Australia. Matthew Thorne, Derik Lynch. The film follows Yankunytjatjara man Derik Lynch’s road trip back to Country for spiritual healing, as memories from his childhood return.
Tartupaluk (Prototype) VR. Canada, Denmark. Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory. experience Tartupaluk, the world’s tiniest, most northern (imaginary) republic, populated by Inuit lovers. Listen to the vivacious President and be enthralled by a decolonised Inuit utopia.
20th FIFO/International Oceanian Documentary Film Festival
Feb. 4-12: In-person in Tahiti, French Polynesia. Feb. 7-19: Online in French Polynesia, mainland France, the countries of Oceania and overseas territories. Single tickets are 300 Central Pacific Francs ($2.70 US)
A Boy Called Piano – The Story of Fa’amoana John Luafutu Aotearoa/New Zealand. Nina Nawalowalo.
Ablaze Australia. Alec Morgan, Tiriki Onus. Tiriki Onus thought he knew everything about his grandfather Bill, a cultural leader, entrepreneur, comedian, and activist. But it also appears that he acted in films…
No Māori Allowed Aotearoa/New Zealand. Corinna Hunziker. When painful memories have been hidden and are linked to segregation, racist acts, with acts of violence, should they be kept silent? “No”, says a teacher in this New Zealand film. “History belongs to no one.”
Incarceration Nation Australia. Dean Gibson. Aboriginal Australians represent 23 percent of the incarcerated population while only 3 percent of the total population. This is a story of a difficult past and a present that remains so.
Motu Haka, Le Combat des Îles Marquises French Polynesia. Raynald Meriénne. For more than 40 years, in the Marquesas Islands, the members of the Motu Haka Association have united to gather, safeguard and enhance what remains of their culture.
The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu Hawai’i/US. Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu (Native Hawaiian), Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson. Near Waikīkī Beach in Honolulu, four stone giants have long stood as mana-laden souvenirs left by four Tahitian māhū who came in ancient times to bring their knowledge, especially that of healing.
Waan Yaat – Sur Une Terre de la République New Caledonia. Emmanuel Desbouige. This film retraces one of the bloody episodes in New Caledonia when in 1984 settlers set a trap for native New Caledonians who were declaring independence, and asks if forgiveness is possible.
Indianer, Inuit | Das Nordamerika Filmfestival
2023: “More than Leather and Feather”
NOW PAST. Feb. 2-5. In-person in Stuttgart, Germany
Fifty films of various genres, as well as with music, dance, discussions and prominent guests. Fashion – just like film – expresses vitality, beauty and diversity, which for example is evident from the powerful photographs of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) Fashion Show in Santa Fe, NM. See the website for a PDF of the festival program..
EVENTS
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
“Visions from the Land: Native Interpretations”
Jan. 12 – March 26. Tickets, free for ages 15 and younger. In-person in Chaska, MN
Four regional Indigenous artists — James Autio, Gordon Coons, Anna Johnson and Ivy Vainio. Each artist uses a different technique or process to produce captivating art inspired by the natural world.
A series of pop-up events featuring Indigenous artists and organizations will be 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on select weekends. The show’s co-creator Gordon Coons will also be on-site giving tours each weekend.
Feb. 11-12 | U.S. Dept of Interior Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB)
Feb. 25-26 | Birchbark Books
March 4-5 | Josef Reiter
March 18-19 | Ramona Morrow
March 25-26 | Charles Statley
Institute for American Indian Studies
Tickets. In-person in Washington, Connecticut
Saturday, Feb. 11, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
“The Sweet Taste of Success: Maple Syrup 101”
Sunday, Feb. 12, 1-3 p.m. Eastern time
“Native American Courting Flutes” with Allan Madahbee (Ojibwe)
Thursday, Feb. 16, 7-8:30 p.m. Eastern time
“Lecture” with Frederick M. Wiseman, PhD. (Abenaki Nation of Missiquoi) Lecture focused on early history of Wabanaki people of the far Northeast.
READING ABOUT
SÁMI BESTSELLER, CANADA READS, BOOK GROUPS
A Sámi Novel
Stolen by Ann-Helen Laestadius (Sámi, Tornedalian descent). Translated into English by Rachel Wilson-Browles.
A spellbinding Swedish novel that follows a young Sámi woman as she struggles to defend her family’s reindeer herd and culture amidst xenophobia, climate change, and a devious hunter whose targeted kills are considered mere theft in the eyes of the law. The book won two national prizes in Sweden and is being turned into a Netflix film
2022 Canada Reads | Winner
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good (Cree)
In this novel Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie were taken from their families and sent to residential school when they were very small. Barely out of childhood, they are released and left to contend with the seedy world of eastside Vancouver. Fueled by the trauma of their childhood, the five friends cross paths over the decades and struggle with the weight of their shared pain.
Five Little Indians also won the 2022 First Nations Communities Read, 2020 Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction and the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.
Michelle Good speaks about Canada’s residential school system.
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
Book Club | In-person and Virtual
Tuesday, Feb. 14 from 2-4 p.m. Mountain Standard Time
The February book selection is Eva Mirabal: Three Generations of Tradition and Modernity at Taos Pueblo by Lois P. Rudnick and Jonathan Warm Day Taos. A discussion of the art and life of the artist, will be led by IPCC educator Jon Ghahate and a docent who will join me as the group discusses the life, history, and legacy of this Taos Pueblo artist. On the IPCC Book Club webpage signup for the Book Club meetings, see the list of previous selections and recordings of past discussions.
Institute for American Indian Studies
Virtual Book Club
Wednesday, Feb. 22, 7-8:30 p.m. Eastern time. Free but donations appreciated
To Be A Water Protector: The Rise of the Windigoo Slayers by Winona LaDuke
In support of the Abenaki Arts and Education Center’s traveling exhibit “Nebizun: Water is Life,” currently on display at IAIS, the group is reading and discussing Winona LaDuke’s “To Be a Water Protector.” A leader in cultural-based sustainable development strategies, renewable energy, sustainable food systems and Indigenous rights, LaDuke writes to honor Mother Earth while detailing global, Indigenous-led opposition to the enslavement and exploitation of the land and water. Register on the website for the virtual conversation hosted by IAIS staff on ZOOM. In order to have a more intimate conversation, space is limited.
AWARDS AND HONORS
2023 Sundance Film Festival
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award | Freedom of Expression
Bad Press U.S. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler. When the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma suddenly begins censoring its free press, a rogue reporter fights to expose her government’s corruption in a historic battle that will have ramifications for all of Indian country.
2023 Sundance Screenwriting Lab
Masami Kawai, writer/director, for “Valley of the Tall Grass” A discarded TV/VCR combo set circulates through the lives of various working-class indigenous characters of color in an Oregon town. They find forgotten memories, love, and connection through this seemingly obsolete object. Born in California, Kawai is of Ryukyuan descent from Okinawa.
2023 Sundance Screenwriting Intensive
Ciara Leina`ala Lacy for “Untitled Eddie Aikau Biopic” In the 1970s legendary Native Hawaiian big wave surfer, Eddie Aikau, breaks into the scene of global surf culture while facing colonization of the sport. This is the story of how the Aikau name became synonymous with groundbreaking big wave surfing, the Hokulea, and the reclamation of the most revered sport in Hawaiian history.
2023 Variety Showrunner Award
Sterlin Harjo, co-creator and showrunner of FX’s hit “Reservation Dogs,” He is the second winner of this award, which is given during the SCAD TVFest. Harjo was the first Native American winner of the United States Artists Award.
2023 United States Artists Awards
U.S.A. Fellowships are annual $50,000 unrestricted awards recognizing the most compelling artists working and living in the United States, in all disciplines, at every stage of their career. Go to the website for descriptions of planned projects and biographies and websites of the artists
- Barbara Teller Ornelas (Navajo), weaver
- Ernestine Shaankaláxt’ Hayes (Tlingit), writer
- Kite a.k.a. Suzanne Kite (Oglála Lakȟóta), performance artist, visual artist, composer, and academic
- Marques Hanalei Marzan (Native Hawaiian), fiber arts knowledge bearer
- Natalie Bell (Klamath), visual artist
- Ofelia Zepeda (Tohono O’odham), poet
- Roquin-Jon Quichocho Siongco (Chamoru heritage), weaver and fashion designer
2023 Creative Capital Awards
“Wild Futures: Art, Culture, Impact”
Creative Capital awarded 50 groundbreaking projects—comprising 66 individual artists—focused on Technology, Performing Arts, and Literature, as well as Multidisciplinary and Socially Engaged forms. Awardees will receive varying amounts up to $50,000 in direct funding to help finance their projects and build thriving artistic careers.
These awards are intended to fund the creation of experimental, risk-taking projects that push boundaries formally and thematically, “venturing into wild, out-there, never-before-seen concepts and future universes real or imagined.” Go to the website for addttional information about the projects and profiles of the artists.
Brent Michael Davids (Mohican, Munsee-Lenape) for Requiem, that explores the genocidal founding of America across the 50 states and the District of Columbia, in three interlocking parts each consisting of 18 movements, and including as performers Indigenous participants from each location.
Kite (Oglala Lakota) Working with collaborators, the artist will develop a unique AI system to converse through dreams with the computer using geometric designs often seen in beadwork.
Joe Whittle (Caddo) for “Landback: The Return of All Federal Lands to Native Americans”. Writing and photographing a series of seven exemplary essays focusing on different Indigenous peoples in diverse US ecoregions and their caretaker relationships with their homelands. He is proposing that the United States return all federal land to Native American tribes as a matter of addressing climate change, conservation, reparations, and the unconstitutional violation of treaties.
