WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
National Museum of the American Indian
Free. In-person in New York City and online
“Bountiful Baskets”
March 18-19, 11 am-4 pm. In-person in New York City
Basketmakers Corine Pearce (Redwood Valley Little River Band of Pomo), Ronni-leigh Goeman (Onondaga), Iva Honyestewa (Hopi), and Laura Wong-WhitRonni-leigh Goeman (OIva Iva ivaHonyestewa (Hopi), and Laura Wong-Whitebear (Colville).share the beauty of Native basketry and the significance of keeping this tradition alive through the different weaving traditions, materials, and stories and inspirations that go into making a basket.
“The Aunties of Reservation Dogs”
March 1-31. Streaming online.
A conversation among the talented Indigenous writers/directors and the actors who play the comedic and sassy aunties on the hit television series Reservation Dogs.The discussion provides insight into the representation of Indigenous women in the media, the importance of their stories being told in their own voices, their role in breaking stereotypes, and the power of humor in storytelling. Moderated by Cindy Benitez, NMAI Programs
- Sarah Podemski (Anishinaabe, Ashkenazi),
- Tamara Podemski (Anishinaabe, Ashkenazi),
- Jane Schmieding (Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux),
- Nathalie Standingcloud (Cherokee Nation),
- Tazbah Chavez (Diné, Nüümu,San Carlos Apache)
NMAI Youth In Action: “Digital Futures for Women” | Juventud en acción: “Futuros digitales para mujeres”
March 1-31. Streaming online. In English with English and Spanish captions
In an industry that is often dominated by men, how are Native women making space for themselves and others? April Armijo (Navajo/Pueblo of Acoma) and panelists Natalie Contreras (Tepehuán, Coca, P’urépecha) and Danielle Boyer (Ojibwe) discuss how young Indigenous women are forging their own paths in the tech world and creating a more inclusive environment. This program is part of the Youth in Action: Conversations about Our Future series, which features young Indigenous activists and changemakers from across the Western Hemisphere who are working towards equity and social justice for Indigenous peoples.Recorded live on March 1, 2023
Cultural Survival
“8 Things to Do for 2023 International Women’s Day”
An online guide from Cultural Survival to articles, podcasts, and organizations that focus on Indigenous women and activism. For example, written profiles of leaders, such as Sonia Guajajara, the first minister of Brazil’s newly created Ministry of Indigenous Affairs, and Maja Kristine Jåma, reindeer herder and member of the Sámi Parliament in Norway, who articulates the hidden costs of “green” energy on the Sámi. Also podcast interviews with activists and creatives like filmmaker Leya Hale (Bring Her Home) and Mayan wisdom keeper Isabel Flota Ayala. In English and in Spanish.
Columbia University
ISHR/Institute for the Study of Human Rights
“Indigenous Women for Human Rights and Social Justice”
Thurs, March 23, 5-6:30 pm. In-person at Columbia University
A discussion with participants in ISHR’s 2022-2023 Human Rights Advocates Program. To inquire about attending, please email ishr@columbia.edu.
- Maria Isabel Flota from the Maya Peninsula, México, Institutional Communication Officer -International Indigenous Women’s Forum
- Dayana Blanco Quiroga from Turco Marka, Bolivia, Coordinator of Projects – Pueblos de Montaña Foundation
MMIWG
A Series, Four Films, An Opera
Three Pines
Amazon Prime subscription. Eight episodes only.
Three Pines Directors: Sam Donovan, Tracey Deer,Daniel Grou. Starring Alfred Molina, Anna Lambe, Crystle Lightning. This 2022 series focused on Chief Inspector Gamache (Alfred Molina) finds the Canadian detective continuously brought back to the seemingly idyllic Quebec village of Three Pines to investigate perplexing cases that reveal deep secrets within the town. While Gamache and his team dig into these specific cases, there is another one that eats away at him throughout the series — where is Blue Two-Rivers (Anna Lambe), an 18-year-old Indigenous girl who has gone missing. The case of Blue Two-Rivers is actually the first one Inspector Gamache takes on in the series, as her family and many others protest the disappearance of Blue and other Indigenous women and the lack of cooperation from Canadian authorities. Gamache promises to help the Two-Rivers family, with Blue’s disappearance always in the back of his mind, even as he is busy solving the individual cases in Three Pines. The series, based on the popular detective novels by Louise Penny, has 8 episodes only, and was not renewed for a second season.
PBS
Bring Her Home
Free. Online with PBS Passport.
Bring Her Home Director: Leyla Hale. Produced by Twin Cities PBS and Vision Maker Media. This follows three Indigenous women – an artist, an activist, and a politician – as they fight to vindicate and honor their missing and murdered relatives who have fallen victims to the MMIWG epidemic across Indian country. Despite the lasting effects from historical trauma, each woman searches for healing while navigating racist systems that brought about this very crisis.
Minnesota Film Festival (in-person)
Who She Is
Who She Is Documentary short. US. Directors: Jordan Dresser, Sophie Barksdale. Say my name and I will live forever….Sheila. Lela. These are the women hidden within the statistics of the MMIWG epidemic in the U.S. By bringing these missing women to life on screen, through animation and first-person storytelling, we learn about their loves and losses and come to know their full life story, not just their tragedies or how they left this earth. Meet them. See them. Say their names. They are “Who She Is”.
Phoenix Film Festival (in-person)
Gift of Fear (for description see below)
Wind River
On Netflix. Free with ads on Amazon Prime and other platforms. Available for rent or purchase on various platforms.
Wind River Director: Taylor Sheridan. Starring Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Jon Bernthal, Graham Greene. A dead 18-year old Native American woman’s frozen body is found on the Wind River Reservation. This scene is the catalyst for a murder mystery to unfold, a grippingly told tale of what the viewer already anticipates, a story of MMIWG. The film brought awareness to many unaware of this issue when it was released in 2017, and touches on the complexities that tribal law enforcement face when seeking justice for victims. N.B. – after the film’s release, it was learned that the actress cast to play the murdered young woman did not have tribal affiliation as she had initially claimed.
Missing | A Chamber Opera
Anchorage Opera
March 8-12. In-person in Anchorage.
Missing US premiere. Librettist: Marie Clements. Composer: Brian Current. Conductor: Timothy Long. Stage director: Rhianna Yazzie. With Melody Courage, Marian Newman, Michelle Lafferty, Kate Bass, Evan Korbut and others. This chamber opera gives voice, in English and Gitxsan, to the stories of MMIWG. Indigenous led and cast, the opera speaks to the tragic situation where high violence rates against Native women has created a culture in which they feel invisible and disposable. Opening night was a free, private performance offered for survivors and families of MMIWG.
FILM FESTIVALS
Online | Hybrid
DCEFF | Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital
March 17-27. Hybrid. In-person in Washington DC. Tickets $10, occasionally free. Online worldwide: free. N. B. – additional online films will be added to the DCEFF website In April during observations for Earth Day. N.B. – Not all the films with Indigenous themes have Indigenous directors.
March 17-26 Virtual Programs. Free. Online world wide.
AbdzÉ Wedé Ō: Is there a cure for the virus? Feature documentary. Brazil. Divino Tserewahú. An award-winning Xavante filmmaker records and narrates his film on the impact of the coronavirus on his community. It highlights the desperate struggle of his village, Sangradouro, in the east of Mato Grosso, to survive the epidemic which brought death to many of the village’s wisdom keepers and leaders. But there is a metaphor embedded in this film, for the “virus” is, like so many other encounters with non-Xavante, something from the outside that has turned deadly. Footage of the culture’s beautiful practices helps the filmmaker draw the relationship between the disruptive traumas of the past and the reality of Covid 19.
Ever the Land Feature documentary. Aotearoa. Sarah Grohnert. Observing the planning and construction of New Zealand’s first ‘living building’, Te Wharehou o Tūhoe, the filmmaker draws on beautiful imagery to portray the profound connection of the Maori Ngāi Tūhoe tribe and the land. Made under strict sustainability certification as part of the internationally recognized Living Building challenge, Te Wharehou o Tūhoe is both a mammoth undertaking and a potent symbol of Ngāi Tūhoe philosophy. Followed by a discussion with the director Sarah Grohnert, Rafael Deleon of the Office of International & Tribal Affairs of the US EPA, moderated by Carlton Eley of Race Forward.
The Issue with Tissue – A Boreal Love Story. Feature documentary. Canada. Michael Zelniker. The largely untold story of how the boreal forest in Canada, home to more than 600 First Nations peoples, is being clearcut for the manufacture of toilet paper, and how protecting and conserving the boreal is an existential imperative. The story is told by a group of First Nations elders and leaders, scientists and activists, including Senator Michèle Audette (Innu), Dr. Suzanne Simard, author of “Finding the Mother Tree”, the late Elder Dave Courchene, Valérie Courtois, Executive Director Indigenous Leadership Initiative, and Dr. Nigel Roulet, a lead author of the United Nations’ IPCC reports.
In-person
Sun, March 19. Tickets. At E Street Cinema. Historjá – Stygn för Sápmi Feature documentary. Norway. Thomas Jackson. Artist Britta Marakatt-Labba has for decades depicted Sámi peoples’ mythology, relation to nature and political struggle. Now she is facing one last fight: the battle for her culture against the threats of climate change.
Sun, March 19. Free. At NMAI, Washington, DC. Powerlands Feature documentary. US. Ivey-Camille Manybeads Tso. A young Navajo filmmaker investigates displacement of Indigenous people and devastation of the environment caused by the same chemical companies that have exploited the land where she was born. On this personal and political journey she learns from Indigenous activists across three continents.
Tues, March 21. Free. At American University. Upstream, Downriver Mid-length documentary. US. Maggie Burnette Stogner. The stories of community activists fighting for water justice are interwoven with historical context about the successes and failures of the Clean Water Act. From Lowndes County, Alabama to the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho. Followed by a conversation with director Maggie Burnette Stogner, associate producer Marissa Woods, Putuxent Waterkeeper Fred Tutman, and Julian Gonzales, attorney, Earth Justice. Moderated by Jeffrey Madison, founder, The Climate Daily Podcast.
Thurs, March 23, Tickets. At Eaton DC. Fire Tender Mid-length documentary. US. Roni Jo Draper, Marissa Lila. Yurok, Karuk, and Hoopa tribe members gather to return fire medicine to the land. California settlers have disrupted this practice for more than 100 years. The film shares the work of Margo Robbins, a Yurok grandmother and knowledge keeper, as she seeks to return fire practices to Yurok territory to restore the land and the people..Conservation Shorts program.
RAI Film Festival
Hybrid. March 3-31: Online worldwide. March 22-25: In-person in Bristol, UK. Tickets and passes. Individual tickets ($6.99 US) and Online Festival Pass ($60 US).
Follow the tabs in the festival’s menu to find the films organized by categories, approximately 60 films in all. Two of the curated Special Programmes offer large, first-rate selections of films by Indigenous directors.
“Alanis Obomsawin” is a retrospective of the groundbreaking filmmaker on the occasion of her receipt of the RAI Lifetime Achievement Award 2023. Obomsawin, a member of the Abenaki Nation, has worked as a director and producer at the National Film Board of Canada since 1967. In a remarkable career of 54 years, she has over 50 films to her credit with special focus on the lives of First Nation and Métis peoples. With this selection of 10 films we aim to give an overview of her career from her first feature documentary Mother of Many Children (1977) to her most recent Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair (2021).
“Arandu – Listen to the Weather” – 8 film classics–is a celebration of 35 years of Indigenous filmmaking from Brazil. Guest curators Christian Fischgold, Takumā Kuikuro and Graci Guarani programmed these selections from a new and now key tradition of contemporary Latin American cinema.
FILM FESTIVALS and SCREENINGS
In-person on Turtle Island (US, Canada) in Cambridge, Washington DC, Phoenix, Duluth
National Museum of the American Indian
Prey
Sat, March 18, 2-4:30 pm. Free. In-person in Washington DC.
Prey Science fiction action film. US. Dan Trachtenberg. For mature audiences. Starring: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dane DiLiegro, Michelle Thrush, Stormee Kipp, Julian Black Antelope, Bennett Taylor. This film is the fifth installment in the Predator movie franchise, and is a prequel to the first four films, set in the Northern Great Plains in 1719. The story revolves around Naru, a skilled Comanche warrior, who is striving to prove herself as a hunter. She finds herself having to protect her people from a vicious, humanoid alien that hunts humans for sport, as well as from French fur traders who are destroying the buffalo the Comanche rely on for survival. A discussion follows the screening with lead actor Amber Midthunder (Fort Peck Assiniboine) and producer Jhane Myers (Comanche, Blackfeet).
Phoenix Film Festival
March 23-April 2. Tickets. In-person in Phoenix
Indigenous directed programs:
A Winter Love Narrrative feature. US. Rhiana Yazzie. A Navajo, singer-songwriter has lost her creative spark while making her way through another frigid Minneapolis winter. When she meets a young Lakota, law school dropout, she feels like she may have regained her edge, for a while. A Winter Love is a quirky rom-edy and inter-tribal love story. Cast: Rhiana Yazzie, Brian Watson, Chris Trapper, Lini Witkins, Payton Counts.
Gift of Fear Narrative feature. US. Katy Dore, Jack Kohler. Mili watched in horror as her mother was murdered, becoming another MMIWG statistic. Now 17, Mili’s former crew kidnaps her girlfriend. Tribal cops and an agent from the Federal Missing and Murdered Unit are on the case, but Mili waited for the authorities once…she won’t wait this time. Cast: Justin Johnson Cortez, Michael Horse, Laura Vallejo, Isa Antonetti, Sam Marra.
Lakota Nation vs United States Documentary feature. US. Jesse Short, Laura Tomaselli. It is the most sacred place on earth, the birthplace of the Lakota that has shaped thought, identity and philosophy for the Očéti Šakówiŋ since time immemorial–the life-giving land known as the Black Hills. Yet with the arrival of the first Europeans in 1492, the sacred land has been the site of conflict between the people it has nurtured and the settler state seeking to exploit and redefine it in its own image. This powerful new documentary is a searing testament to the strength of the Oyate and a visually stunning rejoinder to the distorted image of a people long-shaped by Hollywood. With Nick Tilsen, Phyllis Young, Milo Yellow Hair, Nick Estes, Krystal Two Bulls, Henry Red Cloud, Candi Brings Plenty, Alex Romero-Frederick, Craig Howe, Mary Kathryn Nagle.
Native American Directed Shorts includes Liberty of Jewels (dir: Keanu Jones), Things You Know But Cannot Explain (dirs.: Michelle Hernandez, Chanti Jung), Remember the Children (dir: Arlo Iron Cloud), Why Do Navajo Men Have Long Hair? (dir. Cherylee Francis), The Red Orchid (dir. Montana Cypress)
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALS and SCREENINGS
Aotearoa, Australia, Wales, in New York
10th Maoriland Film Festival
Mar 15-19. In-person in Ōtaki, Aotearoa/New Zealand
This year Māoriland Film Festival presents the largest showcase in its history, screening 148 short and feature films from over 150 Indigenous Nations across five days in Ōtaki. In addition to the extensive film program, MFF2023 features the 10th anniversary of the E Tū Whānau Rangatahi Film Awards, VR, XR, AR, and gaming technology, screen industry events, exhibitions at the Toi Matarau gallery and the carving of the Māoriland pou (posts) by Te Matatoki carvers, the 2023 Māoriland artists in residence. MFF2023 closes on March 19 with the annual Māoriland Red Carpet Party with special guests – the Modern Māori Quartet
Opening the festival is the spectacular Hawaiian film Ka Pō, a powerful drama that takes place in the beautiful, rugged wildness of Kauai, about a young woman who finds herself again after escaping an abusive relationship and meth addiction. Māori producer, Chelsea Winstanley was closely involved in Ka Pō.
Documentary lovers will be able to revel in the story of celebrated Turtle Island activist musician Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On from Ojibwe, Saulteux director Madison Thomas, while A Boy Called Piano: The Story of Fa’amoana JohnLuafutu is the impactful story of Fa’amoana’s time as a ward of the state in the 1960’s.
Bones of Crows is an epic account by Marie Clements of the life of Cree matriarch Aline Spears which spans generations and is a powerful indictment of the abuse of Indigenous peoples as well as a stirring story of resilience and resistance.
Set in Nova Scotia, Wildhoodis the debut feature of two-spirit non-binary director Bretten Hannam, which follows two boys as they flee their abusive dad and embark upon a quest. In a warm and intimate observational film from Iran,
A film about family, love, and misfits, ROSIEtells the story of a young, orphaned, Indigenous girl who is forced to live with her reluctant, street-smart Aunty Fred. Rosie transforms the lives of Fred and her best friends, finding love, acceptance, and a true home with her new chosen family of glittering outsiders. This joyful film, the debut feature of Cree, Métis director and actor Gail Maurice, will have audiences laughing, dancing and crying in their seats.
Sweet As is the debut feature film from Nyul Nyul, Yawuru filmmaker Jub Clerc. It comes to Māoriland Film Festival from the Berlinale, following an international festival run including Toronto International Festival (International premiere), Hawaii International Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival (premiere). Based on Jub’s own experiences, and set in remote Pilbara country in Western Australia, Sweet As follows a troubled 16 year old Indigenous girl, Murra, on the cusp of being lost in the child protection system. An unusual lifeline is thrown her way by her uncle Ian, the local cop. Will this be the lifeline Murra needs or the catalyst for her demise?
Pieced together from a decade’s worth of personal archives, Sundance Institute 2022 Merata Mita Fellow, Fox Maxy’sGush delivers a kaleidoscopic look at horror and survival. The experimental film which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January, weaves through a stream-of-consciousness meditation on the impact of sexual violence and healing through collective joy.
Inspired by actual events in New Zealand, MURU is the story of a local Police Sergeant ‘Taffy’ Tāwharau (Cliff Curtis), who must choose between duty to his badge or his people, when the Government invoke antiterrorism powers to launch an armed raid on Taffy’s remote Urewera community, on a school day. Directed by Tearepa Kahi and starring Cliff Curtis, Muru’s gripping action drama is not a re-creation, but a response to the 2007 Tūhoe raids.
For horror buffs, the closing night film presented by NYU’s Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation, Slash/Back is an Inuit sci-fi horror that will have audiences on the edge of their seats. Set in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, a group of teenage girls discover an alien invasion threatening their hometown.. Slash/Back is the debut feature film from multi-talented director, Nyla Innuksuk, creator of Marvel Comics first Inuit Superhero, Snowguard.
Birraranga Film Festival
March 23–28. Tickets. In-person in Melbourne
Originally developed by Wurundjeri/Yorta Yorta screen creative Tony Briggs (The Sapphires) and produced by Damienne Pradier, this year’s event includes feature-length narratives, documentaries and short films from Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canada, US, Norway, Sweden, Greenland, Mexico, Russia, Hawaii and Australia. The festival includes curated programs of outstanding short films, and an installation of Árran 360°, inaugurally exhibited at the recent Venice Biennale, in which six new films from six Sámi filmmakers, shot with a unique camera rig, are viewed on a 360° screen.
Narrative features
Opening Night. Bones of Crows Canada. Director, writer: Marie Clements (Metis/Dene). Removed from their family home and forced into Canada’s residential school system, Cree musical prodigy Aline and her siblings are plunged into a struggle for survival. Preceded by I Am Home
Whetū Mārama – Bright Star Directors, writers: Toby Mills (Māori), Aileen O’Sullivan. Piki mai te papai Taku waka! Come up on to the deck of my canoe! The story of the great navigator Sir Hekenukumai Ngaiwi Puhipi, Hek Busby. Preceded by E Lele Le Toloa
Sweet As Director: Jub Clerc (Nyulnyul, Yawuru). With problems on the home front, 15-year-old Murra is on the verge of lashing out. That is, until her policeman uncle thwarts her self-destructive behaviour with a lifeline: a “photo-safari for at-risk kids”. Preceded by The Water Walker
Bootlegger Director: Caroline Monnet (Algonquin). Two radically opposed women quickly divide an Indigenous community into two sides who must then come face to face to determine the best path to independence. Preceded by Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics
Wild Indian Director: Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. (Ojibwe). Decades after covering up his classmate’s murder, Michael has moved on from his reservation and fractured past. When a man who shares his violent secret seeks vengeance, Michael goes to great lengths to protect his new life. Preceded by Ka Ho’i: The Return
Stellar Director: Darlene Naponse (Anishinaabe) As a meteorite catastrophically changes the planet outside, two lovers find each other in a small bar in Northern Ontario, Canada. Across their bodies and spirits, the star-crossed couple transcends the traumas of one world and finds a path to a new one. Preceded by Taiao
Bring Her Home Director: Leya Hale (Dakota/Diné). This follows three Indigenous women — an artist, an activist, and a politician — as they work to vindicate and honor their relatives who are victims in the growing epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Preceded by ᐃᑐᐦᑌᐃᐧᐣ itohtêwin (Goal of Journey or Destination)
ŠAAMŠIǨ – Great Grandmothers Hat Director: Elle Márjá Eira (Sámi) Living in Norway on the border of Russia and Finland, Venke Tørmænen has seen her Skolt Sámi culture being crushed between world events. Preceded by Ealát (Good Pasture)
Whina Directors: Paula Whetu Jones (Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Whakatohea, Ngati Porou), James Napier Robertson. The story of Dame Whina Cooper, the beloved Māori matriarch who worked tirelessly to improve the rights of her people, especially women. Preceded by The Politics of Toheroa Soup
A Boy Called Piano – The Story of Fa’amoana John Luafutu Director: Nina Nawalowalo (Fijian). Writer: Fa’amoana John Luafutu (Samoan). “I began in innocence, newborn, a blank page. The story was written, the story of thousands of children has to be heard. Our History must be faced. May the truth set us free.” Fa’amoana John Luafutu. Preceded by Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair
Don’t Bury Me Without Ivan Director: Lyubov Borisova (Sakha Republic) Based on a true story of a friendship between the Russian artist of the famous painting “Shaman,” Ivan Popov, and the Yakut Stepan Beresekov, who suffered from lethargic sleep. Preceded by E RANGI RA
Charter Director, writer: Amanda Kernell (Southern Sámi) In the middle of a contentious custody battle, a divorced woman abducts her children and heads to the Canary Islands. Preceded by Maidenhood
The Drover’s Wife Director, writer: Leah Purcell (Goa-Gunggari Wakka Wakka Murri). On a remote homestead in the Snowy Mountains, a lonely bushwoman tries to run the family farm and raise her children while her husband is away. Preceded by Washday
Wildhood Director, Writer: Bretten Hannam (Mi’kmaq / L’nu ). Two brothers embark on a journey to find their birth mother after their abusive father had lied for years about her whereabouts; along the way, they reconnect with their Indigenous heritage and make a new friend. Preceded by Spirit Emulsion
Wochiigii lo: End of the Peace Director, writer: Heather Hatch (Haida)
This follows the struggles of Diane Abel and Chief Roland Willson of West Moberly First Nations as they battle the BC government against the construction of a multi-billion-dollar mega-dam along the Peace River (commonly known as Site C Dam). Preceded by O’S60 (Udeyonv) (What They’ve Been Taught)
Kiimapiiyipitssini – The Meaning of Empathy Director, writer: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot, Sámi). Witness the work of community members with substance-use disorder, first responders, and health professionals in the Kainai First Nation as they bring hope and change through harm reduction to Blackfoot people. Preceded by He Ara Ano (There is another way)
ROSIE Director: Gail Maurice (Cree/Michif). An orphaned Indigenous girl is forced to live with her reluctant, street-smart, francophone aunty and her two best friends in 80’s Montreal. Preceded by Kungka Kunpu (Strong Women)
Ka Pō Director: Etienne Aurelius (Native Hawaiian) A young Indigenous woman trapped in the throes of an abusive relationship gets revenge by burning down her boyfriend’s home.
Every Day in Kaimuki Director: Alika Tengan (Native Hawaiian) A young man is determined to give his life meaning outside of Kaimuki, the small Hawaiian town where he grew up, even if it means leaving everything he’s ever known and loved behind. Preceded by The Machine
Precious Leader Woman Director: Cassie De Colling. Writers: Elle-Màijà Tailfeathers (Blackfoot, Sámi), Spencer O’Brien. Spencer O’Brien was on her way to becoming the best female snowboarder in the world when rheumatoid arthritis set in. Forced to return home, she rediscovered her First Nations identity. Preceded by Long Line of Ladies.
Daughter of a Lost Bird Director: Brooke Pepion Swaney (Blackfeet, Salish) The film follows Kendra, an adult Native adoptee, as she reconnects with her birth family, discovers her Lummi heritage, and confronts issues of her own identity. Preceded by Kicking the Clouds
Run Woman Run Director: Zoe Leigh Hopkins (Heiltsuk, Mohawk). Beck, a single mom who learns how to reclaim her dreams, family and honour her life, all thanks to an unlikely coach. Preceded by Manu Masters
Closing Night. MURU Director: Tearepa Kahi (Ngāti Paoa, Waikato). Inspired by actual events, the story of local Police Sergeant “Taffy” Tawharau, who must choose between his badge and his Maori people, when the Government launches an armed raid through Ruatoki community on a school day. Preceded by Ivalu
WOW/Wales One World Festival
“LAND : LANGUAGE : LIFE”
Tues, March 28. In person in Ceredigion, Wales
In 2005 Mapuche leader Freddy Trequil founded Native Spirit Festival in London to promote knowledge and awareness of Indigenous cultures. Festival Director Tweed joined in 2007 bringing thirty years experience working in arts education, health, Indigenous cultural heritage and rights.
“LAND : LANGUAGE : LIFE” curated by Tweed, celebrates narrative sovereignty with a program of nine short films highlighting eight native nations and Indigenous languages in four different countries: Northern Sámi (Finland), Seri (Mexico), Fijian/iTaukei (Fiji); Anishinaabe, Inuktitut, Atikamekw, Eeyou/Crie-Cree, Innu-Aimun (Canada).
Indigenous with a Capital “I”: Taiwanese Indigenous Documentaries
March 10-14. At Anthology Film Archives in New York City
In Taiwan there are currently 16 officially recognized tribes. This program, curated by the Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival (TIDF), featured 16 videos made between 1994 and 2000 by Indigenous filmmakers who studied in film academies, worked as journalists, or attended local film training workshops. Attending the screenings from Taiwan to discuss the work were educator and filmmaker Mayaw Biho (Amis) and Pei-hua Chung, Film Programmer at TIDF.
(The title of this program was credited to the late Maori filmmaker Barry Barclay, who first introduced the concept of “Fourth Cinema” in the 1980s to promote two iconic ideas: that Indigenous stories should be interpreted by Indigenous people and that Indigenous “interiority” should be recognized and highlighted as a creative force.)
THEATER
Second Stage
The Thanksgiving Play
March 25-June 14. Tickets. In-person at Helen Hayes Theater in New York City
The Thanksgiving Play Playwright: Larissa FastHorse. Director: Rachel Chavkin. This satire flips the bird on one of America’s most prolific myths. The Thanksgiving Play comes to Broadway in a brutally funny new production written by MacArthur Genius award winner FastHorse and directed by Tony Award winner Chavkin (Hadestown, Great Comet). When a troupe of really, really well-meaning theater artists attempt to put on a culturally sensitive Thanksgiving school pageant, things get messy. Hilarious and poignant, the play skewers everything right, wrong, and woke in America. The Hollywood Reporter raves, “It’s uproarious, clever and very, very funny! Something for which to be truly thankful.”
13th Annual Autry Native Voices Short Play Festival
“Don’t Mess with Auntie!”
Sun, March 26, 1:30 pm PDT. Tickets. In-person in Los Angeles
Native Voices is presenting short plays, inspired by the warrior women affectionately called “Auntie,” by Lara Annette (Minnesota Chippewa Tribe and Red Lake Nation of Chippewa), Jennifer Bobiwash (Mississauga First Nation), Lee Cataluna (Native Hawaiian), Claude Jackson, Jr. (Gila River Indian Community), Alan Kilpatrick (Cherokee), and Maddox Pennington (Cherokee).
Portland Center Stage
Where We Belong
February 24-March 25. Tickets. Complimentary tickets for all Native people. In-person in Portland, OR
Where We Belong Playwright: Madeline Sayet. Director: Mei Ann Teo. Starring: Jessica Ranville. In this one-person play, originally performed by the playwright herself, the meaning of remaining, and of the lessons within the stories of one’s people, is probed. In 2015, Achokayis, a Mohegan theater-maker, moves to England to pursue a Ph.D. in Shakespeare, grappling with the question of what it means to remain or leave, as the Brexit vote threatens to further disengage the UK from the wider world. Moving between nations that have failed to reckon with their ongoing roles in colonialism, she finds comfort in the journeys of her Native ancestors who crossed the ocean in the 1700s to seek the Crown’s help their people. This intimate and exhilarating solo asks us what it means to belong in an increasingly globalized world.
EXHIBITION and EVENTS
Montclair Art Museum
“Meryl McMaster: Chronologies”
March 18-Sept 17. Tickets. In-person in Montclair, NJ
In “Chronologies” Meryl McMaster crosses timescales with her dreamlike photographic self-portraiture. Working in Quebec and drawing from her nêhiyaw (Plains Cree), British, and Dutch ancestry, she constructs inventive sculptural garments and props to use in her large-format images. She then travels to site-specific landscapes important to family and cross-cultural history, wearing her ensembles for cinematic scenes grounded in place, lineage, and the natural world. Featuring eleven prior and new photographic works as well as poetry and video, this exhibition explores the artist’s disruption of time. The new works are from her 2022 series “Stories of my Grandmothers | nōhkominak ācimowina” The exhibition and accompanying events are organized by Laura J. Allen.
National Museum of the American Indian
Cherokee Days Festival
March 31-Apr 2, 10 am-5:30 pm EDT. Free. In-person in Washington DC
The three federally recognized Cherokee tribes—Cherokee Nation, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians—showcase the shared history and cultural lifeways of the Cherokee people through storytelling, traditional flute music, weaponry, woodcarving, beadwork, traditional games, basket weaving, pottery demonstrations, and music and dance performances.
TALKING ABOUT
In-person and Online
Montclair Art Museum
“MAM Conversations: Meryl McMaster”
Thurs, March 23, 7 pm EDT. Free on Zoom with advance registration. Register at this link to receive a Zoom link prior to the conversation.
The Montclair Art Museum exhibition “Meryl McMaster: Chronologies” is described above.
Denver Art Museum
“Logan Lecture: Cara Romero”
March 28. Tickets. In-person at the Denver Art Museum
Cara Romero (Chemehuevi) stages theatrical compositions infused with vibrant color and dramatic lighting to illuminate Indigenous worldviews and aspects of the supernatural in everyday life. Romero, whose work is in the permanent collection of the DAM as well as in the special exhibition “Speaking with Light: Contemporary Indigenous Photography” will discuss her more than two decade-long career as a photographer.
Sundance Collab | Live Event
“Trapped in Transit: Transgender Storytelling with Visionary Filmmakers”
Wed, March 29, 10-11:30 PT. Free live event with registration as a Collab member at one of three levels, including a free membership for the general public. Recording will be available to members for 48 hours after it is posted. After that, it can be accessed for $5 or by becoming a Collab member at the Collaborator or All-Access level.
How can storytelling help materialize the necessary conditions for trans people to survive and thrive? An exclusive conversation with filmmakers Sydney Freeland (Drunktown’s Fines) and Aitch Alberto (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe), moderated by Sundance Institute’s Moi Santos–Equity, Impact and Belonging Manager and Trans Possibilities Intensive Founder) explores trans cultural production and representation, its limits and its liberties, its comforts and its confines.
Mahindra Center for the Humanities at Harvard
“I Dream in Another Language | Indigenous Languages at the Crossroads in Latin America: A Conversation and A Screening on the Survival of Indigenous Languages “
Tues, March 21, 6 pm. Free. In-person at Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA (entrance at 480 Broadway- seating on first come basis)
I Dream in Another Language | Sueño en otro idioma Narrative feature. Mexico. Ernesto Contreras. An Indigenous language is in peril, and its last two speakers had a quarrel in the past and haven’t spoken to each other in over 50 years. Martín, a young linguist, will undertake the challenge of bringing the old friends back together and convincing them to speak once again so he can obtain a recorded registration of the language and study it.
(Zikril, the “indigenous language” of the film was invented for the film. Some controversy surrounded the plot when the film was released; it is based loosely on an article that appeared in The Guardian about a similar situation which proved to be false. However, its basic theme is only too correct, about the loss of Indigenous languages which is occurring rapidly worldwide.)
Framed within the UNESCO’s International Decade of Indigenous Languages, a panel discussion precedes the screening, taking up the role of academia, media, civil society, and government initiatives in preserving, revitalizing, and supporting indigenous languages in Latin America.
- Maria Luisa Parra-Velasco, Senior Preceptor in Romance Languages, Harvard University
- Rebecca Mendoza Nunziato, Harvard Divinity School
- Isaura de las Santos Mendoza, UMass Amherst
- Carlos Flores Quispe (Quechua), UMass Amherst
- Sitalin Sanchez, native Nahuatl speaker, Harvard Divinity School
- Americo Mendoza-Mori, Lecturer in Ethnicity, Migration, Rights, Harvard University
American Philosophical Society
NASI/Native American Scholars Initiative Webinar
“Miskitu Cosmovision”
Wed, March 22, 1:00 pm EDT. Free on Zoom with registration. Online.
NASI Predoctoral Fellow Ruth Matamoros Mercado and NASI Engagement Coordinator Ruth Rouvier discuss the social and environmental implications of the cosmovision of the Miskitu of Nicaragua. The concept of Yapti Tasba (Mother Earth) is placed at the center to demonstrate a complex network of reciprocity between humans, non-humans, and supernatural beings, associated with care of land and the environment. The conversation will also highlight the centrality of these networks for the survival of the Miskitu people, while calling for a decolonizing framework to address the Indigenous land rights struggles in Nicaragua.
