November is Native American Heritage Month (US)
Friday, November 24 is Native American Heritage Day (US)
THINGS TO DO THIS MONTH (AND EVERY MONTH)
Part 1
Recognize What Native Land You Are On
Participate in Native American Cultural Events (see everything below)
Explore Native American Cuisine
“Cooking with Indigenous Ingredients” by Jessi Cape in Austin Chronicle, Nov 19, 2022
“How Some Indigenous Chefs Observe Thanksgiving–or Don’t” by Harmeet Kaur for CNN, Nov 23, 2022
STREAMING
Wapikoni Mobile Short Films Collection
Works from the last 8 years are available on the current website
Co-founded in 2003 by Manon Barbeau, the Atikamekw Nation Council and the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Youth Council, with the support of the Assembly of First Nations and the collaboration of the National Film Board of Canada, Wapikoni Mobile was launched in 2004 as part of the Presence autochtone festival in Montreal. Since then, the Wapikoni mobile has been touring Aboriginal communities and offering First Nations youth workshops that allow them to master digital tools through the production of short films and musical works. At each of its stops, “filmmaker-accompaniers” welcome some thirty young participants in training at every stage of the production process.
FILMS AND FESTIVALS
Hybrid & Online
Native Cinema Showcase
National Museum of the American Indian
Nov 17 – 24. Free. Online at the NMAI website. Some geographic restrictions.
Aitamaako’tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun Feature documentary. Canada. Banchi Hanuse (Nuxalk). A portrait of a young Siksika woman and her family 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 exhilarating races. In this male-dominated sport, victory is an uphill battle.
L’inhumain Narrative feature. Canada. Jason Brennan. For mature audiences: contains violence. Mathieu is a brilliant neurosurgeon whose perfect life is falling apart. Impending divorce, job loss, substance abuse, and a mid-life crisis are all factors that can cause him to go off the rails. In addition, the sudden death of his father forces him to return home to Anishinaabe territory, a place he has tried to avoid since his youth.
The Legend of Molly Johnson Narrative feature. Australia. Leah Turcell (Goa-Gungarri-Wakka Wakka Murri) For mature audiences: contains violence and historical trauma. Viewing restricted to the US. A reimagining of Leah Purcell’s acclaimed play and Henry Lawson’s classic short story. It’s a searing Australian western thriller that asks the question: How far do you go to protect the ones you love?
Powerlands Feature documentary. US. Ivey-Camille Manybeads Tso (Navajo). A Navajo filmmaker investigates the displacement of Indigenous peoples and devastation of the environment caused by the same chemical companies that exploited the land where she was born.
Rosie Narrative feature. Canada. Gail Maurice (Cree/Métis). An orphaned Indigenous girl is forced to live with her reluctant, street-smart, Francophone artist aunty and her two best friends in 1980s Montreal.
We Are Still Here Narrative feature. Austrailia, New Zealand. Multiple directors including Beck Cole (Luritija). Through the eyes of eight protagonists, the film traverses 1,000 years from the past to the present and future to explore stories from Indigenous peoples in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific about kinship, loss, grief, and resilience.
The showcase also includes four feature-length programs of outstanding short films.
Cascadia | Celebrating Native American Heritage Month
Kuessipan
Fri, Nov 17-Sun, Nov 19; Fri, Dec 1-Sun, Dec 3. Tickets $10. Online
Kuessipan Narrative feature. Canada. Myriam Verrault. The story follows two girls who grow up as best friends in a Quebec Innu community. While Mikuan has a loving family, Shaniss is picking up the pieces of her shattered childhood. As children, they promised each other to be lifelong friends. But as they mature, their lives take different paths, and their personal ambitions diverge leading them to a cultural and identity clash that tests their bond. A presentation part of the celebration of Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival’s 20th anniversary
African Diaspora International Film Festival
Nov 24-Dec 10. Hybrid. Online, Nov 24-Dec 10. Tickets. Online in US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands (US). The festival will have additional in-person screenings of First Nations films, Dec 1-Dec 10.
Online starting Nov 24. In-person Dec 1. The Tracker Narrative feature. Australia. Rolf de Heer. The year is 1922 and The Tracker (David Gulpilil) has the job of pursuing The Fugitive–an aborigine who is suspected of murdering a white woman–as he leads three mounted policemen: The Fanatic, The Follower, and also The Veteran across the outback.
In-person Nov 27. Kuessipan Narrative feature. Canada. Myriam Verreault. Adapted from an acclaimed novel and co-written with the novel’s First Nation Canadian author Naomi Fontaine. Kuessipan means “your turn” in the Innu language, a title chosen to mark the notion that it is the Innu people’s turn to tell their story, in this case a story of the friendship of two young Innu women.
Red Nation Film Festival
Nov 13-30: Tickets. Online on Red Nation TV Network.
Online Feature Films
- ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ (We Will Speak) Documentary. US. Schon Duncan, Michael McDermit
- Common Ground Documentary. US. Joshua Tickell, Rebecca Harrell Tickell
- Navajo Nation U.S.A. Documentary. US. Deren Paul Abram
- Custodians: A Story of Ancient Echoes Documentary. Canada. Producer: Harry Lafond (Muskeg Lake Cree)
- The Nature of Healing Documentary. Canada. Faith Leone Howe
- They Can’t Kill Us Documentary. US. Johnathan Bloodwolf Lopez (Tiwa)
- The Son Rises Narrative. US. Alexander Seyum
DOC NYC
Hybrid. Tickets. In-person in New York City Nov 8-16. Online Nov 14-26.
Online Nov 14-26. In-person Nov 15.Bad Press US. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker (Muscogee Creek), Joe Peeler. Reporter Angel Ellis of the Muscogee Nation’s hard-hitting news outlet, Mvskoke Media, runs headlong into censorship and threats as she strives to expose corruption.
Online Nov 14-26. In-person Nov 15, 16.One with the Whale Peter Chelkowski, Jim Wickens. On Alaska’s remote St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, shy teenager Agra Chris Apassingok is the best hunter in his village, but warming seas have made the annual whale hunt, which supplies food and resources for his village for most of the year, that much tougher. When he proudly shares a hunting accomplishment on social media for his indigenous community, he becomes a target for online bullying that severely threatens his mental health. This is a stunning film of family, love, tradition, and self-determination, with a thrilling soundtrack by indigenous musicians. – Jaie Laplante
Nov 15. In-person only.Lakota Nation vs. United States US. Jesse Shortbull, Laura Tomaselli. As American settlers moved west, the U.S. government signed treaty after treaty with Lakota and other Indigenous tribes, only to continually break their legal and moral commitments with complete impunity. As traditional Lakota lands shrink under impingement, exploitation, and genocide, a new generation take a new stand against their oppressors.
FILMS AND FESTIVALS
In-person in US
LA Skins Fest
Nov 14-19 Tickets. In-person in Los Angeles.
The festival consists of numerous industry events and panels, and several features and 63 short films in several original programs each day.
Feature films
Bad Press Feature documentary. US. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker (Muscogee Creek), Joe Peeler. When the Muscogee Nation suddenly begins censoring their 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.
Frybread Face and Me Narrative feature. US. Billy Luther (Navajo, Hopi, Laguna Pueblo). Everything Benny thinks he knows about himself and his family is turned upside down when his parents force him to spend the summer at his Grandma Lorraine’s sheep ranch on the reservation in Arizona.
“Imagining Indigenous Cinema: New Voices, New Visions”
National Gallery of Art
Nov 11-Dec 3. Free with pre-registration. In-person at NGA in Washington, DC
This series, co-curated by Colleen Thurston (Choctaw) and Anpa’o Locke (Hunkpapa Lakota, Ahtna Dené), spotlights a new generation of innovative Indigenous filmmakers working with the moving image. The works, mostly non-traditional in format, speak to themes of post-colonial resilience, re-matriation of cultures and traditions, explorations of land-based relationships, criticism of the institutional and socio-political settler state, and celebrations of Indigenous queer joy. The series was inspired by the IIC series organzed by the UCLA Film & Television Archives in June 2023 and opened at NGA on Nov 11 with Fancy Dance.
Sat, Nov 18Love and FuryFeature documentary. US. Sterlin Harjo. Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo brings audiences into his own arts community in this film through intimate conversation and critical observation of Indigenous creatives, such as Laura Ortman, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Black Belt Eagle Scout and Micah P. Hinson.
Sun, Nov 19Gush Experimental documentary. US. Fox Maxy. The film presents a deeply personal and intimate perspective of experimental Indigenous filmmaking, using a non-linear approach to storytelling and an innovative use of layering and repetition of images and sounds.
Sat, Nov 25Realizing Futures: Short Films This program showcases world building narratives of Indigenous existence and resistance. Together they offer a non-linear approach that reflect how these filmmakers see themselves and the past-present-futures of their communities and stories.
Sun, Nov 26Waikiki Narrative feature. US/Hawai’i. Christopher Kahunahana. A surrealist exploration of trauma in a post-colonial society within Hawai’i. Kea is a Native Hawaiian hula dancer who is trying to escape an abusive relationship and is also traumatized by being in a society that prioritizes tourism over its culture and sovereignty.
Sun, Dec 3 “Sky Hopinka: Wandering Translations, Poems, and Film”
Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival
Nov 17-19. Tickets. In-person in Richmond, Virginia
The festival opens with a tribute to Robbie Robertson (Mohawk, Cayuga) 1943-2023 – Leader of “The Band”
Feature films
Inhabitants Feature documentary. US. In association with the Kalliopeia Foundation. Producer: Ben-Alex Dupris (Colville Confederated Tribes). Exec. Producer: Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee. From deserts, coastlines, forests, mountains, and prairies, Native communities across the US are restoring their ancient relationships with the land. As the climate crisis escalates, these time-tested practices of North America’s original inhabitants are becoming increasingly essential in a rapidly changing world.
Angelique’s Isle Narrative feature. Canada. Michelle Derosier. During the copper rush of 1845, Angelique, a young Anishinaabe woman (Julia Jones), and her voyageur husband Charlie are abandoned on Lake Superior’s Isle Royale by a corrupt copper hunter. The newlywed couple has been left with few provisions and, as the winter sets in, they begin to starve. Angelique’s Isle is a harrowing tale of perseverance and a testament to the resilience and strength of Indigenous women. Co-starring Tantoo Cardinal. Based on the true story of Angelique Mott.
The Man Beside the Mask Feature documentary. US. David Finch, Maureen Marovitch. Before Johnny Depp stepped into the role of Tonto, Ontario born Mohawk actor Jay Silverheels was remembered as Tonto, the faithful ‘Injun sidekick,’ in the 1950s TV series “The Lone Ranger.” Aside from his Pidgin English dialect, he became a pioneer for a generation of Aboriginal viewers – the only First Nations actor on the airwaves of the era. Presented by Michael Horse.
Prey Narrative feature. US. Dan Trachtenberg. The newest entry in the “Predator” franchise, 20th Century Studios’ “Prey” is an all-new action thriller set in the Comanche Nation 300 years ago. It is the story of a young woman, Naru, a fierce and highly skilled warrior who has been raised in the shadow of some of the most legendary hunters who roam the Great Plains. So, when danger threatens her camp, she sets out to protect her people.
Monkey Beach Narrative feature. Canada. Loretta Sarah Todd. Waking up in her East Van apartment, Lisa (Grace Dove) is served notice by her cousin’s ghost (Sera-Lys McArthur), “Your family needs you.” Reunited with her Haisla kin in Kitimaat Village, she realizes that she’s meant to save her brother, Jimmy (Joel Oulette), from a tragic fate she’s foreseen since childhood.
Ojibwa Warrior: The Legacy of Dennis Banks Documentary feature. US. Marie-Michele Jasmin-Belisle. Narrated by Michael Horse. Takes the viewer on a journey through the life of Dennis Banks, also known as Nowa Cumig in Ojibwe. As leader and founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and a voice of resistance against the American government, Banks remains a prominent figure in Indigenous culture, even posthumously. He’s been the subject of multiple books and documentaries, but this latest one takes a unique and intersectional approach.
Pobo ‘Tzu’/White Night Narrative feature. Mexico. Tania Ximena Ruiz, Yollótl Alvarado. In 1982, the eruption of the Chichonal volcano, in southern Mexico, buried the Zoque indigenous town of Guayabal. After 38 years, the owners of Nuevo Guayabal rebuild their lives while the volcano and the old village lurk under the brushwood, and one resident, a poet, has visions that lead to a collective effort to unearth their old town.
Café Daughter Narrative feature. Canada. Shelley Niro (Bay of Quinte Mohawk). In a small Saskatchewan town in the 1960s, Yvette Wong, a young girl of Chinese and Cree heritage, struggles with her Indigenous identity amidst family tragedy in this coming-of-age film. Inspired by true events and based on Kenneth T. Williams’ play of the same name.
Gift of Fear Narrative feature. US. Jack Kohler, Katy Dore. After witnessing the murder of her mother 11 years ago, Mili has finally found a family of sorts with the MMA Jiu Jitsu team. But her past refuses to stay in the past and the gang she once ran with decides to teach her a lesson by kidnapping her girlfriend. Now Mili must choose between the life she’s finally making work or risk everything to save her friend.
Native America: Language is Life Feature documentary. Produced by Native America series, Season 2. From Hollywood films on the big screen to sacred writing deep within the Earth, from long-lost voices captured in wax cylinders, Native people are fighting to keep their languages and ways of life alive. Several specific stories of innovators in language recovery and continuation are at the core of the film.
Mid-length and short films are also being screened each day.
St. Louis Film Festival
Last day! Nov 19. Tickets. In-person in St. Louis
Bad Press Feature documentary. US. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker (Muscogee Creek), Joe Peeler. When the Muscogee Nation government abruptly repeals its landmark Free Press Act to muzzle the tribe’s hard-hitting news outlet, defiant and foul-mouthed journalist Angel Ellis charges headfirst into a historic (and surprisingly funny) battle to restore her tribe’s press freedoms
First We Bombed New Mexico Documentary. US. Lois Lipman. follows the intimate journey of indomitable Hispanic cancer survivor Tina Cordova, who has catalyzed a movement seeking justice for the forgotten residents of southern New Mexico – mostly Hispanic and Native – who suffer multigenerational cancers they tie to the secret poisoning of their land by the Trinity Bomb. This is the story that “Oppenheimer” doesn’t tell.
Les Filles Du Roi Historical narrative feature/musical. Canada. Corey PayetteIn this trilingual musical, a young Mohawk girl, Kateri, and her brother, Jean-Baptiste, have their lives disrupted upon the arrival of “les Filles du Roi” (Daughters of the King) in 1665 New France.
We Are Guardians Feature documentary. Brazil, US. Edivan Guajajara, Chelsea Greene, Rob Grobman. Follows Indigenous forest guardian Marçal Guajajara and activist Puyr Tembé as they fight to protect their territories from deforestation, an illegal logger who has no choice but to cut the forest down, and a large landowner at the mercy of thousands of invaders and extractive industry.
MORE FILM FESTIVALS
Chile, Colombia, Peru, The Netherlands
13th MuCiWa/Muestra de Cine y Video Wayuu
Nov 23-25. In-person in Macao, La Guajira, Colombia
This exhibition reaches the communities to promote cinema made by the Wayuu themselves for the Wayuu, and also shows films made by non-indigenous people, thus returning their images and sounds to the communities. The theme this year: to highlight that indigenous women face multiple challenges, from sexual violence to labor inequality and limitations in political participation. The mission is to bring these debates and information to women and girls, empowering them to become informed and committed agents of change.
8th FicWallmapu
Nov 14-18. In-person in Temuco, Chile, the Mapuche ancestral territory.
In this significant recurring festival a total of 50 films with indigenous themes have been selected for the 8th FicWallmapu, after intense küzaw (work by the programming team). txokiñ (team that watched nearly 200 films from more than 30 indigenous peoples). The festival has a focus this year on youth, under the motto: Wechekeche ñi newen mew (with the strength of youth). Go to the website to see a complete list of the films being screened. One feature and several short films are available to be viewed online.
18th Arica Festival de Peliculas Nativas – Arica Nativa
Nov 10-19. Free. In person in Arica, Peru.
An on-going initiative of the Fundación Altiplana in Peru, an organization concerned with Andean and rural communities in the need for heritage conservation and sustainable development. The festival provides awards in numerous categories, both features and short films from Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and US.
Feature films include
Amazon Odysey Feature documentary. Peru. Diego Sarmiento. On the accelerated modernism in the largest and longest river in the world, cargo ships ,reminders of the devastating rubber boom at the end of the 19th century, travelers, members of Indigenous communities who live on the banks.
Mankewenúy/Friend of the Condor Feature documentary. Argentina. Maria Manzanares. To give voice has become the work of Anahí, a Mapuche artist and singer who decides to fill an inherited sound void with her music.
Nudo Mixteco/Mixtec Knot Narrative feature. Mexico. Ángeles Cruz. Three different perspectives on the life of women in a rural Mixtec town, and the difficulties of return.
The Voices of the Arctic Feature documentary. Russia. Ivan Vdovin. Three stories about the people of the Far North and their life choices, in a viaual essay bout the traditions, life and music in the lives of the characters.
Amanda Narrative feature. Italy. Cristiano Bendinelli. A young Mapuche Huilliche woman who lives with her family in the south of Chilean Patagonia is caught up in the struggle for the recuperation of the fish on which their lives depend because of over exploitation by multinationals and pollution coming from salmon farming.
IDFA – International Documentary Festival
Last day! Nov 19. Tickets. In-person in Amsterdam.
Bad Press Feature documentary. US. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker (Muscogee Creek), Joe Peeler. When the Muscogee Nation government abruptly repeals its landmark Free Press Act to muzzle the tribe’s hard-hitting news outlet, defiant and foul-mouthed journalist Angel Ellis charges headfirst into a historic (and surprisingly funny) battle to restore her tribe’s press freedoms
Bila Burba Feature documentary. Panama. Duiren Wagua (Gunadule) Every year the Gunadule, the original inhabitants of northern Panama, reenact their successful uprising in 1925 against the repressive government of Panama, particularly significant now as the government is undertaking sale of their lands.
Canuto’s Transformation Feature documentary. Brazil. Ariel Kuaray Ortega (Mbyá-Guaraní), Ernesto de Carvalho. Ariel Kuaray Ortega returns to his hometown to visit his grandfather in a region of Brazil bordering Argentina, to finally hear the full story of Canuto, a fellow villager who turned into a jaguar and then died a tragic death. A plan soon arises to make a film about the mysterious Canuto, with the villagers playing all the roles. The result is an extraordinary and intriguing communal project that addresses major themes—colonization, the disadvantaged status of indigenous communities—and records everyday beauty and fun as well.
Ch’ul be, Sacred Path Feature documentary. Mexico. Humberto Gómez Pérez (Tzotzil Maya). Preparations for the annual festival in honor of the town’s patron saint Andrew the Apostle are in full swing. The film focuses on Martha and Diego, a married couple who have been appointed guardians of the saint, and on Román and his son Tino, who have been called upon to serve as musicians. Music has a key role to play in this blend of Catholic and Mayan faith. Meticulously and with love, the filmmaker—son of Martha and Diego—captures the dedication with which these servants of faith execute their allotted tasks.
Floating with Spirits VR documentary. Mexico. Juanita Onzaga. This cinematic virtual reality experience transports you to the mountains of Oaxaca in Mexico. There we meet Jocelynne and Jaquelyne, two young Mazatecs. While they prepare for the traditional Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, Jocelynne and Jaquelyne share the stories that were passed down to them by their grandmother, a shaman who upheld the community’s mystical values.
małni – towards the ocean, towards the shore Experimental documentary. US. Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk, Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians). The death myth of the Chinook people, the original inhabitants of the American Northwest, centers on a conversation between a wolf and a coyote about the hereafter, about what follows this life. Video artist Sky Hopinka circles around this myth in this, his first documentary, an ethereal contemplation of the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation, and the value of cultural identity.
Marungka tjalatjunu/Dipped in Black Documentary short. Australia. Derik Lynch, Matthew Thorne. As a queer person and Aboriginal, Derik Lynch has suffered in the city of Adelaide and decides to return home to his remote Anangu community, where he performs inma, a traditional form of visual, verbal and physical storytelling. Derik knows his country because he knows his stories, he says in this engaging portrait.
Ozogoche Narrative feature. Ecuador, Belgium, Qatar. Joe Houlberg Silva. A beautifully filmed account of daily life in a Kichwa community in Ecuador that is living around the Ozogoche lakes. Two forms of migration, moving in opposite directions, are subtly linked.
People from the Heart of the Earth Mid-length documentary. Brazil. The collective Guahu’i Guyra spent three years filming their people, the Guarani-Kaiowá. Much of their ancestral lands have been destroyed by monoculture and deforestation. In the small territory they managed to retake, a few families try to live according to their traditional way of life.
CREATIVITY
Theater, Exhibitions, Events
The Public Theater
Manahatta
Nov 16-Dec 17. Tickets. In-person in New York City
Manahatta Written by Mary Kathryn Nagle. Directed by Laurie Woolery. A gripping journey from the fur trade of the 1600s to the stock trade of today, Manahatta tells the story of Jane Snake, a abrillian young Native woman with a Stanford MBA. Jane reconnects with her ancestral Lenape homeland, known as Manahatta, when she moves from Oklahoma to New York for a banking job just before the 2008 financial meltdown. Jane’s struggle to reconcile her new life with the expectations and traditions of her family and Nation are powerfully interwoven with the heartbreaking history of the Delaware Nation’s expulsion from their land. Both old and new Manahatta converge in a lesson about the dangers of living in a society where there’s no such thing as enough. A stunning play about self-discovery, Manahatta was written as part of The Public’s prestigious Emerging Writers Group. Obie Award winner and The Public’s Director of Public Works, Laurie Woolery, directs.World premiere produced by Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Nov 16 through end of run “KISHUX” Curated by the Lenape Center, this exhibition of photographs by award-winning documentarian Devin Pickering celebrates a homecoming of ancestral seeds to Lenapehoking, through seasons, and dusk to dawn.
Nov 17 Post Show Conversation with the Lenape Center & Brooklyn Public Library about the research & creative process of Manahatta and the creation of the Lenape Center’s anthology, A Lenapehoking Anthology which was published with the Brooklyn Public Library. This conversation will feature Joe Baker, Hadrien Coumans, Cora Fisher and Joel Whitney.
Dec 9Native & Indigenous Community Performance. This is an affinity performance for Native & Indigenous folks. Tickets are free and low-cost.
New York Historical Society
“Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School”
Oct 20, 2023-Apr 14, 2024. Tickets. In-person in New York City
The exhibition places landscape paintings by the renowned, contemporary artist Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee) in conversation with highlights from New-York Historical’s collection of 19th-century Hudson River School paintings. This artistic dialogue showcases the ways in which WalkingStick’s work both connects to and diverges from the Hudson River School tradition and explores the agency of art in shaping humankind’s relationship to the land. The exhibition is the result of a close collaboration between the artist and Wendy Nālani E. Ikemoto (Native Hawaiian), senior curator of American art at New-York Historical.
Associated events are scheduled in Feb and March 2024.
Hessel Museum of Art – Bard College
“Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-determination Since 1969”
Last day! Nov 26. Free. Reservations recommended. In-person at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
The first large-scale exhibition of its kind to center performance and theater as an origin point for the development of contemporary art by Native American, First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and Alaska Native artists, curated by Candice Hopkins (Carcross/Tagish First Nation), Forge Project’s Executive Director and CCS Bard’s Fellow in Indigenous Art History and Curatorial Studies, with curatorial research led by Amelia Russo,. The exhibition progresses with a survey of video, performance, sculpture, painting, drawing, and beadwork that at once pay homage to the legacy of innovative Native aesthetic traditions and this continuing tradition of innovation.
Performance Events on Sat, Nov 18
12 pm“White Carver” by Nicholas Galanin, performed by Perry Hohlstein. Mimicry of Indigenous culture by non-Indigenous production, as well as a performative commentary on the dominance of the “White Gaze” on Native artisanship and personhood.
2 pm“Total Sunchronization” by Maria Hupfield. A 25-min.live encounter in which the artists activates the museum as a site of culture and creation.
8 pm“Listener” by Kite. The site-specific performance Listener speculates a future through Lakota ontology, narratively and physically manifesting a relationship with metals in electronics, performed via an electronic interface woven into hair.
A conversation on Sun, Nov 19, 1:00
Maria Hupfield (Anishnaabek, Wasauksing First Nation) and Kite (Oglala Sioux), along with Natalie Ball (Klamath/Modoc), will discuss their work in relation to the exhibition’s unifying principles of resistance and self-determination. Moderated by Candice Hopkins.
National Gallery of Art
“The Land Carries Our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans”
Sept 22, 2023-Jan 15, 2024. Free. In-person in Washington, DC. Curated by artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation), this exhibition brings together works by an intergenerational group of nearly 50 living Native artists practicing across the United States. Their powerful expressions reflect the diversity of Native American individual, regional, and cultural identities. At the same time, these works share a worldview informed by thousands of years of reverence, study, and concern for the land. (In early November artists Nicholas Galanin and Merritt Johnson requested that their joint sculpture be removed as a protest against US’ actions to support Israel during the Israel/Gaza conflict.)
Virtual Studio | “Melissa Meteor-Moose: Abstracting Landscapes”
On Nov 16, 17, 20. 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm. Virtual. Workshop. Materials list online. Registration required. Join artist Melissa Melero-Moose (Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe) to engage with ways landscapes can be expressed through different colors, shapes, and textures. We will start by learning about the artist’s connection to the Great Basin and how it informs her work, included in the exhibition..
ETHEL and Robert Mirabal: “The Red Willow”
Sun, Nov 26. Free. In-person at NGA. Master musician, actor, artist, and storyteller Robert Mirabal, elder of the Taos Pueblo, and genre-defying, New York-based string quartet ETHEL. These Grammy Award-winning artists present their latest collaboration, referring to the local and timeless magnificence of Taos.
“Imagining Indigenous Cinema: New Voices, New Visions”
Nov 11-Dec 3. See above for descriptions.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
“Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery“
July 14, 2023–June 4, 2024. Tickets. In-person in New York City
Foregrounding Pueblo voices and aesthetics, “Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery” is the first community-curated Native American exhibition in the history of The Met. The effort features more than one hundred historical, modern, and contemporary clay works and offers a critical understanding of Pueblo pottery as community-based knowledge and personal experience. This exhibit was curated by the Pueblo Pottery Collective, a group that includes sixty individual members of diverse ages, backgrounds, and professions, who represent twenty-one source communities.
Met Expert Talks: “Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery”
Tues, Nov 14 and Tues, Nov 21, 11-11:45 am ET. In-person at the Met. Free with ticketed admission to the museum. Advance registration recommended as space is limited. A conversation about the exhibition with Povi Romero, artist, art historian, Native American Arts Fellow, Vilcek Foundation.
SITE Santa Fe
“Nicholas Galanin: Interference Patterns”
Oct 6, 2023-Feb 5, 2024. Tickets. In-person in Santa Fe
A solo exhibition of new and recent work by the multidisciplinary Tlingit and Unangax artist Nicholas Galanin, rooted in his relationship to land Indigenous visual language and thought. The artist merges conceptual and material practices in his expansive creative approach.
MORE CREATIVITY
Autry Museum of the West
Marshall McKay Seminar for Empowering Native Knowledge
“Perspectives on Native Basketry”
Sat, Nov 18, 9:00 am-12:50 pm PT. Free admission (wait list only). Both livestreamed and in-person in Los Angeles
This year’s seminar focuses on Native basketry with an emphasis on revitalization and environmental resource management. Native basket weavers, knowledge keepers, scholars, and other experts will address these topics during a half-day seminar.
Celebrate Mexico Now!
National Museum of the American Indian
Sat, Nov 18. Free tickets. First come, first served. In-person in New York City
1-2 pm. “Maize Species and Traditional Ingredients”Diana Wangeman contributes to the awareness of culinary preservation of ancient forms of corn cultivation through her popular Brooklyn restaurant Sobre Masa. She will discuss the 64 lesser-known selections of corn varieties and unique ingredients that she works with.
2-3 pm.“Mayan Hip-Hop” Mayan rapper Pat Boy, whose work has recently been featured in Marvel blockbuster Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, will perform. Pat Boy teaches rap to kids and teenagers in his rural community in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Celebrate Mexico Now!
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center
“Celebrating Lourdes Grobet: Bering, Reunión Familiar“
Mon, Nov 20. Free with RSVP. In-person at New York University
Presenting the last two projects of the late Mexican photographer Lourdes Grobet by presenting the last two projects she completed before her passing. The documentary Bering, Reunión Familiar (Bering, Family Reunion, 2022) was Grobet’s second feature film and part of a larger project about the Bering Strait, which included another documentary, photographs, video works and conceptual pieces. Her book The Laboratorio de Teatro Campesino e Indígena: A Half Century of History is also available.
National Museum of the American Indian
Native American Heritage Day
Nov 24, 11:30 – 5. Free. In-person in New York City and Washington DC
“Honoring the Jingle Dress”in DC. The origin and significance of the jingle dress and Jingle Dress Dance with dancers Misty Solorio (Brokenhead Ojibway First Nation/Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation), Jennifer Night Bird Miller (Red River Métis), and Nathan Solorio (Brokenhead Ojibway First Nation/Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation). The dancers will be accompanied by father-and-son duo Ralph Zotigh (Kiowa/Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo/Isante Dakota Indian) and Dennis Zotigh (Kiowa/Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo/Isante Dakota Indian).
“Akwesasne Women Singers”in NYC. The Akwesasne Women Singers are young women, mothers, aunties, and grandmothers who came together to form a singing society. The group joins the museum on Native American Heritage Day to share their original compositions, written in a combination of English and Kanien’kéha, as well as traditional songs, accompanied by dance performances. The significance of each dance will be shared, and attendees will be invited to join the circle during Social Dances.
