Archive for October 23rd, 2010

23
Oct

Indian Country Sunday Brunch: First educational tribal TV station, unveiling of the Indian Country Crime Unit and global warming

   Posted by: admin    in Arapaho, Cheyenne, Indian news, Native actors, Native art, Native films

Here’s a few bites of news from the previous week, enjoy:

Courtesy photo, Native American Times

Courtesy photo, Native American Times


C&A Tribes create Oklahoma’s first educational tribal TV station
A conversation between old friends in 1992 has now turned into a TV station that is the first educational tribal channel. It will serve the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma.
As reported from a press release on the Native American Times, key to the completion of the project was Billy-Talako Williamson, who worked for 28 years to bring the station to life.

    The Federal Communications Commission issued an experimental license to the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes and on September 27th, 2010 the tribes received notice that they had been awarded a grant for construction of the Cheyenne & Arapaho Television Station.”

U.S. Attorney Cotter unveils Indian Country Crime Unit
This story on the Missoulian’s webpage details a new force that will be used to help Indian reservations prosecute crimes. Montana U.S. Attorney Michael Cotter’s office met with several tribes in Montana to introduce the unit.
A press release from the District of Montana detailed which assistant district attorneys will make up the Indian County Crime Unit in the state:

    The newly created Indian Country Crime Unit is comprised of six Assistant United States Attorneys, three of whom are filling new positions afforded by the Department of Justice in conjunction with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s initiative to focus on improving public safety in Indian Country nationally. The Unit is headed by veteran Indian Country Assistant United States Attorney Lori Suek (Billings). The team is comprised of attorneys Vince Carroll (Great Falls), Jessica Betley (Great Falls), Danna Jackson (Helena), Laura Weiss (Great Falls), and Mike Wolfe (Helena).

New documentary recounts bizarre climate changes seen by Inuit elders
We had a lot of movies on the Post recently (there are a lot of Native issues being brought to life on screen these days) as it coincides with Toronto’s imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival.
Here’s one more the check out: A subject in the documentary “Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian,” soon-to-run on PBS, acclaimed Nunavut filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk takes a look at the effects of global warming on Natives in northern Canada. “Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change,” with environmental scientist Ian Mauro.
Their findings are bleak, as reported by the Globe and Mail in a piece that ran before the documentary was screened. You can find a trailer for “Inuit Knowledge” with the story.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

4 Comments
23
Oct

Check your local listings: ‘Reel Injun’ coming to PBS

   Posted by: admin    in Cree, Native actors, Native films, native news

Director Neil Diamond, Cree (Photo courtesy Rezolution Pictures)

Director Neil Diamond, Cree (Photo courtesy Rezolution Pictures)


Canadian filmmaker Neil Diamond, Cree, will debut his latest work, “Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian,” on PBS on Nov. 2. The work is a look at the portrayal of Indians in films from the silent era to present day.
According to Native News Today, Diamond tells of his exposure to certain portrayals in films and how he didn’t find himself identifying with Indians.

    Throughout the film, Diamond meets with Clint Eastwood (“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” “A Fistful of Dollars,” “Unforgiven”) at his studios in Burbank, Calif., where the film legend discusses the evolution of the image of Indians in Westerns and what cowboy-and-Indian myths mean to America. “Reel Injun” also hears from legendary Native American activists John Trudell, Russell Means and Marlon Brando’s notorious Oscar-night proxy Sacheen Littlefeather.

    “Reel Injun” also features Robbie Robertson, the half-Jewish, half-Mohawk musician and soundtrack composer (“Raging Bull,” “Casino,” “Gangs of New York”), Cherokee actor Wes Studi (“Last of the Mohicans,” “Geronimo”), filmmakers Jim Jarmusch (“Dead Man”) and Chris Eyre (“Smoke Signals”) and acclaimed Native actors Graham Greene (“Dances with Wolves,” “Thunderheart”) and Adam Beach (“Smoke Signals,” Clint Eastwood’s “Flags of Our Fathers”). Diamond also traveled north to the remote Nunavut town of Igloolik (population – 1,500) to interview Zacharias Kunuk, director of the Camera d’Or-winning “The Fast Runner.”

Here’s another can’t-miss documentary “A Good Day To Die” on Native issues, more specifically the AIM movement. “Good Day” has already garnered several awards and co-director Lynn Salt e-mailed me last week that there’s more cause for the buzz:

    We just won another “best documentary” award at the International Cherokee Film Festival in Tulsa, OK! – Lynn Salt

Jenna Cederberg

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 Comment
Back to top