In the year’s second installment of the First Nations Film and Video Festival, we feature two films: The Peoples’ Protectors and Healing Voices.
A Twin Cities PBS Initiative, The Peoples’ Protectors (2011) follows four Native American veterans as they reflect on their experiences in the military during the Vietnam War and how their communities helped them carry their warrior legacy proudly.
From the Marine Corps to the Navy to the US Army, veterans Valerie Barber, Art Owen, Sandy White Hawk, Vince Beyl, and civilian eyapaha (announcer) Jerry Dearly recall their memories of one of the most controversial wars in United States history.
Even as they struggled with their relationship to the US government and its history of genocidal policies and oppression, the Dakota, Lakota, and Ojibwe warriors still felt compelled to honor their duty to their people as Akichita | Ogichidaag | Warriors, as protectors of the people. A lifetime later, these soldiers meet in the studio and begin to tell their stories. (56 minutes)
In Healing Voices, filmmakers Missy Whiteman and Christine Diindiisi McCleave share short works in which members of younger generations filmed elders telling stories through Indigenous youth media projects in Wyoming, Washington, and Alaska. The selections from the Healing Voices story collection highlight individual experiences of boarding school survivors and their journeys of healing, resiliency, and hope. These videos are presented in partnership with Independent Indigenous Film and Media (IIFM) and the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. Christine Diindiisi McCleave, Executive Director of the Boarding School Healing Coalition, will also be present at this event to share about her organization's important work. (50 minutes)
The screenings will be followed by a discussion with Northern Arapaho filmmaker Ernest Whiteman III, Director of the First Nations Film and Video Festival and Christine Diindiisi McCleave, Executive Director of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.