NAPT and its partners, APT, ITVS, Independent Lens and NETA, present several new shows premiering on public television for Native American Heritage Month in November:

March Point

Cody Nick and Travis, three teens from the Swinomish Tribe, wanted to make a gangster movie or rap video but instead were asked to investigate the impact of two oil refineries on the tribe.

March Point follows the teens' journey as they come to understand themselves, the environment and the threat they face.

To view a trailer and find out more information about March Point, go to: www.marchpointmovie.com. To read a press release about the film, click here.

March Point will debut on Independent Lens on Nov. 18.  To view Independent Lens' site, click here.


Oceti Sakowin: The People of the Seven Council Fires

Across the rolling plains of the Midwest, a great nation was created by a people who had their own system of government and a livelihood that was forever changed by settlers. The Oyate, the people, tell their own story in the hour-long documentary, Oceti Sakowin: The People of the Seven Council Fires.

This film is designed to aid educators of grades K-12 in teachings of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nations.

To view a trailer, read a press release or see historical pictures, click here.  Check your local PBS station's listings to see if the film is showing in your area by clicking here.  Or call your local PBS station to request it be shown in your area.


Waterbuster

A personal story of how a multimillion dollar damming project displaced the Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara Nation in North Dakota. Producer J. Carlos Peinado returns to the Fort Berthold Reservation to discover stories of the past.

To read a press release about Waterbuster, click here.  Check your local PBS station's listings to see if the film is showing in your area by clicking here.  Or call your local PBS station to request it be shown in your area.


Weaving Worlds

Presenting an intimate portrait of economic and cultural survival through the art of Navajo rugs, Weaving Worlds also reveals the often controversial struggle between the artists and Anglo traders in the face globalization.

To view a trailer and read a press release about Weaving Worlds, click here.  Check your local PBS station's listings to see if the film is showing in your area by clicking here.  Or call your local PBS station to request it be shown in your area.


Coming to Create TV: Seasoned With Spirit

Much more than a cooking show, the five-part Seasoned With Spirit series takes viewers across Native America to embrace indigenous food, culture and traditions. The series was awarded a New England Emmy for best informational/instructional program

To view a trailer and read about the series, click here. To see Create TV's schedule, go to: www.createtv.com.


November is Native American Heritage Month. Seven out of 10 Native Americans live in urban areas, according to the U.S. Census, and many are consumers of public media.

For facts about Native Americans, click here.

For partnerships or community screenings using NAPT-funded films, contact Marketing Director Kim Baca at 505-604-3517 or kimbaca@gmail.com.

Elsie Cly Begay, a Navajo woman from Monument Valley, Utah, asked congressional leaders and the Environmental Protection Agency during a screening last month on Capitol Hill when they are going to clean up uranium beside her home.

Begay was one of several members of the Cly family featured in the documentary, The Return of Navajo Boy, a story about the return of a 1950s film reel to the Navajo family that was featured in the '50s film. The documentary also explores adoption issues, as the Cly family searches for and finds the youngest member of the family, and problems with a former nearby uranium mine. Produced by Jeff Spitz with the help of Bennie Klain (Navajo), The Return of Navajo Boy was funded by NAPT and aired on PBS in 2000. A 15-minute epilogue was created this year to update audiences on Begay's plight with uranium.

"I want people to know how uranium has affected us," Begay said during the Sept. 24 screening hosted by Reps. Tom Udall (D-NM), Rick Renzi (R-AZ), Jim Matheson (D-UT) and Navajo Nation's Washington Office. "That's why I travel with this documentary film."

The EPA has come up with a five-year plan to clean up Cold War uranium contamination on the Navajo Nation, but Begay's property wasn't initially included in the plan.

Andy Schneider, chief health counsel for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in an email
that the EPA will assess Begay's property in November "and, if they find that it is hazardous, they will develop a plan for remediation."

After the film was shown to the EPA, the EPA in 2001 paid for the demolition of her former home, a hogan, which was made with uranium-contaminated mud.

For more information about The Return of Navajo Boy, click here.

In order to better serve our viewers and listeners, NAPT will unveil a new website next month. Producers will be able to upload video and musicians will be able to upload audio.

Keep checking www.nativetelecom.org.

In 1935, while the rest of the country was deep in the Depression, a group of Oneidas in Wisconsin took advantage of a federal writing program designed to employ Americans and offer economic relief. Many, who wrote in their own language, recorded their daily life on the farm and a devastating small pox epidemic.

Their stories, which were discovered in storage at the University of Wisconsin in the 1990s, are now being told in The Oneida Speak, an hour-long documentary produced by Michelle Danforth (Oneida).

Nominated for two Midwest Emmys, The Oneida Speak also comes with a free educational guide to aid instructors of middle and high school students in teachings about the Great Depression and its impact on Native American tribes. The guide can be downloaded here.

WATCH TRAILER

Home sale price $19.96 (DVD)
Educational sale price $180 (DVD)

To see photos and a news release about the film, click here.

Listen to an interview with producer Michelle Danforth.

Read Michelle Danforth's profile.

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