We’re growing upstanders
The power of a story is hard to measure. Often, our films, learning resources, and workshops plant seeds that may sprout in a week or a month or ten years later. What we can measure easily, though, is how many people we bring into our storytelling circle. The larger that circle is, the more seeds we plant, and the more people decide they want to be upstanders.
aspiring upstanders have watched Upstander Project’s films
educators have attended Upstander Project community learning events.
students have been taught by Upstander Academy alumni.
“With extraordinary care and integrity, Dawnland sheds light on a specific moment in the long and agonizing history of non-Native institutions removing Indigenous children from their families. The documentary masterfully weaves historic detail, personal testimony, and the present determination of the Wabanaki people to work for truth and reconciliation. This arresting and important film introduces viewers to the devastating consequences that occur when Native American political rights and cultural practices are unacknowledged and devalued; it is a
poignant invitation to confront a troubling past and contemplate participation in a more rightful future.
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“Bounty had a profound effect on me, mostly because of my complete obliviousness to the topic. Despite having taken several US history courses in the past, including AP U.S. History, the specifics of the violence against Native Americans was never made clear to me. I have learned about such events as the Jamestown Massacre, but I had never heard of death warrants to eliminate the Native Americans ... The more we learn about the real history of our country the better, so as not to repeat the horrific mistakes of the past.”
“First Light expertly communicates the process of the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission and their role in helping acknowledge painful truths. Both the film and accompanying learning resources are outstanding educational tools for Maine’s teachers to consider using in their classrooms.”
“Thank you for keeping the history and Indigenous knowledge alive. As a 30-year educator, and father to a five-year-old, I completely support this idea that our education must include Indigenous and other sacred ways of knowing. Thank you so much for speaking and advocating for this vital and wise suggestion.”
Community collaboration
We work with community, government, and educational organizations to widen our circle even further.
Abbe Museum/Reel Pizza Cinerama Indigenous Film Festival | American Indian Community House | Amherst Cinema | Aquinnah Cultural Center | Aroostook Band of Micmacs | Austin Community College | Bates College | Bend Film Festival | Bermuda Diaspora Film Festival | Big Sky Documentary Film Festival | Bonner School | Boston College | Boston University-Honors College | Bowdoin College | Brandeis University | Brandeis University/The Intercultural Center | Bridgewater State University | Cambridge Friends Meeting House | Camden International Film Festival | Carbondale Public Library | Chewonki Foundation | Clark University | Clark University's Center for Gender, Race and Area Studies | Cohasset Diversity Council | Colby College/RR Square Cinema | Concord Public Library | Cowlitz Indian Tribe | Dartmouth College | Dartmouth College Native American Studies Faculty | Emerson Bright Lights Film Series | Emmanuel College | Fenway High School, Boston | First Church Cambridge | Gann Academy | Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) | Harvard Divinity School | Harvard Graduate School of Education | Heritage High School | Hibulb Longhouse | Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians | Independent Film Festival Boston | Independent Television Service (ITVS) | Intellectual House - UW | Jamaica Plain Forum | Keene State College | Kellogg Foundation | Kittery Alliance for All (KAFA) | Lesley University | Madras Performing Arts Center | Maine-Wabanaki REACH | Maranacook Community High School | Mashantucket Pequot Museum | Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Education Department | Mass Bay Community College/World of Wellesley | Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education | Massachusetts Historical Society | Michigan State Law Review | Midland School | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | Mount Desert Island High School | National Indian Education Association (NIEA) | Native Pathways Program | Nehar Shalom Synagogue | New Mexico Museum of History/Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian | NHDocs Film Festival | North Seattle Community College | Northeast Conference for the Social Studies | Northeastern University | Northwest Film Forum | Palo Alto High School | Passamaquoddy Reservation at Pleasant Point | Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township | Peabody Essex Museum | Penobscot Nation | Plimoth Cinema | Portland Public Library | Proctor Academy | Provincetown Film Festival | Radcliffe Institute and Harvard University Native American Program | Restorative Community Justice of Southern Vermont | Richmond International Film Festival | Roxbury International Film Festival/Museum of Fine Arts | Salem Film Fest | Samish Indian Nation | Sandia Resort & Casino/NNABA | Seattle International Film Festival | Sebastopol Film Festival | Sedona International Film Festival | Simmons College | Solomon Schechter Middle School | Stonehill College | The State University of New York (SUNY) Ulster | Tacoma Film Festival/The Grand Cinema | Teacher's College | Telstar Middle School | Temple Beth Zion | Tewksbury Public Library | The College of New Jersey | The Oaks School | The Schoolhouse Learning | U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission | The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | University of Massachusetts Amherst, School of Education | University of Massachusetts Lowell | University of Massachusetts — Boston Native American Studies | United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) | University of Connecticut | University of Maine Orono | University of North Carolina Chapel Hill | University of Southern Maine | Vancouver International Film Festival | Vermont Law School | Vision Maker Media | Voyageur Outward Bound School | W. Hall High School | Wabanaki Health and Wellness | Wakefield Public Schools | Watertown Citizens and Kingian Group | Watertown Citizens for Black Lives | Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice, and the Environment | Watertown Free Public Library | White Privilege Conference | Woods Hole Film Festival | World in Watertown | Wyoming Native American Education Conference | Yale Law School | YWCA of Greater Newburyport