We Are the Seeds 2022 celebrates Indigenous arts at Cherry Street Pier
“Over 14,000 people identify as Indigenous in the Philadelphia region, and director of We Are the Seeds Philly, Tailinh Agoyo wants you to explore their untold narratives this weekend at Cherry Street Pier.
With the backdrop of the Delaware River, Philadelphians will gather at the Pier on Nov. 18 and 19 to celebrate We Are the Seeds, a local organization that honors the voices of Indigenous and Native artists, performers, educators, and change-makers.”
“Over 14,000 people identify as Indigenous in the Philadelphia region, and director of We Are the Seeds Philly, Tailinh Agoyo wants you to explore their untold narratives this weekend at Cherry Street Pier.
With the backdrop of the Delaware River, Philadelphians will gather at the Pier on Nov. 18 and 19 to celebrate We Are the Seeds, a local organization that honors the voices of Indigenous and Native artists, performers, educators, and change-makers. “By bringing together indigenous artists and culture bearers to tell their work and their own stories, we’re celebrating who we are,” Agoyo said. “We’re celebrating our continuance and showing that we have not only survived but that we’re thriving.””
Continue reading at The Philadelphia Inquirer.
‘All the Alarm Bells’: Panel Discusses Future of Indian Child Welfare Act at IOP Forum
““A panel discussed the history and impact of the Indian Child Welfare Act — which faces a challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court — at a Harvard Institute of Politics Forum on Monday evening.
The Supreme Court is set to hear a case Wednesday against the ICWA, a 1978 law regulating the foster care and adoption systems for Native American children to prioritize placement with relatives or other Native American households. The challenge to the law originated from a Texas adoption case and questions the constitutionality of the ICWA.”
“A panel discussed the history and impact of the Indian Child Welfare Act — which faces a challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court — at a Harvard Institute of Politics Forum on Monday evening.
The Supreme Court is set to hear a case Wednesday against the ICWA, a 1978 law regulating the foster care and adoption systems for Native American children to prioritize placement with relatives or other Native American households. The challenge to the law originated from a Texas adoption case and questions the constitutionality of the ICWA.
Ryan H. Doan-Nguyen ’25 began the event with a land acknowledgment, recognizing that Harvard University was built on the ancestral land of the Massachusett people and neighbors the lands of the Wampanoag and Nipmuc peoples.”
Read more at The Harvard Crimson.
Dawnland LIVE Q&A Event
Maine-Wabanaki REACH and Upstander Project present the Emmy Award winning film DAWNLAND + live Q&A
“Maine-Wabanaki REACH and Upstander Project present the Emmy Award winning film DAWNLAND + live Q&A
Watch the film on Thursday, November 12 at 9:00 pm on Maine Public Television and then join an online discussion HERE.
About this Event:
Presented by Maine-Wabanaki REACH and Upstander Project
For decades, child welfare authorities have been removing Native American children from their homes to save them from being Indian. In Maine, the first official "truth and reconciliation commission" in the United States begins a historic investigation.
DAWNLAND goes behind-the-scenes as this historic body grapples with difficult truths, redefines reconciliation, and charts a new course for state and tribal relations.”
Continue reading at Maine Public.
The People of the Dawn
“DAWNLAND - An untold story of Native American child removal, the stakes of family separation policy are no less than cultural survival.”
“DAWNLAND - An untold story of Native American child removal, the stakes of family separation policy are no less than cultural survival.
They were forced to assimilate into white society: children ripped away from their families, depriving them of their culture and erasing their identities. Can reconciliation help heal the scars from childhoods lost? Dawnland is the untold story of Indigenous child removal in the US through the nation's first-ever government-endorsed truth and reconciliation commission, which investigated the devastating impact of Maineís child welfare practices on the Wabanaki people. The Wabanaki are the people who are there to greet the light, "the people of the dawn," in the upper Northeast. For decades, Maineís child welfare system placed Wabanaki children in foster or adoptive homes under the presumption that assimilating into white society would improve their quality of life and give them a better future. Many children in the system suffered untold physical and psychological abuse. Their story brings to light how getting to the heart of the truth can offer a flicker of hope.”
Continue reading at WJCT News.
“Dawnland” on Independent Lens | November 5
“Follow the First Government-Endorsed Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the United States as Maine Investigates the Devastating Impacts of Native American Child Removal”
“Dawnland reveals the untold story of Indigenous child removal in the United States through the first government-endorsed truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) in the nation, tasked with investigating the devastating impact of Maine’s child welfare practices on Native American communities. With exclusive access to this groundbreaking process and never-before-seen footage, Dawnland bears witness to intimate, sacred moments of truth-telling and healing. Directed by Adam Mazo and Ben Pender-Cudlip, the film premieres on Independent Lens Monday, November 5, 2018, 10:00-11:00 PM as part of Native American Heritage Month programming on PBS.”
Continue reading at WOUB.
ICTMN Exclusive: New Film Documents Maine’s Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission
“First Light, the new documentary film that explores the historic Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare TRC, is making its world debut today on ICTMN.”
“First Light, the new independent documentary film that explores the historic Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC), is making its world debut today on Indian Country Today Media Network. According to the film’s directors, Adam Mazo and Ben Pender-Cudlip, the short documentary film examines the historic collaboration between the five Wabanaki tribes and the state of Maine in response to the past abuses within the state’s child welfare system.
The first of its kind in U.S. History, the Maine TRC was established in 2012 in an agreement between Governor Paul LePage and chiefs from the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians, the Penobscot Indian Nation, and the Passamaquoddy at Sipayik and Indian Township.”
Continue reading at Indian Country Today.
Interview With Directors Adam Mazo and Ben Pender-Cudlip On Their New Film, “Dawnland”
Learn about the forces that drove Adam Mazo and Ben Pender-Cudlip to make the film Dawnland.
“Boston-based filmmaker Adam Mazo is quick to admit that he knew little about Native populations growing up in Minnesota.
He’s committed to changing that for future generations with “Dawnland,” the 90-minute documentary premiering this month at the Cleveland International Film Festival. The film centers on the decades of government policy that forced Native children from their families and into adoptive homes, foster care and boarding schools. The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards will sponsor three screenings.
The idea for “Dawnland” was sparked from Mazo’s work on another film, “Coexist,” about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. “We were talking about how it felt wrong to not be teaching about genocide in this country’s history,” he said.”
Continue reading at Anisfield Book Awards.
Rethinking Schools Review of First Light
Thanks to Rethinking Schools for reviewing First Light!
Courtesy: Rethinking Schools