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.
DAWNLAND
Dawnland airs on Maine Public TV with live Q&A.
“Follow the first government-sanctioned truth and reconciliation commission in the United States as contemporary Wabanaki communities in Maine witness intimate, sacred moments of truth-telling and healing. With exclusive access to this groundbreaking process and never-before-seen footage, the film reveals the untold narrative of Indigenous child removal in the United States.
Participate in a live Q & A with the DAWNLAND producers on Thursday Nov. 12 immediately following the broadcast. Details HERE.
For most of the 20th century, government agents systematically forced Native American children from their homes and placed them with white families.”
Continue reading at Maine Public.
Matt Dunlap: Maine's Secretary of State Discusses Elections, Referendum, Census, Real ID and More
Hear Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap talk about his experience with the filming of Dawnland.
“Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap joins us to discuss the March primary election, upcoming ballot referendum, ranked choice and other voting issues, what people need to know about the upcoming census, Real ID and more.
Guest:
Matt Dunlap is Maine's 49th secretary of state, now serving his fourth consecutive and seventh overall term in office. He previously served three terms as Maine's 47th secretary of state and is the first person to serve nonconsecutive terms as secretary of state since 1880”
Listen at Maine Public.
The Indian Child Welfare Act Turns 41
There are also two recent films related to ICWA that are making their way across the country: “Dawnland” and “Blood Memory.”
“The Indian Child Welfare Act, a federal law outlining adoption and foster care regulations for American Indian/Alaska Native children in the United States, turns 41 on Nov. 8, 2019.
ICWA, as the law is commonly known, has faced dozens of legal challenges over its lifetime and finds supporters and opponents both within and outside Native communities. Like all Indian law, ICWA is complicated; according to its authors, this is largely due to the complex political relationship between the United States government and sovereign tribes. ICWA also reflects the complexity often found in family dynamics and the twisting narratives that accompany any report of child abuse or neglect.”
Continue reading at The Imprint.
'Dawnland' Tells Of The Taking Of Native American Children In Maine
Listen to an interview between Adam Mazo, Dawn Neptune Adams, and Anthony Brooks from WBUR.
“The documentary "Dawnland" tells the story of the state of Maine's effort to come to terms with a shockingly shameful part of its history, when state welfare workers removed Indian children from their families and placed them in foster care.
The film follows the work of the state's Truth And Reconciliation Commission, set up in 2012, which gathered stories from the state's indigenous people.”
Listen at WBUR.
Yarmouth Removes 1929 Plaque With Derogatory Language From Cemetery
‘“The historical marker was brought to my attention by members of the community who were preparing to make a presentation of Dawnland at the local library, and thought it was inconsistent with the message and intentions of today and values of today, and asked if I would remove it because the town owns the cemetery,” Tupper says.”
“The town of Yarmouth has removed a 90-year-old cemetery plaque that referred to Native American people as “savage enemies.”
Yarmouth Town Manager Nat Tupper says he did not know the marker existed, but that once it was determined that the plaque was a historical marker and not a gravestone marker, it was “not a complex matter to simply unscrew it.”
“The historical marker was brought to my attention by members of the community who were preparing to make a presentation of Dawnland at the local library, and thought it was inconsistent with the message and intentions of today and values of today, and asked if I would remove it because the town owns the cemetery,” Tupper says.
The plaque was removed from the cemetery Feb. 7.”
Continue reading and listen at Maine Public.
Livestream 'Dawnland' and Discussion With Indigenous Activists
“Watch as the documentary’s stars, Esther Anne and Dawn Neptune Adams, join the filmmakers for a live screening, concert and panel discussion.”
“Those who missed “Dawnland” when it aired via PBS last month can now see the movie and engage with its filmmakers and stars via livestream. Directing team Adam Mazo and Ben Pender-Cudlip join Esther Anne and Dawn Neptune Adams for a special screening, musical performance and panel discussion at the University of Southern Maine this evening (December 5).
Mazo and Pender-Cudlip’s documentary captured the interworkings of the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which tackled the ways United States child welfare institutions have harmed Indigenous children. The filmmakers documented the process at the invitation of Wabanaki tribal leaders and Maine-Wabanaki REACH, an organization that fights for Wabanaki autonomy.”
Continue reading at ColorLines.
10 Films That Show How the U.S. Has Mistreated Native Americans and Alaska Natives
“Educate yourself during this Thanksgiving season.”
“For the most part, everything that people are typically taught about Thanksgiving is wrong — unless craft hour is skipped over and they're taught that Thanksgiving is a holiday with roots in the mass killings of millions of Indigenous peoples. Unfortunately, many American public schools still teach a romanticized version of Thanksgiving instead of the true history of what actually went down during the first meetings between Natives and colonizers. Those misconceptions can change by having people not only learn the real history behind Thanksgiving, but also the history of the systematic oppression of Native Americans and Alaska Natives in the United States. This November, in the spirit of “Truthsgiving” and Native American Heritage Month, check out these 10 films and documentaries that put a spotlight on how the United States has wronged the Indigenous peoples of the Americas throughout history.”
Continue reading at Teen Vogue.