Late American Indian activist shines in 'Dawnland,' 'Georgina'
“All of the Conestoga remains were not “returned to their original resting places” in 1979.
The Central Park staff retained the finger bones from an Indian child’s hand and displayed them for the public along with other artifacts uncovered during the excavation.
Georgina Sappier, a Lancaster resident and originally a Passamaquoddy from Maine, said no one should be treated like that. Sappier led an effort that resulted in the ceremonial reburial of the child's hand bones and other bone fragments at the site in 1987.”
“Along Golf Road in Lancaster County Central Park, near the covered bridge to the Kiwanis Park section, a boulder stands atop a high point between the Conestoga River and Mill Creek.
Bolted to the boulder is a bronze plaque, explaining County Park construction workers accidentally uncovered an Indian cemetery in the spring of 1979.
The workers paused while archaeologists excavated the site. They found 12 Conestoga-Susquehannock graves filled with bodies and artifacts dating to the early 18th century. According to the last sentence on the plaque, the remains were “returned to their original resting places.”
Continue reading at LancasterOnline.
Award-winning 'Dawnland' screens May 10
“The culminating event of the Waldo Reads Together program is a showing of the documentary "Dawnland" Wednesday, May 10, at 6 p.m. at Belfast Free Library, 106 High St. There will also be a post-viewing discussion led by WRT facilitators. This program is free and open to the public.”
“The culminating event of the Waldo Reads Together program is a showing of the documentary "Dawnland" Wednesday, May 10, at 6 p.m. at Belfast Free Library, 106 High St. There will also be a post-viewing discussion led by WRT facilitators. This program is free and open to the public.
For most of the 20th century, government agents systematically forced Native American children from their homes and placed them with white families. As recently as the 1970s, one in four Native children nationwide were living in non-Native foster care, adoptive homes or boarding schools. Many children experienced devastating emotional and physical harm by adults who tried to erase their cultural identity.”
Read more at The Republican Journal.
Parents can help children learn to stand up to hate. Here’s how.
“‘The first time I got called the ‘n-word’ I was standing outside my sixth-grade classroom exchanging a book from the lockers,” says Kimu Elolia. He wasn’t prepared for the weight of the word or how it would leave him feeling paralyzed and isolated for weeks but says he “didn’t have language to explain what I was experiencing.” Elolia, 29, is the creative producer for Sonic Union and now creates podcasts for children designed to foster empathy for the Black experience, which he says will incentivize them to stand up for one another.
Helping our children understand how and why to stand up for one another is becoming more and more important.”
“‘The first time I got called the ‘n-word’ I was standing outside my sixth-grade classroom exchanging a book from the lockers,’ says Kimu Elolia. He wasn’t prepared for the weight of the word or how it would leave him feeling paralyzed and isolated for weeks but says he “didn’t have language to explain what I was experiencing.” Elolia, 29, is the creative producer for Sonic Union and now creates podcasts for children designed to foster empathy for the Black experience, which he says will incentivize them to stand up for one another.
Helping our children understand how and why to stand up for one another is becoming more and more important. According to a 2021 U.S. Government Accountability Office report, roughly 1 in 4 students between ages 12 and 18 who experienced bullying during the 2018-2019 school year were targeted because of their race, national origin, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation. In 2021, the FBI reported an 11.6 percent increase in hate crime incidents in the United States compared with the year before.
For tweens and teens actively exploring their identities, the spike in bias incidents is particularly significant. “Hate speech impacts the way you anticipate the world is going to see you and can begin to influence how you see yourself,” said psychologist Ryan DeLapp, director of the REACH (Racial, Ethnic and Cultural Health) Program at the Ross Center in New York City.”
Keep reading at The Washington Post.
Indigenous Storytelling Honored by The Webby Awards
“Two Indigenous-made storytelling projects supported by Nia Tero have been honored by the 2023 Webby Awards. Seedcast, a podcast about Indigenous experiences of relationship to the Earth, is nominated for Best Podcast Episode in the area of Arts & Culture. Reciprocity Project, a global storytelling movement supporting Indigenous creatives, is an honoree in the category of "Websites and Mobile Sites - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion."
“Two Indigenous-made storytelling projects supported by Nia Tero have been honored by the 2023 Webby Awards. Seedcast, a podcast about Indigenous experiences of relationship to the Earth, is nominated for Best Podcast Episode in the area of Arts & Culture. Reciprocity Project, a global storytelling movement supporting Indigenous creatives, is an honoree in the category of "Websites and Mobile Sites - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion."
"Indigenous stories are essential for being in better relationship with the planet," said Tracy Rector, Managing Director, Storytelling at Nia Tero. "In order to bring more of these important narratives into the world, along with invaluable long-held knowledge and practices from their communities, it is our responsibility to provide support and resources for learning, creating, and building together."
Continue reading at PR Newswire.
In Memoriam
Upstander Project’s team sends love and condolences to the families and loved ones of upstanders who have passed in recent weeks: Former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, architect of the Indian Child Welfare Act, appears in the opening scene of Dawnland, in no small part due to his generosity and recollections, which helped us uncover the archival footage featured in the movie. Margot Stern Strom, co-founder of Massachusetts-based Facing History and Ourselves, teacher, and visionary, built an organization that continues to have profound global impact. We are grateful to have met Margot and to collaborate with her colleagues. Former Massachusetts state representative Mel King, public intellectual and activist, was the first Black man to earn a spot in the general election for Boston mayor and is credited with helping to usher in a new era in Boston race relations. As we say in our Jewish tradition, may the memories of these extraordinary humans be a blessing to all they touched and may their spirits rise higher and higher.
Upstander Project’s team sends love and condolences to the families and loved ones of upstanders who have passed in recent weeks: Former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, architect of the Indian Child Welfare Act, appears in the opening scene of Dawnland, in no small part due to his generosity and recollections, which helped us uncover the archival footage featured in the movie. Margot Stern Strom, co-founder of Massachusetts-based Facing History and Ourselves, teacher, and visionary, built an organization that continues to have profound global impact. We are grateful to have met Margot and to collaborate with her colleagues. Former Massachusetts state representative Mel King, public intellectual and activist, was the first Black man to earn a spot in the general election for Boston mayor and is credited with helping to usher in a new era in Boston race relations. As we say in our Jewish tradition, may the memories of these extraordinary humans be a blessing to all they touched and may their spirits rise higher and higher.
Film ‘Dawnland’ recounts ‘history that isn’t usually taught’
“When someone hears the phrase “truth and reconciliation commission,” South Africa usually comes to mind. But the Emmy-winning 2018 film “Dawnland,” which will be shown for the public next Thursday, March 30, at 6:30 p.m. in the Bromfield School’s Cronin Auditorium, brings the idea much closer to home.”
“When someone hears the phrase “truth and reconciliation commission,” South Africa usually comes to mind. But the Emmy-winning 2018 film “Dawnland,” which will be shown for the public next Thursday, March 30, at 6:30 p.m. in the Bromfield School’s Cronin Auditorium, brings the idea much closer to home.
“Dawnland” tells the story of the first truth and reconciliation commission to be established in the United States. Set up by Maine in 2012, its mission was to gather information on the state welfare agency’s practice of removing Native American children from their parents and placing them in foster care or adoption with white families—a practice that continues to this day. The federal government began to encourage adoption and foster care for Native American children in 1958, as a replacement for the earlier policy of sending the children to boarding schools.”
Continue reading at The Harvard Press.
The New Maine Classics
“Nothing but love for Kenneth Roberts, Edna St. Vincent Millay, E. B. White, and other old-school heavyweights, but the last 25 years have also given us a bumper crop of motley, memorable Maine storytelling — and not all of it on the page. We sifted through the last quarter-century of Maine media and plucked 25 gems — a sundry set of books, films, digital projects, and more — that’ll hold up in another 25 years.”
“Nothing but love for Kenneth Roberts, Edna St. Vincent Millay, E. B. White, and other old-school heavyweights, but the last 25 years have also given us a bumper crop of motley, memorable Maine storytelling — and not all of it on the page. We sifted through the last quarter-century of Maine media and plucked 25 gems — a sundry set of books, films, digital projects, and more — that’ll hold up in another 25 years.”
Continue reading at Downeast.com
In "Reciprocity Project," Indigenous voices reframe our relationship to the Earth
“In one episode of the docu-series Reciprocity Project, Connecticut-based educator and member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe Chris Newell teaches acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma a pow-wow song. Together, they play at sunrise, "singing up the sun" in the tradition of the Wabanaki or People of the Dawnland, a confederation of four tribes in Maine including Passamaquoddy.”
“In one episode of the docu-series Reciprocity Project, Connecticut-based educator and member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe Chris Newell teaches acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma a pow-wow song. Together, they play at sunrise, "singing up the sun" in the tradition of the Wabanaki or People of the Dawnland, a confederation of four tribes in Maine including Passamaquoddy.
This hour, we hear about this film series from Newell and executive producer Tracy Rector, and about the increasing urgency of centering Indigenous perspectives on our planet and the climate. The series is intended to inspire conversation and action on climate; "to create a paradigm shift that reframes our relationships to the Earth, other living beings, and one another."‘
Listen at Connecticut Public Radio.