NAPT

River of Renewal

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:35:43 +0000

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Eight years in the making, River of Renewal chronicles the on going battle over the resources of Northern California's and Oregon's Klamath Basin. The film reveals how different dominant groups over the generations have extracted resources from the Klamath Basin with disastrous consequences including the collapse of wild salmon populations.

This collision between sustainability and exploitation of our precious and dimishing resources. The outcome may be the largest dam removal project in history and the restoration of a once vital river.

Playing for the World

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:03:05 +0000

In 1902, a unique combination of Native women came together at a Montana boarding school.

Walela: Live in Concert

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:47:27 +0000

Comprised of pop-singer Rita Coolidge, her sister Priscilla Coolidge, and Priscilla's daughter Laura Satterfield, Walela blends gospel, folk, and pop influences into the traditional songs of their Cherokee heritage for a contemporary take on Native American music. This CD captures the trio live in concert in Dallas, Texas, performing songs such as The Gathering of Eagles, Wash Your Spirit Clean, and many more.

Recorded at the Dallas Theater Center, Kalita Humphreys Theater, Walela's live performance is a shining example of contemporary Native American vocal music. The vocals are breathtaking, with an ethereal quality as Walela weaves its stories of historical and contemporary Native American life.

Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

Indian Country Diaries: A Seat at the Drum

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:18:33 +0000

Journalist Mark Anthony Rolo (Bad River Ojibwe) journeys to Los Angeles to talk with the survivors and descendants of American Indian families who were part of a federal program that relocated thousands of Native people from rural reservations to the cities in the last half of the 20th Century.

In A Seat at the Drum, journalist Mark Anthony Rolo (Bad River Ojibwe) journeys to L.A., the city that filled his imagination as a child. There he meets many of the thousands of American Indian families who were relocated from poor reservations to the cities in the last half of the 20th century, creating the largest Native American community in the nation -- over 200,000 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

Hand Game

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:46:32 +0000

An inside view of an ancient form of gambling that combines strategy, wit and skill.

This documentary explores the mythic and historic roots of contemporary gambling in the Northwest Native Society through a look at the traditional hand game (also called "stick game" or "bone game"). Traveling from reservation to reservation meeting engaging and colorful players, the filmmakers show how traditional ways of thinking are alive today in Indian country. An inside view of an ancient form of gambling that combines strategy, wit and skill.

Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles

Aleut Story

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:00:52 +0000

The incredible, untold story of Aleut Americans' decades-long struggle for human and civil rights.

In the turbulence of war, in a place where survival was just short of miraculous, the Aleuts of Alaska would redefine themselves -- and America. From indentured servitude and isolated internment camps, to Congress and the White House, this is the incredible story of the Aleuts' decades-long struggle for our nation's ideals.

Narrated by Martin Sheen and original music score by Grammy winner Mary Youngblood, the program draws compelling parallels to the present, as our country is grapples with challenging questions of balance between civil liberties and national security.

Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

Standing Silent Nation

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:48:54 +0000

A Lakota family tries to make a living off the land in a non-traditional way. The White Plume family tests their sovereign rights by tapping into the booming hemp product business.

When the Oglala Sioux Tribe passed an ordinance separating industrial hemp from its illegal cousin, marijuana, Alex White Plume and his family glimpsed a brighter future. Having researched hemp as a sustainable crop that would grow in the inhospitable soil of the South Dakota Badlands, the White Plumes envisioned a new economy that would impact the 85% unemployment rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation. They never dreamed they would find themselves swept up in a struggle over tribal sovereignty, economic rights, and common sense.

From the hemp fields of Pine Ridge to the US Federal Court of Appeals, the one-hour documentary Standing Silent Nation tracks one family's effort to create economic independence for themselves, their reservation, and their future generations. The hemp plant is like a new buffalo for the Lakota: a resource whose many uses from food to fuel to fiber, could enrich their sovereign nation. For three years, Alex White Plume and his family planted industrial hemp. But each year, their harvest was disrupted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which claims that hemp is marijuana despite the absence of marijuana's psychoactive properties.

Standing Silent Nation challenges contemporary notions of Native America, while providing a compelling and engaging story rarely covered in mainstream media. DVD also includes deleted scenes, producer and director interviews, trailer and the 1942 Government film -- Hemp for Victory.

Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

Robert Mirabal: Music from a Painted Cave

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:50:00 +0000

This stirring performance features Mirabal (Taos Pueblo) with a band of world champion Native singers and dancers in eye dazzling costumes, two percussionists, and players of the cello, electric guitar, and Aboriginal didgeridoo.

Special lighting effects create the illusion of a petroglyph-filled cavern wherein the performance takes place. This DVD features the complete PBS show plus 20 minutes of extra footage featuring Robert, the band and the dancers, providing an exciting behind-the-scenes glimpse into their rehearsals, revealing how they made the music and dance.

This DVD has been remixed in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound for an incredible audio experience.

Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

Great American Foot Race

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:40:47 +0000

Facing scorching temperatures, 19-year-old Andy Payne, a small-town Cherokee boy, takes home the gold after winning a grueling 3,422-mile foot race designed to bring attention to the newly constructed Route 66 Highway. The race recounted in this Emmy-nominated film became one of the wildest promotion schemes in history, allowing Andy to win enough money to marry his girl and keep the family farm.

Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

Native Nations Media Conference 2010

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:26:28 +0000

Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT) is partnering this year with the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) to expand the focus of NAJA’s annual convention. Slated for July 21-23 in St. Paul, MN, the theme for the NATIVE NATIONS MEDIA CONFERENCE (NNMC) is Words + Images x Technology = Power.

With support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, scholarships will be offered for those in need of financial assistance to attend the conference.

In addition to NAPT and NAJA, many other organizations are partnering to making this a very successful conference. For information about the conference, becoming a partner or submitting a workshop proposal, go to http://www.naja.com/index.php/2010-convention/

Aboriginal Architecture: Living Architecture

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:40:25 +0000

Aboriginal Architecture: Living Architecture explores the way Aboriginal architecture reflects the diversity of environments and Aboriginal cultures across North America.

Traditional and ceremonial buildings reflect all aspects of life in a particular region and time. Architectural designs were affected by technology, climate, society, religion, economics, and history. The film explores the way Aboriginal architecture continues to evolve in response to ongoing changes in the natural and social environment.

The modern Aboriginal communities visited in this film have many layers of architectural history encapsulated into one relatively small physical region. In these communities, prehistoric sites, recreations of historic structures and contemporary adaptations of traditional designs exist within walking distance of each other.

Three young Aboriginal architects and designers share their experiences inheriting a cultural legacy rich with purpose, tradition and ingenuity. Through their passion we experience the rejuvenation of architectural tradition that is sweeping across the continent. They take us on an in-depth journey through their own nations and we travel with them as they continually expand their horizons to explore other structures in other nations. Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

Looking Toward Home

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:51:27 +0000

This film shows how government relocation programs in the 1950s enticed significant numbers of Native Americans to leave the reservation for life in major cities such as, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The life and times of urban Indians is shown primarily through the eyes of these individuals and subsequent generations as they maintain their tribal identity far away from the culturally nurturing climate of the reservation.

This December only, receive 20% Looking Toward Home on www.visionmaker.org Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

To Brooklyn and Back

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:23:46 +0000

For over 50 years, the Kahnawake Mohawks of Quebec, Canada occupied a 10 square block hub in the North Gowanus section of Brooklyn, which became known as Little Caughnawaga. The men, skilled ironworkers, came to New York in search of work and brought their wives, children and often, extended family with them.

Little Caughnawaga: To Brooklyn and Back is the personal story of Mohawk filmmaker Reaghan Tarbell from Kahnawake, Quebec as she explores her roots and traces the connections of her family to the once legendary Mohawk community through the stories of the women who lived there.

Check with your local PBS station for air dates and times http://www.pbs.org/cgi-registry/whatson/index.cgir Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

12 Days of Native Christmas

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:21:49 +0000

The Twelve Days of Native Christmas is an animated short film written and directed by Gary Robinson with illustrations by Jesse T. Hummingbird. Check with your local PBS station for air dates and times http://www.pbs.org/cgi-registry/whatson/index.cgir Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

For the Rights of All

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:21:48 +0000

In the Alaska Purchase of 1867 the United States took on more than just the land. There were indigenous people living everywhere in Alaska. Like Native Americans in the lower 48, Alaska Natives struggled to keep their basic human rights as well as protect their ancient ties to the land. The Bill of Rights did not apply to them.

Through extensive reenactments and rarely seen historic footage and photographs, ‘For the Rights of All’ reveals these remarkable people and their non-violent struggle for civil rights. This extraordinary story bridges the Civil War to World War II to today’s Native leaders, who find inspiration in the efforts of the generations that preceded them. Those efforts culminated in the passage of the Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, one of the first such laws passed anywhere in America, and ten years before Brown versus Board of Education.

Of particular note is a young Tlingit activist, Elizabeth Peratrovich, whose dramatic testimony on behalf of the Act is fully reenacted in this film by Jeffry Lloyd Silverman. Narrated by Peter Coyote. Check with your local PBS station for air dates and times http://www.pbs.org/cgi-registry/whatson/index.cgir Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

Tribal Sovereignty

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:16:16 +0000

This classroom-tested educational program answers the most-asked questions concerning the origin, history and legal development of tribal sovereignty and the basis for the existence of American Indian tribal governments. Within this fourteen minute program, a number of academic experts address these topics: What is sovereignty and how does it relate to Indian tribes? What is the legal foundation for tribal sovereignty? How has tribal sovereignty been modified during the past 100 years? What is the federal government’s relationship to tribal nations? What is a federally recognized tribe? How did Indian gaming originate and how is it different that commercial gaming?

A Tattoo On My Heart: The Warriors of Wounded Knee 1973

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:03:48 +0000

This documentary tells the dramatic and emotional story in the words of those men and women who struggled for survival inside the bunkers and ravines at Wounded Knee.

Now Available at www.visionmaker.org

A Native American Night Before Christmas

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:19:29 +0000

This amusing animated video storybook presents a whimsical look at what a Native American Christmas Eve might be like when Old Red Shirt (the Indian Santa Claus) comes a-calling with his team of flying white buffalo to deliver commodities, fry bread and other goodies.

Way of the Warrior

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:03:51 +0000

This documentary about the warrior ethic explores how Native communities have traditionally viewed their warriors and why, during the 20th century, Native men and women have signed up for military service at a rate three times higher than non-Indians.

Waterbuster

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:56:51 +0000

Producer J. Carlos Peinado returns to the Fort Berthold Reservation and discovers stories of the past as he assesses tribal identity.

Weaving Worlds

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:13:38 +0000

Through untold stories of the intricate creation and often political sales of Navajo rugs, Weaving Worlds discloses the intimate portrait of economic and cultural survival through art.

Now Available at www.visionmaker.org

American Cowboys

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:08:05 +0000

The first Native American and first African Americans overcome persecution in the early 1900s to become the best cowboys in the country.

Christmas In The Clouds

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:48:42 +0000

The first romantic comedy set in Indian Country. A surprise visit to the Sky Mountain Resort by a major travel guide sparks mayhem, romance and comedy in this critically praised holiday feature. Stars: Graham Greene, Wes Studi and Rita Coolidge

Silent Thunder

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:31:03 +0000

Though quadriplegic, Arapaho elder Stanford Addison shares his horse whispering abilities and inspiring and timely message of universal peace and cultural tolerance. Available Now at www.visionmaker.org

Harold of Orange

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:07:20 +0000

This comedy explores the interaction of two Minnesota cultural groups, American Indians and philanthropic foundations. Stars Charlie Hill (Oneida).

This comedy explores the interaction of two cultural groups indigenous to Minnesota-- American Indians and philanthropic foundations. Poet Gerald Vizenor's screenplay draws on trickster myths common to many Indian tribes to create a contemporary satire which dispels many Hollywood stereotypes. The story involves trickster Harold and his scheme to obtain corporate funding for a chain of coffeehouses featuring reservation-grown "pinch bean" coffee.

Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

A Blackfeet Encounter

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:51:54 +0000

Exploring the only deadly clash between Native Americans and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, filmmakers trace the aftermath of the expedition's arrival and investigate the challenges and triumphs of the Blackfeet today, discovering a rich history and culture. In the summer of 1806, the Lewis and Clark Expedition headed home from the Pacific Ocean. But Meriwether Lewis had not yet accomplished a mission from Thomas Jefferson, which would take him into the heart of Blackfeet country in what is now Montana and force him into the expedition's only life-or-death encounter with a party of Blackfeet Indians. Not only did this chance confrontation put a new perspective on a peaceful expedition, it impacted the fate of the Blackfeet people forever. A Blackfeet Encounter uncovers the rich Blackfeet history and culture, traces the aftermath of the expedition's arrival and illustrates the challenges and triumphs of the Blackfeet people today. Visit http://visionmaker.semkhor.com to purchase this and other titles.

Jim Thorpe: The World's Greatest Athlete

Thu, 14 May 2009 14:42:54 +0000

From winning two Olympic gold medals to his fall from grace in amateur athletics to his rebound in professional baseball and football, Jim Thorpe represents one of the greatest machines known to man. Beginning with Thorpe's boyhood days on the Sac and Fox Nation to his rise to athletic stardom, a new documentary, Jim Thorpe: The World's Greatest Athlete, reveals the athlete who rose to the top of the athletic world only to be stripped of his Olympic medals after being accused of professional sports play.

Spiral of Fire

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:31:22 +0000

When the federal government rounded up the Cherokees and other tribes in the Southeast, some Native people escaped and created their own community. Nearly 200 years after the Trail of Tears, Author LeAnne Howe (Choctaw) visits the Eastern Band of Cherokee in North Carolina to discover how tourism, community and cultural preservation are the keys in the maintaining the tribe's health and prosperity in the 21st Century.

Available now at www.visionmaker.org

Waila

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:08:52 +0000

Waila, the contemporary dance music of southern Arizona’s tribal communities, is often called “chicken scratch.” Played at tribal functions, this fun, lively music extends cross-cultures incorporating polka, Mexican tejano, cumbias and Norteno sounds. This program, which tells the story through the Joaquin family’s four generations of Waila musicians, explores the relationship the music has on contemporary native family, community, and culture.

Please contact your local public television (http://www.pbs.org/stationfinder/index.html) to find out when they will be scheduling this program. (http://www.pbs.org/tvschedules/)

Native Nations Trailer

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:35:32 +0000

"Indian is what they used to oppress us, and Indian is what we'll use to gain our freedom." -Alberta Downwind, Ojibwe It was a turbulent time. Amid social unrest, American Indian activists and organizers struggled for sovereignty, justice and civil rights. Standing together, Native nations and the National Indian Lutheran Board emerged to speak out with a unified voice. Now available at visionmaker.org

NAPT Holiday Greeting

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:32:02 +0000

NAPT Promo Reel 2009

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:49:17 +0000

2009 Releases!

Good Meat

Games of the North

River of Renewal

Casino Nation

Power Paths

Little Caughnawaga

For The Rights of All

Jim Thorpe

We Shall Remain

Power Paths Trailer

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:30:40 +0000

An exploration of energy through the eyes of Native Americans as they reveal their quest to tap wind, solar, biomass and other power sources for their communities and cities across the country. From the Lakota Lands across the Great Plains to the Navajo and Hopi desert lands of the Southwest, Power Paths shows how tribes face fierce opposition in changing the energy habits of traditional fossil fuel dependent utilities and electric cooperatives.

Coming to Public Television in 2009.

March Point - Trailer

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:02:53 +0000

In the late 1950s, two oil refineries were built on March Point, an area that was once part of the Swinomish Reservation by treaty. March Point tells the story of three boys from the Swinomish Indian Tribe who make a movie about the destruction the refineries have wrought in their community.

Encore broadcast March 3, 2009 at 10pm ET on PBS
(Check broadcast listings)

Oceti Sakowin: The People of the Seven Council Fires Trailer

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:07:25 +0000

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 and trappers. The Oyate, the people, tell their own history and sustaining culture in this hour-long documentary, Oceti Sakowin: The People of the Seven Council Fires.

Please contact your local public television to find out when they will be scheduling this program.

Starting September 2nd, buy the DVD at visionmaker.org

American Indian Summer Institute (AISI) 2008

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:36:19 +0000

In late June, NAPT Student Worker Angel Geller (Omaha) attended the American Indian Summer Institute (AISI) in Los Angeles, which is an intensive workshop to help train Native students interested in pursuing careers in the television and film industry. This year, the groups created three PSAs about the upcoming switch from analog to digital broadcast television. This is a short documentary that she put together about her experience.

AISI (American Indian Summer Institute) 2008 Participants

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:23:04 +0000

Here are the creators of the DTV conversion PSAs we posted as well as the participants of the 2008 American Indian Summer Institute (AISI) in Los Angeles, which is an intensive workshop to help train Native students interested in pursuing careers in the television and film industry. Each participant says their name, where they're from, tribal affiliation and what role they played in the production of the PSAs.

Don't Forget Your Coupons - Native DTV PSA

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:31:09 +0000

One of three DTV conversion PSAs created at the 2008 American Indian Summer Institute (AISI) in Los Angeles, which is an intensive workshop to help train Native students interested in pursuing careers in the television and film industry.

For more information on what is happening with the DTV conversion in Indian Country go to www.nativetelecom.org/enews/dtv2009

The Big Game - Native DTV PSA

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:27:49 +0000

For more information on what is happening with the DTV conversion in Indian Country go to www.nativetelecom.org/enews/dtv2009

Your Kids Know ... Do You? - Native DTV PSA

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:24:12 +0000

For more information on what is happening with the DTV conversion in Indian Country go to www.nativetelecom.org/enews/dtv2009

Trudell Movie Trailer

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:04:07 +0000

The engaging life story of Native American poet-prophet-activist John Trudell and his heartfelt message of active, personal responsibility to the earth, all of its inhabitants, and our descendants.

Please contact your local public television to find out when they will be scheduling this program.

Buy the DVD at visionmaker.org

Trailer for "Seasoned with Spirit: A Native Chef's Journey"

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:22:59 +0000

A culinary celebration of America's oldest traditions, host and chef Loretta Barrett Oden (Citizen Potawatomi Nation) takes viewers on a journey across Native America and combines history, culture with healthy recipes inspired by indigenous foods in this five-part series.

Please contact your local public television to find out when they will be scheduling this program.

Buy the DVD at visionmaker.org

The Creek Runs Red Trailer

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:48:44 +0000

The EPA calls the mining town of Picher, Oklahoma the most toxic place in America, but the Quapaw tribe still calls it home. Today the town is divided by fears of serious health risks, environmental politics, civic pride, and old racial tensions between the Quapaw people and the non-Indian community who share the town. The Creek Runs Red explores the human response to an environmental disaster and the complex connection between people and place.

Please contact your local public television to find out when they will be scheduling this program.

Buy the DVD at visionmaker.org

The Oneida Speak - 30 Second Trailer

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:25:49 +0000

In 1935, while 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 to a federal infiltrator sent to drive people off the land to a devastating small pox epidemic.

Please contact your local public television to find out when they will be scheduling this program.

Buy the DVD at visionmaker.org

A Tribute to Frank Blythe

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 16:52:35 +0000

A tribute to NAPT's founding director from colleagues and friends upon his retirement from working in Native American public media for over 30 years.

NAPT: Three Decades

Tue, 08 May 2007 15:49:43 +0000

A short video that takes a look at the long history of Native American Public Telecommunications and how it has impacted Indian Country as well as the rest of the U.S. This video also looks to the future and the role that NAPT will play in the ever-changing media landscape.