John Trudell (Santee Dakota) noted activist, poet and Native thinker, died Dec. 8 after a lengthy battle with cancer. His family included some of his last messages to Indian Country in a press release. Among them: "I want people to remember me as they remember me."

John led a life dedicated to Indigenous human rights, land and language issues. He helped spark a spoken word movement that is a continuation of Native American oral traditions. 

Born Feb. 15, 1946, in Omaha, Nebraska, he spent his early years living on the Santee Reservation in northern Nebraska. His father was Santee and his mother was of Mexican Indian heritage. John claimed that he had a normal life until his mother died when he was just 6, and the new rock and roll music resonated with him from ages 9-12. He often said that high school was not good for him, and "to get away" he enlisted in the U.S. Navy from 1963 until 1967. He married Fenicia "Lou" Ordonez in 1968 in California and briefly attended college, thinking he would study radio and broadcasting.

John is featured in the Vision Maker Media film Trudell, an engaging life story that includes his heartfelt message of active, personal responsibility to the earth, all of its inhabitants and our descendants. Read more

Robin Poor Bear (Oglala Sioux) speaks to reporters at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in 2013. Photo: Rahoul  Ghose, PBS.

Robin Poor Bear (Oglala Sioux), subject of the public television documentary Kind Hearted Woman, died last month at her home in Fort Totten, North Dakota. The local Grand Forks Herald reported that the cause of the 38-year-old's death was "unclear."

Filmmaker David Sutherland (The Farmer's Wife) spent more than three years following the divorced single mother, then known as Robin Charboneau, who was struggling to raise two children on the Spirit Lake Reservation while coping with the long-term effects of sexual abuse she endured as a child.

The two-part film aired in April 2013 as a joint production of Frontline and Independent Lens. Robin told writers at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in 2013 how the film changed her life. She is survived by her two children, Darian and Anthony.

Hearing and sharing Native stories helps ensure that future generations will continue to connect with their traditions. Preserving and re-purposing media in Indian Country is just one way we honor our Elders. The changing needs of Indigenous electronic storytellers prompted Vision Maker Media to provide lessons to Native Peoples about how to care for their media library, ensuring Native stories can be preserved for the future. 

Thanks to your help, we can continue to preserve Native history and encourage an accurate and well-balanced portrayal of Indigenous People.

We thank those of you who provided your support during our first fiscal quarter.

Dawn Amory	Brendon McCauley
John Andrews	Ann McKeighan
James Berthet	Todd Mechling
Excilda Bird	Jeff  Meyers
Victor and Joanne Chandler	Cassandrea Miller
Roy  Clem	John Nacke
Sue Cronin	Mary Kathryn Nagle
JoAnna Dale	Nancy Nagramada
Scott Danahar	Kirk Perez
Jenna Dimeglio	Bruce Peterson
Colette Eastman	Penelope Phillips
Judy Eggleston	Donna Powless
Jacqueline Gaess	H. Peter Reinkordt
Donna L. Gilton	Tane Ross
Merry Glosband	Joseph Rousseau
Susan Helmink	Dan Schiedel
Anne Helms	Jodi Schwartz
Kim Holland	Michael Sciascio
Holly Horikawa	Douglas Scott Sr.
Ann Hume Freimuth	Shirley K. Sneve
Alice Klein	Virginia and Vance Sneve
Theodora Kramer	Lisa C. Sparagano
Susan Kyle	Kay Stone
Daniel  Lin	Dawn Sudano
Patty Loew	Steve Thomas
Joyce Lolinga	Larry Wainblat
Laura Markman	Al and Rhetta Walter
Linda Marra	Constance Yost