For Native American Archives & Collection Holders
Announcing Online Native Media Archives Guide

How can we secure the future of Native American media assets? A new survey asks Tribal media makers and media holders to first assess their assets and then make plans to preserve them.

Vision Maker Media's new online Native Media Archives Guide can help you begin the preservation process.

"The Native Media Archives Guide shares important steps that can be made toward keeping media safe from the elements," explained Shirley K. Sneve (Rosebud Sioux), executive director of Vision Maker Media. "We created this document for those who want to know how to begin preserving their media assets. Developing a professional archive storage system can be expensive, but we wanted to show that there are basic inexpensive steps to take to save this important material. The Guide also demonstrates written information that should be kept in a database that describes the recordings for future generations."

Thanks to the launch of the Vision Maker Media Native Media Archives website (https://nativemediaarchives.wordpress.com), Native American collection holders and Tribes can search and locate archival media in three local collections. The website hosts a search tool to locate archival collections at Vision Maker Media, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and the Nebraska State Historical Society (NSHS). It provides public access to a wide variety of archival materials including video, audio, print and photographs.

The three contributor sources include Vision Maker Media's entire documentary programming produced for Public Television since 1976 alongside UNL's and NSHS's interviews with numerous Native American elders in Nebraska history as recorded by the Junior League of Lincoln and Paul A. Olson.

A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts helped Vision Maker Media develop the initial work including cataloging and digitizing. Funds from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is allowing Vision Maker Media to continue archival efforts to collaborate with Indigenous media holders and media makers to develop a fully functional and accessible archival database, bringing together Indigenous media collections so audiences can access collections, contribute content, view films and share stories. Alana Stone (Rosebud Sioux) was hired in January as Vision Maker Media's archives assistant (astone@netad.unl.edu) to continue implementation of the plan.

Oklahoma Delivers Rich Stories
For Growing Native Series
Filming four stories in Oklahoma over the past several weeks for the Growing Native series, producer Charles "Boots" Kennedye covered a lot of ground.

First stop was with Loretta Oden Barrett and her presentation, "Taste of Native America 101," at the Will Rogers Theatre in Oklahoma City. Loretta prepared traditional dishes for an audience and talked about the importance of native health. Later, she sat for an interview and talked about her passion for traditional cuisine, and she voiced her concerns about the future of frybread and the poor diet system in place for our Native communities. The following Saturday, they found Loretta at the Farmers Market in Oklahoma City where she explained that healthy food can be found locally. 

Traveling to the Osage Country, the Growing Native crew visited the Osage Language Program located in Pawhuska. Filming continued on Thursday night at a language class, where Herman Lookout endorsed the newly developed immersion program that is making an impact with children, while acknowledging the need for an adult program.

Next stop, the 2016 Language Fair at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, where Herman spoke to a group of Osage adults and children attending the fair. Interviews with language fair coordinator, instructors and children provided a rich understanding of the significance of the event.

The next visit was to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes to film the buffalo pilot program, which provides a traditional healthy food source for their elders. Nathan Hart, the Cheyenne and Arapaho economic development director, furnished insight into the program and explained how it aligns with Tribal traditions and today's direction of his Tribe. Gordon Yellowman, Tribal elder and spiritual leader explained the buffalo's importance to the Tribal culture. Additional interviews with ranch managers explained the difficulties and scope of the program. Another important Tribal initiative is the health and wellness program which will be filmed later in the year. 

Finally, the crew visited traditional Kiowa artist Vanessa Jennings, the granddaughter of Steven Mopope, one of the famed Kiowa Five Artists. Vanessa, a Kiowa tribal elder, is known for her traditional Kiowa crafts such as moccasins, cradle boards and buckskin dresses. In 1998 she was made a National Heritage Fellow and named a living treasure by the U.S. President and Congress. She lives on the original Mopope land allotment in Red Stone east of Fort Cobb. Vanessa showed her original dresses and traditional cradle boards made by her hands. Later, she took the crew to the U.S. Post Office located in Anadarko where nine large murals painted by her grandfather still hang. Vanessa talked about the significance of his work and her love for their people. 

Thank you to everyone who helps support the production of these important Native stories. One of our goals is to continue to tell stories about how Tribes use traditional healthy food sources to improve the lives of their people. 

The cost to provide these stories often reaches $108,000 per episode, which makes your support extremely important. If you have a story idea to share, contact Charles "Boots" Kennedye: ckennedye@netad.unl.edu    More Growing Native Stories

June 8-9 - Prior to ALLIANCE 2016 Conference
Filmmaker Training in Oakland
The 2016 Vision Maker Media producer training will help filmmakers explore the strategic art of documentary storytelling in a way that ensures project completion and ultimate success. We'll highlight the use of social media in the documentary film world and the development of ancillary materials to expand the impact of your film.

Producers who are funded by Vision Maker Media will participate in this training, which will be held June 8-9, in Oakland, California. This year's training is held in partnership with ALLIANCE 2016 June 9-12, hosted by the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC).

Filmmakers who want to attend the Vision Maker Media Producer Training can register for $200 per person. Contact Georgiana Lee for more details: glee@netad.unl.edu
We're On the Road: Come Find Us

* May 8: INPUT, Calgary

* May 15: PTPA & PBS Annual Meeting, Chicago 

* June 8-9: VMM Filmmaker Training, Oakland, California

* June 9: NAMAC - ALLIANCE 2016, Oakland, California

Vision Maker Media Receives Major Funding from the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

 

Copyright © 2016. All Rights Reserved.

 

Sent On: 4/14/16