[Short film] Diiyeghan naii Taii Tr’eedaa
(We Will Walk the Trail of our Ancestors)

Princess Daazhraii Johnson with Alisha Carlson (Gwich'in)

"A grandfather teaches his granddaughter, a young Gwich'in mother named Alisha, how reciprocity is embedded in all aspects of life. The northern lights warm the caribou; the caribou helps feed and sustain the community; the community honors the connections. Each element in nature is purposeful and related. In turn, these connections bring new meaning to Alisha and her wishes for her children and for all living beings."

Watch:
https://www.reciprocity.org/films/diiyeghan-naii-taii-treedaa

#DCEFF #IndigenousStorytellers #IndigenousFilms #ReciprocityProject #Reciprocity #IndigenousFilmMakers #IndigenousWisdom #Gwichin #Arctic #TananChatoh

[Short film] ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught)

"Filmed on the #QuallaBoundary and #CherokeeNation, ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught) - pronounced "oo-day-yoh-nuh" - explores expressions of reciprocity within Cherokee communities, brought to life through a story told by an elder and first language speaker. ᎤᏕᏲᏅ is a reflection on tradition, language, land, and a commitment to maintaining balance. This film was created in collaboration with independent artists from both #CherokeeNation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

"Today’s Cherokees are organized into three federally-recognized tribes: Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. As with most of the films in this series, language is conveyed as an integral part of how Indigenous peoples interact with the land through culture and their distinct worldviews to enact reciprocity. Tom Belt demonstrates how embedded in the Cherokee language are worldviews for which concepts often do not have easy translations into English. For instance, the fact that there is no word for art, and that the idea of creating something with its source in the natural world means that the artist is not creating something new, but simply remaking that material into something else. “Art” is thus both a medium for creative cultural expression and that which connects humans to the natural world through the transformation of natural materials into what we call art.

"Tom also shares another key perspective, that the world does not belong to humans. He tells us the ownership of the world belongs to those who came before humans, making humans merely guests who have 'to be as careful and responsible as we can be.'

"This film further exposes how gratitude and gifting are intertwined as necessary ingredients of reciprocity. Did you notice in the beginning of the film the offering of tobacco as the tree was taken so the masks could be made? In American Indian cultures the offering of tobacco is an almost universal element of thanksgiving. Other things could be given as an offering as well. By assuming responsibility and respect for what is being taken, the offering constitutes an act of reciprocity and gratitude."

Watch:
https://www.reciprocity.org/films/udeyonv

#DCEFF #IndigenousStorytellers #IndigenousFilms #ReciprocityProject #Reciprocity #IndigenousFilmMakers #IndigenousWisdom #HonorTheEarth #EasternBandOfCherokeeIndians #UnitedKeetoowah #Reciprocity #Gratitude

[Short film]: SŪKŪJULA TEI (Stories of My Mother)

"During a visit to her sister Amaliata, Rosa, a wise #Wayuu woman, teaches her grandchildren the importance of reciprocity within their culture."

"The Wayuu people are Indigenous to La Guajira peninsula in the northern regions of today’s Colombia and Venezuela.

"Like all Indigenous communities whose lives are shaped by five centuries of colonialism in the Americas, Wayuu people continue to experience severe cultural disruption due to the domination of state structures, policies, and an international border. These disruptions are simultaneously created and exacerbated by extreme poverty and education disparities, and help to explain a high rate of child mortality. At the same time, the intensification of climate change has resulted in increasing difficulty for Wayuu communities to maintain themselves in ways they are accustomed to. This includes the values of sharing and caring for each other even over great distances, as this film demonstrates."

https://www.reciprocity.org/films/sukujula-tei

#LaGuajira #Colombia #Venezuela #Colonialism #DCEFF #IndigenousStorytellers
#IndigenousFilms #ReciprocityProject
#Reciprocity #IndigenousFilmMakers #IndigenousWisdom #Gratitude #SouthAmerica

[Short film] Weckuwapasihtit (Those Yet to Come)

#GeoNeptune and #BriannaSmith (#Passamaquoddy)

“Our film is about where we fit in within our communities and regaining everything that was taken from us, including our language, our culture, our ceremonies, and our identities as Passamaquoddy people. We’ve had to do a lot of retracing of our ancestors’ steps. It’s okay to be Passamaquoddy, and it’s okay to not know what it means to be Passamaquoddy, but we can do the work to figure it out together. I’m making this film with my good friend Geo, because it’s usually other people telling our stories for us or telling us what to share and what not to share. This time, we are telling our story in our own way. It’s especially important for us to do this for the young in our community." - Brianna Smith.

"On the Eastern reaches of the occupied territory now referred to as North America, the children of Koluskap call upon ancestral teachings to guide them. Revitalizing cultural practices kept from their elders, Peskotomuhkati young people lead an intergenerational process of healing through the reclamation of athasikuwi-pisun, 'tattoo medicine.'"

Watch:
https://www.reciprocity.org/films/weckuwapasihtit

#WabanakiConfederacy #WabanakiPeople #DCEFF #IndigenousStorytellers
#IndigenousFilms #ReciprocityProject
#Reciprocity #IndigenousFilmMakers #IndigenousWisdom #AthasikuwiPisun #TattooMedicine #Tattoos #Peskotomuhkati #Dawnland #PeopleOfTheDawn