Just in time for Native American Heritage Month in November,
Vision Maker Media presents five new films that celebrate the accomplishments
of Native peoples in the areas of medicine, math and energy empowerment.
The films provide historical context as well as modern insight on
key issues affecting Native Americans. Two of the films shed light
on the treatment of Native remains and how climate change is affecting
Native residents on a fragile barrier island in the Arctic.
ISHI'S
RETURN is about Ishi, billed in 1911 as the "last wild
Indian" when he wandered out of the woods in Oroville, California,
and became a national sensation. When Ishi died, his brain was removed
and sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Eighty
years later, his descendants in California fought to have his remains
repatriated to his ancestral home. (Distributed by NETA) Ishi's
Return Producer: Katahdin Productions
MEDICINE
WOMAN introduces the first Native American doctor and the courageous
women who follow in her footsteps. Susan La Flesche Picotte was
America's first Native doctor, breaking barriers of race and gender
to heal her traumatized people. A century later, Native women from
many tribes follow in her footsteps. What have they learned about
new ways of healing that can help us all? (Distributed by PBS Plus)
Medicine Woman Producer: NET Television
Can energy development on tribal lands empower a people while
powering the nation? And what impact will it have on their culture,
economy and the environment? RED
POWER ENERGY combines engaging storytelling with in-depth journalism,
and features a nearly all-Native film crew and Advisory Council
representing Western and Great Plains American Indian tribes in
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. (Distributed
by APT) Red Power Energy Producer: Rocky Mountain PBS
NAVAJO
MATH CIRCLES follows Navajo students in a lively collaboration
with mathematicians. Using a model called math circles, the students
stay late after school and assemble over the summer at Diné
College in Tsaile, Arizona, to study mathematics. The math circles
approach emphasizes student-centered learning by putting children
in charge of exploring mathematics to their own joy and satisfaction.
(Distributed by PBS Plus) Navajo Math Circles Producer: Zala Films,
George Csicsery
The tiny town of KIVALINA
lies on a fragile barrier island along the Chukchi Sea, 83 miles
above the Arctic Circle. With changes in climate, less ice remains
to protect the island from strong ocean waves, making it too dangerous
for residents to remain. Now, the town, the state of Alaska, and
the nation must consider whether to move the people of Kivalina
to a safer location nearby, either inland or further down the coast,
at a cost of $100 million. This film provides an intimate and unique
look into the public and private lives of one of America's last
Indigenous cultures trying to survive in the modern Arctic, where
struggles of poverty, climate change and culture are inextricably
intertwined. Kivalina Producer: Savor Terra Films
About Vision Maker Media: Vision Maker Media is celebrating
40 years as your premier source for quality American Indian and
Alaska Native educational and home videos. All aspects of our programs
encourage the involvement of young people to learn more about careers
in the media--to be the next generation of storytellers. Vision
Maker Media envisions a world changed and healed by understanding
Native stories and the public conversations they generate.
With funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB),
Vision Maker Media's Public Media Content Fund awards support to
projects with a Native American theme and significant Native involvement
that ultimately benefits the entire public media community. Vision
Maker Media, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) empowers and engages Native People
to tell stories. For more information, www.visionmakermedia.org
About NETA: The National Educational Telecommunications
Association (NETA) is a professional association that serves Public
Television licensees and educational entities in all 50 states,
the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Since 1967, our reason
for existing is to connect Public Television people and ideas by
providing quality programming, educational resources, professional
development, management support, and national representation. For
more information, www.netaonline.org.
About PBS Plus: PBS Plus
is an optional programming service for public television stations,
providing fully underwritten series and specials. Over 99 percent
of PBS stations subscribe to this service--reaching 100 percent
of national TV households. Annually, stations are provided with
approximately 600 hours of programming.
About APT : American Public Television (APT) has been
the leading syndicator of high-quality, top-rated programming to
the nation's public television stations since 1961. For more than
10 years, APT has annually distributed one-third or more of the
top 100 highest-rated public television titles in the U.S. Among
its 250 new program titles per year, APT programs include prominent
documentaries, performance, news and current affairs programs, dramas,
how-to programs, children's series and classic movies. AfroPoP,
America's Test Kitchen From Cook's Illustrated, Rick Steves' Europe,
Front and Center, Doc Martin, Nightly Business Report, Midsomer
Murders, Vera, NHK Newsline, Lidia's Kitchen, Globe Trekker, Simply
Ming, and P. Allen Smith's Garden Home are a sampling of APT's programs,
considered some of the most popular on public television. APT licenses
programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service. Now
in its 11th year, Create® TV -- featuring the best of public
television's lifestyle programming--is distributed by American Public
Television. APT also distributes WORLD, public television's
premier news, science and documentary channel. To find out more
about APT's programs and services, visit APTonline.org.
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