Teaching about Cultural Genocide
Conversation between Upstander Project’s Adam Mazo and Dr. Mishy Lesser with Education Talk Radio’s Larry Jacobs.
Upstander Project was featured today on Education Talk Radio. Thanks to Larry Jacobs for the coverage. Listen to the archived show here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/edutalk/2016/12/12/teaching-about-cultural-genocide
WATCH: FIRST LIGHT
A review of First Light that finds the film “quiet and informative, carried by testimonials from tribal leaders, academics, and survivors of these culturally oppressive programs.” “First Light tells the story of the systematic displacement of the Wabanaki people and what the state of Maine did to help them heal.”
“‘Imagine you’re about to have a little one, the love that you have for that little one. Imagine somebody outside of your family you don’t even know making claims on your little one. They don’t like the way you live and they’re going to take your little one by force. Imagine what the loss is when this is not just your family, but your entire community.” gkisedtanamoogk
This is is the subject of First Light, a short documentary by Adam Mazo in collaboration with the Upstander Project. The film examines how the native Wabanaki people of Maine were subjected to discriminatory child welfare practices and how the state, through The Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission, worked towards acknowledging those practices as wrong, quantified the effects of the discriminatory practices, and created space for people to share their stories.”
Continue reading at The Take Magazine.
First Light plays at Camden International Film Festival
We're honored to share our short film First Light at CIFF!
Sunday, September 18th at 10am in Rockport, Maine at the Rockport Opera House.
Details here: https://pointsnorthinstitute.org/ciff/dirigo-docs/
First Light Wins Audience Award at One Nation Film Film Festival
From the One Nation Film Festival: The AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM goes to FIRST LIGHT directed by Adam Mazo, Ben Pender-Cudlip and produced by Upstander Project.
Congratulations!
The Award was presented by Miss Northern Navajo Vanessa Sloan Lister and was accepted on your behalf by Don Anderson. Don is member of the One Nation Walking Together Board and is a registered member of the Chickasaw Tribe.
The awards were designed by Bowen Pottery
The Laurels were designed by Olivier Sabatier.
Upstander Project Presents at Harvard Graduate School of Education
Participants at the Upstander Project workshop at HGSE studied First Light learning resources and historical texts.
Upstander Project Learning Director Dr. Mishy Lesser
This video shares a truth we all need to hear on Columbus Day
“The film looks at the historical motives to remove native American children from their homes, first by sending them to boarding schools at the turn of the 20th century and then, starting in the late 50s, through adoptions.”
“The directors of “First Light” chose Columbus Day on purpose to debut the short documentary examining abuses of native children and communities within the child welfare system.
“We think it’s important to release First Light on Indigenous Peoples’ Day to shift the spotlight from Christopher Columbus, a chief architect of colonial violence, to the more than five million indigenous and Native American people living in the United States today and current critical issues: Tribal sovereignty, sacredness of children, land and tradition,” said Adam Mazo, one of the film’s co-directors in an interview on Indian Country Media Network published Monday.”
Continue reading at Bangor Daily News.
Forced Removal of Native American Children From Parents Exposed in 13 Minutes
“According to a 1976 report commissioned by the Association on American Indian Affairs, as many as one third of Native American children were separated from their families between 1941 and 1967.
“This problem of Native American children being taken from their families is not unique to Maine. And it’s been going on for decades and centuries,” said Adam Mazo.”
“A 13 minute documentary about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), set up in Maine to investigate the forcible removal of Native American children from their homes over many years, debuts today.
For hundreds of years, Federal and state governments wrested Native American children from their parents and placed them in institutions of one kind or another or in the homes of white families in an effort to “civilize the savage born”. This practice and policy left many of those children psychologically battered for the rest of their lives. One Native American woman told Maine's Truth and Reconciliation commissioners that she still has nightmares from the coming of age experience.”
Continue reading at GBH.
ICTMN Exclusive: New Film Documents Maine’s Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission
First Light, the new documentary film that explores the historic Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare TRC, is making its world debut today on ICTMN.
“First Light, the new independent documentary film that explores the historic Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC), is making its world debut today on Indian Country Today Media Network. According to the film’s directors, Adam Mazo and Ben Pender-Cudlip, the short documentary film examines the historic collaboration between the five Wabanaki tribes and the state of Maine in response to the past abuses within the state’s child welfare system.
The first of its kind in U.S. History, the Maine TRC was established in 2012 in an agreement between Governor Paul LePage and chiefs from the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians, the Penobscot Indian Nation, and the Passamaquoddy at Sipayik and Indian Township.”
Continue reading at Indian Country Today.