“We’re right here as company, and we’re right here to be as cautious and as accountable as we might be.”
– Thomas Belt, from “ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught)” by Brit Hensel and Keli Gonzales (Cherokee Nation)
When people lighten our footprints on the planet, the Earth heals itself. This therapeutic occurs extra readily after we adhere to a apply of reciprocity with the land, during which we are inclined to the land whereas solely taking from it what we’d like—versus the extractive practices of settler tradition. When residing in reciprocity with the lands we reside on, water and air change into clearer, animals reclaim territory and the land turns into more healthy.
The easy but profound worth of reciprocity conjures up a questioning that is still pressing: How can every of us study from Indigenous methods of being in relationship with the land and understanding extra about our cultures?
That is the inspiration for Reciprocity Venture, a collaborative effort between Nia Tero, a world nonprofit uplifting Indigenous land sovereignty via coverage and storytelling, and Upstander Venture, which uplifts silenced narratives via movie and training, in affiliation with REI Co-op Studios. Reciprocity Venture is a sequence of brief movies made by Indigenous filmmaking groups in several communities, every exploring the query: What does reciprocity imply to you?
The mission is rooted within the data that Indigenous peoples and communities have been in good relationship with—and talking the language of—this land for the reason that starting of time. Numerous Indigenous worth techniques provide a path ahead.
Beginning this Indigenous Peoples Day, all seven brief movies within the first season of the Reciprocity Venture can be found to view on the REI Co-op YouTube Channel.
“It was like one thing that was misplaced, one thing that was stolen, was gifted again to me, and it felt prefer it simply belonged there.”
– Brianna Smith, from “Weckuwapasihtit (These But to Come)” by Geo Neptune and Brianna Smith (Passamaquoddy)
One in all our objectives with Reciprocity Venture is to repeatedly construct on and assess our personal accountability practices with group, and to attempt to get rid of extractive or exploitative practices. The documentary movie business has an ongoing colonial legacy of benefiting from group members as “consultants,” bringing them in towards the top of a mission in an effort to legitimize it, reasonably than partaking them early on within the creation and manufacturing course of. In an try and restore a few of that historical past, we sought to create movies with and for Indigenous communities. From the beginning, every Reciprocity Venture filmmaker labored with somebody inside their very own group—not as a “advisor,” however as a substantive and important associate, grounding the movie in authenticity, communal data and mutual respect.
Moreover, the Indigenous communities documented in these homeland-centered tales have been additionally their first viewers: Solely after sharing the movies with the communities did we transfer ahead in looking for broader distribution and recognition. This, too, is a type of reciprocity.
“In the event you study nicely, then you’ll educate the kids.”
– Reverend Trimble Gilbert, from “Diiyeghan naii Taii Tr’eedaa (We Will Stroll the Path of Our Ancestors)” by Princess Daazhraii Johnson and Alisha Carlson (Gwich’in)
Reciprocity Venture isn’t merely a set of brief movies: It’s half of a bigger paradigm shift. Along with the movies, Reciprocity Venture features a wealthy media ecosystem of studying supplies, dialogue questions, filmmaker roundtable movies, pictures, podcasts and extra, obtainable at Reciprocity.org. That is a part of an ongoing training for these with whom these vibrant, medicinal tales resonate—individuals who will not be Indigenous, however who care deeply concerning the setting and search to contribute to its therapeutic. Reciprocity Venture is for all of us.
[pull quote] “One factor I actually wish to change via ‘Ma’s Home’ is to truly rework the general public notion of Shinnecock, the place we’re a contemporary place, the place now we have historical past being celebrated.” – Jeremy Dennis, from “Ma’s Home” by Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock)
These movies share an pressing message: The time to behave to heal the planet is now.
Listening to our elders, appreciating and incorporating their data, and serving to to spark studying among the many younger folks in our communities are methods to open house for recent concepts and methods ahead. The Reciprocity Venture movies may additionally encourage you to pay attention—actually pay attention—to the land, air, water and animals round you. Educate your self and others about the historical past of the land you might be on, the house you occupy and the Indigenous People who find themselves on that land immediately. What’s your land telling you? How is it caring for you and the way can you take care of it? And as we hearken to and study from the work of those Indigenous creators, might all of us ask ourselves the query: What sort of ancestor do I wish to be?
“Diiyeghan naii Taii Tr’eedaa (We Will Stroll the Path of Our Ancestors)” was created on Decrease Tanana Dene lands by Princess Daazhraii Johnson and Alisha Carlson. It’s the first documentary spoken absolutely within the Gwich’in language and follows an elder educating his granddaughter how the Gwich’in folks care for caribou (and vice versa).
In “ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught),” filmed by Brit Hensel and Keli Gonzales on the Cherokee Nation and Qualla Boundary, an elder shares tales that uplift custom, language, land and a dedication to sustaining steadiness.
Mom-and-son staff David Hernandez Palmar and Flor Palmar (Wayuu Iipuana) made “SŪKŪJULA TEI (Tales of My Mom)” within the Wayuu Group of Majali, Wounmainkat, Abya Yala, telling the story of a smart Wayuu lady educating her sister’s grandchildren the significance of reciprocity inside their tradition.
Geo Neptune and Brianna Smith (Passamaquoddy) made “Weckuwapasihtit (These But to Come)” on the lands of the Passamaquoddy Nations of Sipayik and Motahkomikuk: Unceded Passamaquoddy Territory. Their movie options Peskotomuhkati youth main an intergenerational strategy of therapeutic via athasikuwi-pisun, or “tattoo medication.”
“Weckuwapok (The Approaching Daybreak)” was created by a filmmaker collective comprising Jacob Bearchum, Taylor Hensel, Adam Mazo, Chris Newell, Roger Paul, Kavita Pillay, Tracy Rector and Lauren Stevens. It celebrates how the Waponahkik (the folks of the daybreak land) convey gratitude to the rising solar via tales and ceremony, joined on one particular morning at Moneskatik (Schoodic Level, Maine) by Yo-Yo Ma and different pals and guests.
Jeremy Dennis’s “Ma’s Home” was filmed on the Shinnecock Nation and serves because the filmmaker’s documentation of how he restored his household dwelling by hand to create a communal gathering place for a brand new technology of artists.
Filmed on the Occupied Kingdom of Hawai’i, “Pili Ka Moʻo” by Justyn Ah Chong and Malia Akutagawa (Kanaka Maoli) shines a light-weight on a Kanaka Maoli taro farming household on a quest to protect their ancestral land and burial grounds from settler encroachment.
We’re grateful to the peoples who welcomed these productions into their houses, communities, and lives.
