Tribal Nations Community Work
Work related to the amplification of Indigenous voices from the Diné nation and beyond.
Publications
Producing Indigenous Media
The following dialogue—with Indigenous filmmakers and anthropologists Dr. Angelo Baca (Diné/Hopi), Teresa Martinez-Chavez (Zapotec), Dr. Teresa Montoya (Diné), and Dr. Ikaika Ramones (Kanaka ʻŌiwi)—charts the ethical protocols and decisions undertaken in the production of documentary films with and within Indigenous communities. These films underscore the significance of prioritizing culturally specific protocols about knowledge production and its attendant impacts on media circulation. Each filmmaker considers the broader colonial legacies that have shaped various representations of Indigenous life and what refusing certain media conventions, such as digital distribution, might mean for theorizing Indigenous media practices in broader anticolonial frameworks.
Contemporary Storytelling Challenges on the Navajo Nation: A Native Director's Perspective with Shonie de la Rosa
Shonie De La Rosa is a Navajo filmmaker from Kayenta, Arizona who works with the Navajo Nation and his surrounding community on a multitude of impressive levels. While he is recognized for his film work nationally, winning awards at the prestigious American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, California, he is more acknowledged in Navajo country for his work as teacher, township administrator, and family man. He is seen as a local hero made famous through his work on music videos for the Navajo blues band, The Plateros.
A Renaissance man of sorts, Shonie is honest, direct, and real about his films, life, and his personal connections to the tribe and place he calls home. This is evident throughout this interview and in the diversity of his work, which ranges from a public service announcement about meth on the reservation called "G" to stirring up commentary about tribal politics in the satirical comedy D.C. Navajo to his experience at the Institute of American Indian Arts/ABC/Disney Summer Film Workshop. His independent project Mile Post 398, the only feature film to date with all-Navajo cast and crew, also highlights his honesty and ability to tackle difficult social issues in film. The film tells the story of a man struggling with alcohol and violence, something that Shonie has had to encounter and overcome on a personal basis and which many Native Americans can identify with in other communities. It was created, written, directed, produced, and acted by the De La Rosas and Navajo folks from the community, and was funded and distributed by Sheephead Films, a company founded by Shonie and his wife Andee De La Rosa.
"Miss Understood & Miss Represented": The Film and Story of our Native Women, an Interview with Steffany Suttle
Steffany Suttle, an enrolled member of the Lummi nation, is a filmmaker whose works, Fry Bread Babes, Awakening the Spirit, and Strong Hearts, are inspirational for a number of reasons. First, they have received positive acclaim for their focus on little known stories and the personal touches she brings to each as an Indigenous woman, raising important issues with bravery, courage, and sensitivity.