A SEAT AT THE TABLE:
Struggling For American Indian Religious Freedom
In December of 1999, 7000 spiritual leaders and scholars from around the world converged on Cape Town, South Africa, to participate in the 3rd Parliament of The Worlds Religions. Legendary Professor of religious studies, Huston Smith (The
World's Religions) attended, hosting one-on-one conversations with eight American Indian leaders:
Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee); Native American Rights Fund
* Overview of the American Indian struggle for religious freedom
Winona LaDuke (Anishinabe); White Earth Land Recovery Project
* Native religions & the Earth; pollution & clear
cutting as religious persecution
Frank Dayish, Jr. (Dine); Native American Church of North America
* Struggle for The N.A.C.'s religious use of Peyote
Charlotte Black Elk (Lakota); Advocate for protection of the Black Hills
* Protection of & Native access to sacred sites
Doug George-Kanentiio (Mohawk); Journalist / Activist
* Destruction of Native languages & resulting damage
to Native ceremonies
Lenny Foster (Dine); Navajo Nation Corrections Project
* Injustices faced by incarcerated Native Americans
Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga); American Indian Law Alliance
* Spiritual threat to Indigenous peoples by the Human Genome Diversity Project
Guy Lopez (Lakota); Association on American Indian Affairs
* Disrespect of Apache beliefs by University of Arizona
& Jesuit Astrophysicists
Includes messages by His Holiness The Dali Lama, South African President Nelson Mandela and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anon. The ceremonial opening of the week long Parliament flamboyantly displays the rich variety of religious traditions from around the world including the performance of an Iroquois ancestral song by Grammy nominated singer Joanne Shenandoah (Oneida), who also serves as narrator for the documentary.
For more information on the dialog participants:
Participants
For background information on American Indian religious freedom issues:
Background
Awards
Awards for A SEAT AT THE TABLE:
- 2005 New York Festivals "Finalist Award"
Screenings
Screenings of A SEAT AT THE TABLE:
- 2/25/2005, Syracuse University, Schaffer Art Building Auditorium, Syracuse, NY, 2PM
In person, Professor Huston Smith, Director Gary Rhine, Writer Phil
Cousineau and more.
For more info call: Phil Arnold at (315) 885 7503
- 11/19/04, American Academy of Religion, National Convention, San Antonio, TX
- 07/2004, Parliament of the World's Religions, Barcelona, Spain
- 07/23/04, The Wine Country Film Festival, Jessel Gallery, Napa, CA
- 06/05/04, The Mythic Journeys Conference, Atlanta, GA
Programmed by Parabola Magazine's Cinema of the Spirit Film Festival
- 05/17/04, Amnesty International Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA
Screening sponsored by UCLA Indian Studies Program
- 05/15/04, Taos Film Festival of The Arts, Taos, NM
- 04/24/04, The Artivist Film Festival, The Egyptian Theatre. Hollywood, CA
- 04/16/04, Stars In The Desert, Tuba City, AZ
- 03/13/04, Palm Springs Native American Film Festival
- 01/25/04, The Native Voices Film Festival, Rapid City, South Dakota
- 11/22/03, Committee For A Parliament of the World's Religions
Special Screening at the Gene Siskel Theatre, Chicago IL
- 11/17/03, National Congress of American Indians Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM
- 11/11/03, American Indian Film Festival, SF CA
- 11/04/03, Human Rights Film Festival, Seattle, WA
- 10/19/03, The Bioneers Film Festival/Conference, San Rafael, CA
- 09/21/03, Amnesty International Film Fest, Salt Lake City
For more information, contact Irene Romero (imromero@kifaru.com).
|
 |
reviews
"Gary Rhine has made another fine film in defense of the religious traditions
of Native Americans. Setting this one in the context of a religious convention
in South Africa makes the case of our own native people particularly egregious
and particularly poignant. They are recognized the world over as keepers of a
vital piece of the Creator's original orders, and yet regarded as little more
than squatters at home. Gary's film features fine footage, impressive interviews,
and once again, gives a voice to the voiceless".
Peter Coyote
"A Seat At The Table is a valuable and insightful film about a too long overlooked topic, the right of Native American people to have their sacred sites and practices honored and protected. Let's hope it gets shown far and wide, enough to bring about a real shift in policy and consciousness".
Bonnie Raitt
"A welcome overture by Native religious practitioners to demonstrate to the
other religions the nature of the longstanding traditions whereby our people
achieved a powerful relationship with the mysterious power that creates, sustains
and guides our lives. Religions represent insights and experiences rather than
masses of followers and while many religious traditions encourage the development
of the individual, the native religions, perhaps more than any others, stimulate
the highest level of maturity and achievement; that of community responsibility.
For that reason we deserve more than a seat at the table but perhaps the speaker's
podium as well".
Vine Deloria, Jr.
"Informative ...overview of the diverse religious-freedom issues effecting
Native Americans. ...Worthy material for educational outlets -- particularly
classrooms, given that its eight distinct sections can easily be shown one or
a few at a time. ...Issues highlighted here include clear-cutting forests, pollution,
land development and governmentally limited access to sacred sites. ...vanishing
native languages, difficulty prison inmates have in observing their religion,
and the criminalization of ritual peyote use. ...Irony is not lost that First
Nation peoples are experiencing such disputes in a country expressly founded
to protect religious freedom".
Variety
"The Indian Wars are still being fought. The same institutions that perpetrated the genocide historically continue to support or condone them. The methods may have changed but strategy remains the same: the conquest of the Indian Nations, the usurpation of their land and the eradication of any witness to or evidence of the holocaust. "A SEAT AT THE TABLE" is
a testament to the resilience and fortitude of native peoples in their struggle
to preserve their culture and traditions against the onslaught of an overweening
materialism that threatens all life on the planet".
Jamie Cromwell
|
