FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Laura Hart, 401-456-8977, lhart@ric.edu
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Two films probing Native American culture – “Black Indians: An America Story” and “Two Spirits” – will be showcased along with follow-up panel discussions at Rhode Island College (RIC) on Saturday, March 21, from 1:30-4:30 p.m. in Clarke Science 125, 600 Mt. Pleasant Ave., Providence.
“Black Indians: An America Story” (2000) brings to light a forgotten part of America’s past – the cultural and racial fusion of Native and African Americans. Narrated by James Earl Jones, himself a Black Indian, this 60-minute film explores what brought the two groups together, what drove them apart and what challenges they face today as minority peoples often discounted or ignored by mainstream America.
The film is accompanied by music from Native American and African American artists. “Black Indians” captured several distinguished awards, including the Award of Distinction at the Indian Summer Festival 2005. “Black Indians” writer and filmmaker Daniel Smith is also the creator of a prize-winning documentary about Native American life called “Cherokee Legacy: The Trail of Tears” (2006).
“Two Spirits” (2009) relays the tragic story of a mother’s loss of her son who was considered a Nádleehí, or a person with two spirits. Nádleehí is defined as a male-bodied person with a feminine nature, a special gift, according to ancient Navajo culture. The subject of this documentary became one of the youngest hate-crime victims in modern history when he was brutally murdered at 16.
This 65-minute film explores the life and death of this boy who was also a girl, as well as the spiritual nature of gender, the traditions once widespread among North American indigenous cultures and the contemporary lives of Native two-spirit people.
The work of co-writer and director Lydia Nibley has been broadcast internationally and she has created works that have received Emmy, Clio and other preeminent film awards.
RIC’s Native American Film Festival is part of the school’s expanding Native American programming about aboriginal peoples historically located in New England and other parts of the country.
“Rhode Island College is proud to be a co-sponsor of the Native American Film Festival, celebrating the richness of past and present Native culture,” noted RIC President Nancy Carriuolo. “We are just beginning to do our part in helping them tell their story – which is also our story.”
The film festival represents a continuation of the work of the New England Native American Culture Committee (NENACC), which has created and funded woodland Indian programs on the RIC campus during the fall season for the past five years. Among the principal sponsors are Rhode Island College, the Historic Mashapaug Narragansett Tribe, the Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.
“‘Black Indians’ and ‘Two Spirits’ are exactly the right choices to kick off what we hope will become an annual film event here in New England,” said Lawrence Wilson, who co-chairs NENACC and is former CEO and Tribal Councilor of Connecticut’s Eastern Pequot Nation. “The merging of Native and Black ancestry, especially prevalent in lands east of the Mississippi, continues to impact attitude and thought. Also gender authenticity, which has long been part of Native culture, is now being advanced by many of the majority cultures.”
The Native American Film Festival is open to the public free of charge. For further information, please contact Lawrence E. Wilson at 401-456-9529 or LWilson@ric.edu.
Established in 1854, Rhode Island College serves approximately 9,000 graduate and undergraduate students through its five schools: the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development, the School of Social Work, the School of Management and the School of Nursing. For more information, visit www.ric.edu.
