Native American Voices

About This Shorts Program

We begin Sunday afternoon with a shorts program of four Anishinaabe stories as told in film.

Time is reserved for a Q&A session following the program.

This is Who I Am

The first short, This is Who I Am, tells a story of a young woman who finds strength in her Native identity in the midst of a big city.  It premiered at the United Nations earlier this year.  

Hands to the Sky and Returning

Two experimental stop-motion animations follow: Hands to the Sky and Returning. They were created by an award-winning writer, designer, and artist of games, comics, transmedia, and animation, who is Anishinaabe, Métis, and Irish.  Each uses visuals and music that arise from an Anishinaabe world view.  

The Stories We Share

The final film in the program, The Stories We Share, is a short documentary that discusses the challenges of reclaiming indigenous languages today.  The interviewees, many of them language instructors, are all from the local area: Bay Mills and Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan, and Garden River and Manitoulin Island in Ontario.  The director is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and a recent graduate of Michigan State University.