Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action

[Native Enviro Docu-Film]

Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action

February 6, 2005

Winner of two awards at 2005 Santa Barbara International Film Festival
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BACKGROUND

One of the most critical but least known human rights stories in America is the savaging of Native American lands and its impact on Native peoples. Nearly all Indian nations sit on land threatened by ruinous environmental hazards: toxic waste, strip mining, oil drilling, and nuclear contamination. The realities that the tribes live with are bleak, with children playing near radioactive waste, rivers that tribes depend on for food are poisoned, and reservations are completely surrounded by strip mines and smoke stacks spewing noxious fumes.

Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action takes a hard look at these realities. It tells the stories of five remarkable Native American activists in four communities who are fighting these "new Indian Wars" - each in his own way passionately dedicated to protecting Indian lands against disastrous environmental hazards, preserving their sovereignty and ensuring the cultural survival of their peoples. With the support of their communities, these leaders are actively rejecting the devastating affronts of multi-national energy companies and the current dismantling of thirty years of environmental laws.

There are internal struggles to be overcome as well. For many who live in extreme poverty on reservations lacking sufficient infrastructure, there is little hope for jobs, few prospects for a better life. The lure of fast cash from big companies outweighs the long-range promise of environmental and cultural preservation.

From Alaska to Maine, Montana to New Mexico and against some of America's most spectacular backdrops, these first-person journeys unfold as our characters demand change, and rally grassroots support against the corporate and government behemoths who are exploiting and befouling tribal lands.

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"HOMELAND" TO HAVE WORLD PREMIERE AT SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE DETAILS ENVIROMENTAL DEVASTATION AND NATIONWIDE BATTLE TO SAVE NATIVE AMERICAN LANDS

A feature-length documentary telling the story of some of the most grievous but little-known environmental and human rights violations in America today, Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action will make its world premiere at the Santa Barbara Film Festival on Thursday, February 3rd. The movie, produced by the Katahdin Foundation, uncovers the reality of life on Indian lands across America: children playing near radioactive waste, tribes forced to fish in poisoned rivers, and reservations hemmed in on all sides by strip mines and factories whose smokestacks spew noxious fumes.

Homeland takes the first in-depth look at the environmental hazards that threaten Indian nations, and at the handful of activists who are leading the fight in these new Indian Wars. Their battle is a formidable one. Nearly all 317 U.S. Indian reservations sit on land blighted by everything from toxic waste and nuclear contamination to strip mining and oil drilling. The environmental devastation threatens to worsen with the heightened efforts of multi-national energy companies, and with current government efforts to dismantle thirty years of environmental law.

The film tells this story through the eyes of four activists, presenting dramatically different first-person narratives set against the backdrop of some of the country¹s most spectacular landscapes. Gail Small, an attorney from the Northern Cheyenne nation, is leading the fight to protect the Cheyenne homeland from 75,000 proposed methane gas wells that threaten to make much of the reservation unsuitable for farming or ranching. Evon Peter is the former chief of an isolated Alaska community of Gwich¹in people, who are working against current efforts to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Mitchell and Rita Capitan founded an organization of Eastern Navajo people whose only source of drinking water is threatened by proposed uranium mining. And Barry Dana, the former chief of the Penobscot Nation in Maine, is battling state government and the paper companies that have left his people unable to fish or swim in or harvest medicinal plants from the river on which they¹ve depended for 10,000 years.

Homeland offers unprecedented access to Native American life, from a Gwich¹in wedding celebration to the private mourning of a Navajo woman who lost her father to uranium-induced cancer. Filmed primarily in Super 16MM, it also includes archival footage, along with music from Bay Area composer Todd Boekelheide. The film is aiming for PBS broadcast in November, 2005, accompanied by an extensive outreach campaign that will include collaborations with a network of Native American organizations, social justice and human rights groups, and environmental organizations. The campaign will be coordinated by Active Voice, a team of communication specialists working for personal and institutional change in communities and workplaces.

The Katahdin Foundation, whose motto is "changing the world one frame at a time," also enlisted the aid of several leading Native American environmental activists in planning and filming Homeland. In addition to Gail Small, whose work is documented in the film, those involved include Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabeg) of the Honor the Earth Foundation and Tom Goldtooth (Diné/Dakota) from the Indigenous Environmental Network.

Homeland was shot on film by esteemed cinematographer, Dyanna Taylor; directed by veteran documentary filmmaker, Roberta Grossman, executive produced by Lisa B. Thomas and produced by the Katahdin Foundation.

The world premiere of Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action will take place at the 20th Anniversary of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, on Thursday, February 3rd at 6:30 p.m. at Victoria Hall. Evon Peter, Mitchell and Rita Capitan, and Gail Small will attend the premiere. The film will also screen on Saturday, February 5th at 7 p.m.

The Katahdin Foundation is a not-for-profit, 501 (c) (3) corporation based in Berkeley, California. Katahdin¹s mission is to tell compelling stories often ignored by the mainstream media ­ stories that inform, enlighten, entertain, inspire and even enrage. Katahdin is dedicated to creating high quality documentary films, ancillary educational materials and media projects that open minds, provoke dialogue and encourage positive social change ­ outstanding works that touch the soul as they sound a call to action.

Stacy Freeman
Jane Ayer Public Relations
3205 Ocean Park Blvd Suite 240
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 581-1330 ext. 107
(310) 581-1335 fax
pr@janeayerpr.com

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