Midterm Project Resources

Here is the introduction to my midterm project and a list of resources relating to Winona LaDuke and Alanis Obomsawin.

In the realm of Indigenous activism two figures stand out in my mind: Winona LaDuke and Alanis Obomsawin. As activists for Indigenous rights, Obomsawin and LaDuke employ their own forms of matrilineal resistance to bring awareness to environmental issues faced by Native people and to bring restoration to Indigenous culture, values, spirituality, and way of life. Both LaDuke and Obomsawin have a niche with which they explore, express, and bring awareness to Native environmental issues though. Winona LaDuke primarily is an author and activist. She writes books such as All Our Relation: Native Struggles for Land and Life which explores the issues relating to the deliberate targeting of Native lands for toxic waste disposal and industrial development (LaDuke, 1999). At age eighteen LaDuke spoke at the United Nations addressing Indigenous environmental concerns, she went on to get degrees both from Harvard and Antioch Universities (Speak out!). Alanis Obomsawin on the other hand looks through the lens of film to bring awareness to these issues. In her film Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance she illustrates the Mohawk resistance to a golf course that is to be built on part of the Mohawk’s land. Starting her film career in 1967 after an appearance on Ron Kelly’s television show where she was profiled, Alanis was invited to act as a consultant on a film (Women make movies, 2005). Since her appearance she has not only continued to work on films but has researched, written, filmed, narrated, directed, and coproduces most all of her documentaries (Lewis, 2006, p. 71). Throughout their work both Alanis Obomsawin have used their forms of matrilineal resistance to bring awareness to Native environmental issues. In doing so they have written multiple works and created multiple documentaries illustrating these issues. What follows is a list of their works and how these works pertain to matrilineal forms of resistance, restoration, and environmental justice. In illustrating these themes I am going to provide resources, images, information about the accomplishments of both women, and suggestions for future work that could be done.

List of Works written by Winona LaDuke

All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life

Recovering the Sacred: The Power of Naming and Claiming

Last Standing Woman

The Winona Laduke Reader: A Collection of Essential Writings

Daughters of Mother Earth: The Wisdom of Native American Women

Sister Nations: Native American Women Writers on Community

The full list and information about each book can be found at:

http://books.google.com/books?as_auth=Winona+Laduke&source=an&sa=X&oi=book_group&resnum=4&ct=title&cad=author-navigational

List of Films by Alanis Obomsawin


Christmas at Moose Factory

Christmas at Moose Factory (Animated, 1971) Also script and text

Amisk (1977) Also producer

Mother of Many Children (1977) Also producer, script and text, narration

Canada Vignettes: Wild Rice Harvest Kenora (1979) Also script and text

Canada Vignettes: June in Povungnituk - Quebec Arctic (1980) Also script and text, narration

Incident at Restigouche (1984) Also producer, script and text, narration

Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Métis Child (1986) Also producer, script and text


Mother of Many Children

Poundmaker's Lodge: A Healing Place (1987) Also producer, script and text

No Address (1988) Also producer, script and text

Walker (1991)

Le Patro Le Provost 80 Years Later (1991) Also producer, script and text

Kanehsatake 270 Years of Resistance (1993) Also producer, script and text, narration

My Name is Kahentiiosta (1995) Also producer, script and text, images, sound

Spudwrench - Kahnawake Man (1997) Also producer, script and text, sound

Rocks at Whiskey Trench (2000) Also producer, script and text, narration

This information can be found at:

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/obomsawin.html

Resources on/about Winona LaDuke• http://nativeharvest.com/
• http://speakoutnow.org/userdata_display.php?modin=50&uid=79
• http://www.vassar.edu/headlines/2007/winona-laduke.html
• http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/Winona_LaDuke.html
• http://books.google.com/books?as_auth=Winona+Laduke&source=an&sa=X&oi=book_group&resnum=4&ct=title&cad=author-navigational

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=411VtwEICiwC&dq=winona+LaDuke&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=1pg8RZAb65&sig=ZydwvRBy_ad8WHV4Yjo8lUiV-2A&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

Resources on/about Alanis Obomsawin

http://www.onf.ca/webextension/alanis-obomsawin/bio.php

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/obomsawin.html

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=lPIZGC03HfYC&dq=alanis+obomsawin&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=klfbUiHpC6&sig=S98iBAY7Mrk2-NyNkLOuTuqAuRI&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result

http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/makers/fm277.shtml

http://www.canadacouncil.ca/aboutus/artistsstories/aboriginal/af127519147338093750.htm

http://www.nfb.ca/portraits/alanis_obomsawin/


References

LaDuke, W. (1999). All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life. Cambridge, Ma: South End Press.

Lewis, R. (2006). Alanis Obomsawin: The Vision of a Native Filmmaker. Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, Manufactured in the United States of America.
NFB Portraits: Alanis Obomsawin. (2007). Retrieved November 2, 2008 from http://www.nfb.ca/portraits/alanis_obomsawin/

Speak Out! Biography and Booking Information: Winona LaDuke (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2008 from http://speakoutnow.org/userdata_display.php?modin=50&uid=79

White Earth Land Recovery Project: Winona LaDuke (2006). Retrieved October 31, 2008from http://nativeharvest.com/winona_laduke

Williams, P. (1932). Sense of Cinema: Alanis Obomsawin. Retrieved November 1, 2008from http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/obomsawin.html

Women Make Movies: Alanis Obomsawin (2005). Retrieved November 2, 2008from http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/makers/fm277.shtml