2012 Indigenous Music and Movies in the Park Series
Free Family Event - Tuesdays in August at Father Hennepin Bluffs Park
Events begin at 6:30 p.m., movies begin at dusk
Bring a lawn chair or blanket and take in the view of Minneapolis’ downtown skyline as you enjoy Indigenous Music and Movies. The series is hosted by the First Nations Composer Initiative, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, and Independent Indigenous Film & Media. In its third season, Indigenous musicians, artists, filmmakers, producers and actors will be showcased in a four-part music and movies series at Father Hennepin Bluffs Park in Minneapolis.
This series features:
- Local and national American Indian music makers
- National American Indian Film-makers
- Dakota Astronomer and Educator; Jim Rock will present Dakota Star knowledge
- Emcee, Ms. Lisa Yankton
- Dream of Wild Health will serve traditional Native foods related to each movie's theme, and will sell freshly harvested, organic vegetables
Father Hennepin Bluffs Park is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River at 420 Main St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Bike racks are located in the park. Parking is available at meters along Main Street, local parking lots and city streets east of the park. Metro Transit bus line #6 comes within two blocks of the park.
"Indigenous Music and Movies in the Park" series is a celebration of Us; An overall goal of FNCI's within the Indigenous Music & Movies in the Park series is to address the need to provide an educational and intercultural exchange through public art from a grassroots platform to help shatter stereotypes that exist towards American Indians through music and culture. It is a way to connect our voices both locally and nationally. All communities are invited to enjoy, celebrate and participate!
This year much of the programming will commemorate the Dakota-US war of 1862. Forty Dakota warriors were hung, marking this as the USA’s largest mass execution to ever take place. Programming dedicated to our Dakota relatives and friends include Dakota Star Knowledge, music by Maza Kute and the Mankato Symphony Orchestra, Live “2 Minutes of Truth Telling” and a screening of the film Dakota 38. Jewell Arcoren, FNCI Program Director extends an invitation to you and all your friends and family to enjoy this FREE Family friendly Indigenous Music and Movies in the park 2012!
American Indian director, producer and series film curator, Missy Whiteman of Independent Indigenous Film & Media says,"It is important that we all come together as community to support our talented Indigenous musicians, performers and filmmakers. It is even more important that we share their songs and stories with the world and Indigenous Music and Movies in The Park is a wonderful opportunity to do just that."
The music and movie series will take place on the banks of the Mississippi River and highlight the St. Anthony Falls area which was and is sacred to the Dakota. The Dakota had a variety of names for St. Anthony Falls including "O-Wa-Mni" (whirlpool) or “Ha-Ha Tanka” (waterfall). When Father Louis Hennepin saw the falls in 1680 he renamed them in honor of his patron saint, Anthony of Padua. The falls is the only water fall on the entire length of the Mississippi River and served as the catalyst for the development of Minneapolis.
August 7, 2012
Jim Rock presenting Dakota Star Knowledge
Music: Quese IMC (Pawnee-wolfband/Seminole-bear clan), begins at 7 p.m.
Quese IMC has performed both nationally and internationally and is an award winning Indigenous hip-hop artist! He truly loves the art form of hip-hop expression and uses this instrument to bring forth awareness, consciousness, and change within people and communities, not by force but by invitation. This invite consists of building bridges within the people and aligning ones ideas and spirit so that true spiritual exchange can be moved about through the power of word, music, art and connection. Quese has been producing music for over a decade.
Movie: Good Meat 57 minutes, begins at dusk
On the Pine Ridge Reservation, 35-year-old Beau LeBeau is remembered as one of the greatest high school star athletes in South Dakota. He could often be found running through the Badlands at Thunder Valley, but now he is having trouble even walking these same hills. Beau's many years of poor diet and lack of exercise have caused obesity, weighing in at 333 pounds. In the beginning of filming Good Meat, Beau discovers that he has Type II Diabetes. This real-time film documents Beau's journey as he confronts his own health issues head-on by adopting a traditional Lakota diet centered on Indigenous foods such as buffalo, along with regular exercise. The film follows both Beau's struggles and triumphs as he works with Dr. Kevin Weiland and nutritionist Kibbe Conti (Oglala Lakota) to regain his health.
August 14, 2012
Jim Rock presenting Dakota Star Knowledge
Music: Johnny Smith (Red Lake Ojibwe) and Friends, begins at 7 p.m.
Swing your partner and dance your socks off to local legend Country and Western singer/performer Johnny Smith. Enjoy Johnny’s repertoire and renditions of oldies but goodies. Johnny Smith aka; “the Indian Elvis” has been crooning audiences all over this land for the past 50 years plus! Johnny plays both Country and Western as well as old time Rock & Roll. This local legend is also a traditional Ojibwe singer and original founder of the Red Lake drum group. Johnny Smith and Friends are sure to get you dancing, smiling and remembering the “good ole’ days”!
Movie: On The Ice 96 Minute, begins at dusk
Rated R, Not recommended for children under age 17
On the Ice is stark, unadorned, timeless and yet of the moment. A tale of living and dying on the edge of the world. The crime drama is sort of snowbound film noir. Shot entirely on location in Barrow, Alaska, On the Ice is the engrossing and suspenseful feature film debut by filmmaker Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Inupiat) about two teenage boys who have grown up like brothers who go about their lives in the comfortable claustrophobia of an isolated Alaskan town. Qalli is the student with a future: He'll escape to college in the fall, his chance out of the dead-end world of Barrow. Aivaaq is his lifelong friend: his mother hopelessly alcoholic, his father long dead, himself on the road to alcoholism. Aivaaq's a carefree kid without a future. Early one morning, on a seal hunt with another teenager, an argument between the three boys quickly escalates into a tragic accident. Bonded by their dark secret, the two best friends are forced to create one fabrication after another in order to survive. The shocked boys stumble through guilt-fueled days, avoiding the suspicions of their community as they weave a web of deceit. With their future in the balance, the two boys are forced to explore the limits of friendship and honor. There's simplicity to MacLean's story-telling that is deceptive. The emotions are right out front in a community regularly confronted with the effects of alcoholism and meth use. The setting for this small-scale drama, hometown to director Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, is so unique and gorgeously shot you'll find yourself wishing it was a documentary.
August 21, 2012
Jim Rock presenting Dakota Star Knowledge
Music: Maza Kute drum (Santee Dakota) and The Mankato Symphony Orchestra (MSO), begins at 7 p.m.
The Maza Kute is a traditional singing group from the Santee Indian Reservation in Nebraska. Formed in 1979, the Maza Kute drum group has been singing for more than 30 years. This drum group has kept the music alive in the Santee community with the help of many great singers.
Mankato Symphony Orchestra was organized in 1950, the mission of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra is to celebrate classical music through public presentation, to promote arts education by introducing the children of our community to the wonders of orchestral and choral music, to make such music accessible to all residents, and to contribute vital energy to regional economic development and cultural tourism. Together they will perform a rendition of “Paha Sapa Olowan” (song for the Black Hills) composed by Brent M. Davids (Mohican). They will then perform a version of Pow wow Symphony.
Movie: Dakota 38, begins at dusk
In the spring of 2005, Jim Miller, a Native spiritual leader and Vietnam veteran, found himself in a dream riding on horseback across the great plains of South Dakota. Just before he awoke, he arrived at a riverbank in Minnesota and saw 38 of his Dakota ancestors hanged. At the time, Jim knew nothing of the largest mass execution in United States history, ordered by Abraham Lincoln on December 26, 1862. "When you have dreams, you know when they come from the creator... As any recovered alcoholic, I made believe that I didn't get it. I tried to put it out of my mind, yet it's one of those dreams that bother you night and day." Now, four years later, embracing the message of the dream, Jim and a group of riders retrace the 330-mile route of his dream on horseback from Lower Brule, South Dakota to Mankato, Minnesota to arrive at the hanging site on the anniversary of the execution. "We can't blame the wasichus anymore. We're doing it to ourselves. We're selling drugs. We're killing our own people. That's what this ride is about, is healing." This is the story of their journey- the blizzards they endure, the Native and Non-Native communities that house and feed them along the way, and the dark history they are beginning to wipe away. "DAKOTA 38" is Smooth Feather Production's first feature length documentary film.
August 28, 2012
Jim Rock presenting Dakota Star Knowledge
Music: Bluedog – (Dakota/Ponca/Lakota), begins at 6 p.m.
The Bluedog band won the 2010 NAMMY (Native American Music Award) for Group of the Year. The band was formed in 2001 by Joni and Eric Buffalohead. Bluedog’s latest release is a single called “Get Up & Get Out”. This song is was nominated in the best blues category for the 2010 Indian Summer Music Awards; and, nominated in two categories: Best Blues & Group of the Year for the 2010 Native American Music Awards (NAMMY’s). The band has performed across the United States in Hollywood, FL (Native American Music Awards), Milwaukee, WI (Indian Summer Music Awards), Toppenish, WA (Yakima Tribal Jam), Minneapolis, MN (Indian Summer Music Festival), and the Thief River Falls, MN (Last Ride Blues Festival 2009 & 2010). The band has fronted notable blues acts including: The Robert Cray Band, Indigenous, Los Lonely Boys, Kenny Neal Band, Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, Ana Popovic, Walter Trout, Shannon Curfman, and the Jerry Garcia Band. The Bluedog band is a six piece blues/rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Music: Leeann Goose, begins at 7 p.m.
Leanne Goose is Dene/Inuvialuit Singer Song-Writer originally from Inuvik, Northwest Territories. Her powerful voice & energy radiate through her full bodied performance style. Her diversity ranges from rich country-blues, soulful jazz to rock. Leanne has a reputation of making each song all her own painting a musical soundscape as rich as Arctic homeland...Leanne began singing at the age of 12 & comes from a family of musicians. Leanne started out traveling with her father's band, developing her style & building her audience. Leanne was born and raised in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. Her family & traditional life experiences traveling the Mackenzie River Valley to Arctic Coast of the Yukon & NWT fuels her passion for music. Leanne's music reflects her life in Canada's North. Long nights spent in darkness and days with no light. The inspiration and motivation is every day living, love of home land, the people, the culture - the messages are universal. The music is a reflection of the essence of the Canadian Western Arctic, the mountains, the MacKenzie River, the music of their home ~ Northern Soul.
The program series is made possible through the support of the St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board and General Mills Community of Colors Grant.
Presented By:
