[FRAMED] film series: Re-Learning The Land: A Story of Red Crow College at Next Stage

January 24, 2019 7:00 pm

Next Stage Arts Project will present the original film Re-learning the Land: A Story of Red Crow College as part of its [FRAMED] film series at Next Stage on Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 7:00 pm.

RE-LEARNING THE LAND is a story of the Blackfoot First Nations community in southern Alberta, Canada, and how they were retaking control of their education system within Red Crow Community College. The film traces the decolonization of their learning and the development of an innovative program, Kainai Studies, within Red Crow College, the same site as a former Residential School. The Kainai Studies program was reclaiming and teaching to a new generation the Blackfoot knowledge system that sustained their community on their land for thousands of years.

The film, made by directors Udi Mandel and Kelly Teamey in collaboration with members from the Blackfoot community, raises a host of important questions related to the purpose of education and what it takes to create a deep ecological consciousness and connection with our local environment. By witnessing how students and faculty within Red Crow College are re-building relationships with the land around them, we see a greater sense of purpose, confidence and identity from amongst those participating and learning within the Kainai Studies program.

The screening will be followed by a conversation with the filmmakers and with Rich Holschuh from the Vermont Commission for Native American Affairs.

About the directors: Udi Mandel Butler and Kelly Teamey are co-founders of the Enlivened Learning Project and the Ecoversities Alliance. They are also current Faculty in Sustainable Development at the SIT Graduate Institute, developing a new MA program in Sustainable Development (and Regenerative Practices). Their work has included an examination and critique of traditional sustainable development and current higher education systems and a collaboration with alternatives (of higher education) that are emerging from social and ecological movements and indigenous communities across the world. For an introduction to the Enlivened Learning project see: https://vimeo.com/102593162

About Rich Holschuh: Rich Holschuh is a resident of Wantastegok (Brattleboro, VT) with Mi’kmaq, Wendat, and European heritage, and a strong interest in researching indigenous culture, especially in our local region of what is now southern Vermont. He serves on the Vermont Commission for Native American Affairs and as a public liaison for the Elnu Abenaki Tribe, representing with governmental agencies of oversight. He works with the contemporary Abenaki community, partnering with a wide variety of other groups to provide outreach and build connections.

 [FRAMED] is a presentation by Next Stage Arts Project. Conceived in collaboration with former Tribeca Film Festival director Nancy Schafer, the series features feature length documentary films, each presented by the filmmaker or star in an intimate setting at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill, in Putney, Vermont.

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