Amplifying Indigenous Voices: A Film Series From Reciprocity Project

Amplifiying Indigenous Voices

A seven-part series created by storytellers and community partners in response to the question: What does reciprocity mean to your community?

Seven short films will be shown, totaling a runtime of 69 minutes.

Diiyeghan naii Taii Tr’eedaa
(We Will Walk the Trail of our Ancestors)

Princess Daazhraii Johnson with Alisha Carlson (Gwich'in)

 A grandfather teaches his granddaughter, a young Gwich'in mother named Alisha, how reciprocity is embedded in all aspects of life: The northern lights warm the caribou; the caribou helps feed and sustain the community; the community honors the connections.

ᎤᏕᏲᏅ
(What They’ve Been Taught)

Brit Hensel with Keli Gonzales (Cherokee Nation)

Filmed on the Qualla Boundary and Cherokee Nation, ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught) explores expressions of reciprocity in the Cherokee world, brought to life through a story told by an elder and first language speaker.

SŪKŪJULA TEI
(Stories of My Mother)

David Hernandez Palmar with Flor Palmar (Wayuu Iipuana)

During a visit to her sister Amaliata, Rosa, a wise Wayuu woman, teaches her grandchildren the importance of reciprocity within their culture.

Weckuwapasihtit
(Those Yet to Come)

Geo Neptune and Brianna Smith (Passamaquoddy)

On the Eastern reaches of the occupied territory now referred to as North America, the children of Koluskap call upon ancestral teachings to guide them.

Weckuwapok
(The Approaching Dawn)

Co-directors (alphabetically): Jacob Bearchum, Taylor Hensel, Adam Mazo, Chris Newell, Roger Paul, Kavita Pillay, Tracy Rector, and Lauren Stevens

On these traditional homelands, Waponahkik (the people of the dawn land) bring gratitude to the sun where it first looks our way. Song and stories invite us to accept the new day and put behind us any harm done the day before.

Ma's House

Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock)

Ma’s House was once the heart of a community for the Shinnecock peoples, who have remained in their same homelands for 10,000 years. As Ma’s grandson, artist and photographer Jeremy Dennis is on a quest to restore the family home to its central role as a community gathering place for a new generation of diverse artists.

Pili Ka Moʻo

Justyn Ah Chong with Malia Akutagawa (Kanaka Maoli)

The Fukumitsu ʻOhana (family) of Hakipuʻu are Native Hawaiian taro farmers and keepers of this generational practice. While much of Oʻahu has become urbanized, Hakipuʻu remains a kīpuka (oasis) of traditional knowledge where great chiefs once resided and their bones still remain.

Reciprocity Project is a US-based organization that works alongside Indigenous storytellers and communities worldwide. They aim to lift up the value of reciprocity in Indigenous ways of storytelling through film, podcasts, and other creative mediums with the goal of creating a paradigm shift that reframes our relationships to the Earth, other living beings, and one another.