Indigenous People's Day Community Movie Night
Pictured: Gather Documentary Poster.
“Friends, Family, Columbia Gorge Community & Extended Relations! Let's watch a movie together~ Gather up your quaran-team and pass around the popcorn!” reads the posting of a facebook event being hosted here in the Gorge.
On October 12th, 2020 a free online screening of GATHER, a powerful documentary about the reclamation of Native Food Sovereignty is being hosted by Kenji Stasiewicz and Sullivan Mackintoch in observance of Indigenous People’s Day.
The film was a New York Times Critic’s Pick and according to the film’s website “Gather is an intimate portrait of the growing movement amongst Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide.”
“Gather follows Nephi Craig, a chef from the White Mountain Apache Nation (Arizona), opening an indigenous café as a nutritional recovery clinic; Elsie Dubray, a young scientist from the Cheyenne River Sioux Nation (South Dakota), conducting landmark studies on bison; and the Ancestral Guard, a group of environmental activists from the Yurok Nation (Northern California), trying to save the Klamath river.”
“We believe these stories need to be heard and held. May awareness grow and encourage nourishing conversations with loved ones.” Stasiewicz said. Stasiewicz will be accepting gifts in the form of donations to support Local Native Youth Education & Culture Preservation in the Columbia River Gorge Plateau. “Let us join together on this Indigenous People's Day to honor and acknowledge stories of resilience, relationship, harmony, and balance. May these stories serve as an awareness-building gateway into the stories that deserve our attention here at home on the Columbia River Plateau.”
Kenji Stasiewicz also mentioned that they will be hosting pre and post viewing speakers and discussions. “We're hosting pre & post community engagement to connect and spark conversation on Zoom with support from Mary Lee Jones & Jefferson Greene.” said Stasiewicz. “So much Gratitude.”
Get your free virtual ticket to the screening here.
(Zoom link will be sent to the email address you use to Register. If this link doesn't work, sign in to the account you used to Register for the screening and click on "Tickets." Next to the film GATHER, click on "View Screening" then scroll down and click on "Join Screening" under the countdown timer.)
SCHEDULE
5:55 PM - Official Open of Gathering on Zoom.
6:00 PM - Community Check Ins & Introductions at
6:30 PM - GATHER - Film screening at Storyspaces (1hr 24 mins)
8:08 PM - Community Discussion on Zoom supported by Mary Lee Jones, Jefferson Greene, & Kenji Stasiewicz.
9:00 PM - Official Close of Gathering
Can’t make it to the free screening of Gather? Here are some other ways to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day.
Attend an online celebration or event
Plant native plants in your garden
Go outside and connect with native habitats.
Shop at and support Indigenous Owned Businesses
Learn the Native American names for PNW Mountains
Learn more about Columbia Plateau Indian Place Names
Learn more about local Indigenous People’s History and Geneology
Enjoy Native American myths and legends from the Columbia River Gorge
Use this Native Land Map to search your address and learn more about treaties, territories, tribes and the native languages in your area.
Read something from an Indigenous Writer. The 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Award winners can be found here.
Learn more complete histories about Columbus and Indigenous People. One such lesson on Columbus and Indigenous Peoples of the Caribbean is available here in both English and Spanish.
We want the hear your Indigenous People’s Day Stories!
Check out our new local forum to share your Indigenous People’s Day photos and stories with us! Leave us a comment to tell us how you’re observing and celebrating!
Indigenous People’s Day in Oregon and across the U.S.
Today October 12th, 2020 marks both Portland and Hood River’s annual observation of Indigenous People’s Day. Portland first proclaimed Columbus Day as Indigenous People’s Day in 2015 and Hood River officially adopted the holiday just a year later in 2016. Making Today’s free screening one of a growing number of Indigenous People’s Day Celebrations that are taking place across the U.S. today.
Like The Dalles’s neighbors Hood River and Portland w, more and more states and cities are opting to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day in place of the federal holiday Columbus Day, which is usually celebrated with the closure of non-essential government offices, post offices, and banks. The growing number of places that celebrate Indigenous People’s Day has changed the name and intent of the holiday from one honoring a legacy of colonization to one honoring a legacy of Indigenous Culture.
History.com said in their article about this years observation of the federal holiday “The image of Christopher Columbus as an intrepid hero has also been called into question. Upon arriving in the Bahamas, the explorer and his men forced the native peoples they found there into slavery. Later, while serving as the governor of Hispaniola, he allegedly imposed barbaric forms of punishment, including torture.” Many places that are opting to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day instead of Columbus Day cited that they no longer wished to celebrate a man who committed genocide as a hero.
There are currently fourteen states that celebrate Indigenous People’s Day instead of or side by side Columbus Day: Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin. Other places that celebrate Indigenous People’s Day include the District of Columbia and more than 130 cities.
