CASTING NOTICE FOR FIRST NATIONS (Native American or Native) MEN AND WOMEN
Artist Terrance Houle’s “Casting Call” is a new production being filmed in Toronto, Ontario. Auditions will be conducted by the artist.

Open casting call for First Nations, Native American, Métis, Half-breed, Quarter, Indian Princesses and Princes, Powwow Dancers, Powwow Drummers, 1/8th’s, Rez, City Indians, Aboriginals, Status, Non-Status, Red Indian people between 15 and 100, both male and female, Young, Middle-Aged and Elders. Acting experience a plus, but not necessary.

• Traditional, contemporary, bannock experience, Native war veterans, horse riding experience, an interest in bingo, war paint, Indian cars, regalia, black wigs are all assets but not necessary
• Any size and shape will be acceptable. We are looking for fit, big, small, tall, hunky, and beautiful, ugly, etc.
• Braided hair, long black or short will be acceptable
• Love of nature, animals and outdoors is a must
• Deep respect for Mother Earth
• Must know the Four Directions
• Owners of buckskin loin cloth, breach cloth and general hides a bonus
• Fluent in Native language and English
  

We are looking for Stony, Blackfoot, Cree, Ojibway, Dene, Navajo, Haida, Salish, Sioux, Métis, Crow, Pawnee, Micmac, Mohawk, Seneca, Algonquin, Inuit, Cayuga, Oneida (Etc.) or anyone of the like.

Must have experience as one of the above criteria.

Auditions will be for roles of Natives playing Non-Natives acting in Native roles. Book your spot now or come out for the open casting call!

Casting Dates and Location
Friday, October 17, 10am – 3pm (Auditions by appointment, spectators welcome)
Saturday, October 18, noon – 4pm (Open auditions, everyone welcome)

Trinity Square Video
401 Richmond St. West, Suite 376
Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
(416) 593-1332

To schedule an appointment for Friday, October 17, 2008, please contact Aubrey Reeves at Trinity Square Video. (416) 593-1332 or aubrey@trinitysquarevideo.com

Casting Call is a non-union interactive performance art project. Participation in the project is strictly volunteer.

National American Indian Heritage Month is celebrated every year in the month of November to honor and recognize the original peoples of this land. The first “American Indian Day” was declared by the State of New York in 1916, but a month long recognition of Native Americans was not achieved until 1990. In that year President George H.W. Bush signed a joint congressional resolution designating November 1990 as “National American Indian Heritage Month.” The American Indian Film Institute (AIFI) hopes to encourage the media to recognize National American Indian Heritage Month this year. Each year many ethnicities receive coverage nationally and internationally including Asian-Pacific Heritage, LGBT Pride, Latino, and Black Heritage Month. This year National American Indian Heritage Month should receive more recognition not because of the lack of media coverage but because of the importance of educating the public about the heritage, history, art, and traditions of the American Indian.
Since 1975, the American Indian Film Festival has displayed over 1000 films providing inspiration and support for Native film projects. We encourage Native/non-Native filmmakers to bring to the broader media culture the Native voices, viewpoints and stories that have been historically excluded from mainstream media; to develop Indian and non-Indian audiences for this work; and to advocate tirelessly for authentic representations of Indians in the media. The 33rd annual American Indian Film Festival, presented over nine days, will run Nov. 7-12 at the Landmark Embarcadero Center Cinema, One Embarcadero Center, Promenade Level; and conclude Nov. 13-15 at the Palace of Fine Arts,3301 Lyon St. @ Bay Street.The American Indian Film Festival will premiere over 80 new feature films, shorts, public service, music videos and documentaries of USA American Indian and Canada First Nation communities. Some highlights include: A special film and music tribute “Remembering Floyd Red Crow Westerman (1936-2007) on Nov. 13; AIFI’s Tribal Touring Program, a Native youth film workshop program supported by tribal host partners on Nov. 14; AIFI’s American Indian Motion Picture Awards Show which honors filmmakers, actors and showcases contemporary Native American talent, to be held on Saturday November 15, beginning at 6:00pm, at the Palace of Fine Arts

Possible American Indian profiles:

Floyd Red Crow Westerman (1936- 2007): An accomplished singer/songwriter whose 1969 debut album “ Custer Died for Your Sins” earned critical acclaim. His recordings offer a probing analysis of European influences in Native American communities. In addition to several recordings of his own, Westerman has collaborated with Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Harry Belafonte, Joni Mitchell, Kris Kristofferson, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. He also was a human rights activist who performed with Sting in the rainforest benefits; and actor receiving world-wide attention and acclaim as “Ten Bears” in Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves.

Marshall McKay: Tribal Chairman of the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians, has been a resident with the Tribe for over 20 years. He has served as a member of the Tribal Council since 1993. After serving terms as Treasurer and Secretary, McKay became the Tribal Chairman of the Rumsey Tribe in January of 2006.McKay also serves the Tribe as a member of the Fire Commission for the Rumsey Rancheria Fire Department and as President of the Yocha-De-He Preparatory School Board of Trustees. His leadership and commitment to education has been fundamental to the success of the Tribe in recent years. Mr. McKay currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Cache Creek Casino Resort.

Mitchell Cypress: Tribal Chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, presides over one of the most successful tribes in North America. For 16 years Cypress was a representative for his community and in 2003 was elected tribal chairman. In 2006, the Seminole Tribe of Florida purchased the Hard Rock Cafe chain of restaurants making a integral mark in the growing world of tribal gaming. Among Cypress’ priorities is to push for educational reforms within the tribe and encourage its youth to attend college.

Drew Hayden Taylor: award-winning playwright (with over 70 productions of his work), a journalist/columnist (with a column in five newspapers across the country), short-story writer, novelist, scriptwriter (The Beachcombers, North of Sixty etc.), librettist, and has worked on over 17 documentaries exploring the Native experience.

Georgina Lightning: First-time director with her feature film “ Older than America” brings a long track record of creative experience in the film industry as an actor, producer and acting coach. Lightning is also the cofounder of Tribal Alliance Productions, a production company committed to producing media that matters told from a native prospective.

Byron Moon: He is an actor, choreographer, dancer, playwright, and founder of the Coyote Arts Percussive Performance Association, a dance theatre company. He has made appearances in several well-known American and Canadian TV shows (such as MacGyver, North of 60, Stargate SG-1, Da Vinci’s Inquest, Highlander: The Series, and appeared on Walker, Texas Ranger, as well as several feature films. Some of his dance theatre pieces have included Possessed, Dancing voices and Voices, as well as Jonesing, an experimental video dance piece. He is also known for his choreography work on the documentary Echoes of the Sisters and the dance film Quest.

Andrew Okpeaha MacLean: An Inupiat filmmaker and playwright from Barrow, Alaska. In his hometown of Barrow Alaska, he co-founded the Inupiat Theater, the first theater company in the country dedicated to performing entirely in the indigenous Inupiaq language. His recent short work Sikumi/On the Ice is the first film to be written entirely in the Inupiaq language. The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival where it won a Special Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking.

Kevin Red Star: This year’s poster artist, is an internationally acclaimed artist who draws from his Crow culture for his subjects — historical and modern. Raised in the language and ways of his Indian heritage, those early years imbued him with the Crow culture which is fully expressed in a real and heartfelt way in his art. His talent was recognized early and he had the opportunity to develop as he studied at the Institute of American Indian Art in New Mexico, the San Francisco Art Institute, Montana State University in Bozeman and Eastern Montana State in Billings. Marking his emergence as an artist, his paintings have received recognition and awards including First Prize and the Governor’s Choice at the Scottsdale National Indian Exhibition.

Drew LaCapa: He believes his humor is not discriminatory because everyone is worthy of being teased regardless of ethnicity or religion. Drew has broadened his stage act from hosting pageants and parades to performing stand-up comedy at casinos, schools and conventions throughout Indian country. His act personifies the hardships of Native people in this century. Drew’s physical antics complete with costumes create a unique and hilarious image of indigenous people in present America.

Michael Spears: a multi-talented actor, hand drum player and singer. Michael’s film credits include an earlier role as the child character Otter, in the Academy-Award-winning 1990 film Dances with Wolves, a major role as “Dog Star” in the 2005 Steven Spielberg’s Into the West and 2007 Michael Linn film “Imprint”.

Tantoo Cardinal: An award-winning Metis actress, who turned her political activism into an acting career that has included roles on television and film including “Dances With Wolves” “Where the Rivers Flow North”, “Legends of the Fall”, “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”, and “North of 60”.

Cindy Benitez
Public Relations
American Indian Film Institute
email: publicrelations@aifisf.com
www.aifisf.com

*Notice the Great Cherokilmer is nowhere on this list of potential American Indians the press should consider covering. tsk tsk.

There may be chaos in South Ossetia, a looming, uber-dramatic US presidential election on the horizon, and a female Vice-Presidential candidate with a love for guns and Yup’ik Indians, but the only politics I want to talk about are from 2006.

Today Jack Abramoff was sentenced to four years in a federal prison. Little Jack was convicted in 2006 on charges of fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials, tax-evasion and all-around naughtiness in connection with a defrauding scheme to dupe casino-rich Indian tribes and encourage former congressional staffers to violate a one-year lobbying ban. In addition to his jail time, the former Capitol Hill power-lobbyist was also ordered to pay $23 million in restitution to his former tribal clients. Is there a payment plan involved with this, I wonder? It better not involve wire transfers, because Jack cannot be trusted with those. In fairness to Abramoff, his public apology and address to the judge did seem genuinely contrite. But then again, what other choice did he have? One doesn’t expect him to appear in court wearing a ten-gallon hat and laughing like Yosemite Sam with $1000 Choctaw poker chips spilling from his pockets. That would be really awesome, but I’d hardly expect it.

There is one thing to thank Abramoff for; (other than some really good Daily Show episodes) his tentacled scandal led to a massive investigation on lobbying practices in a then GOP-governed House and Senate.

[Dolores Jackson, a member of the Saginaw Chippewa, and apparently the only Indian that Abramoff didn't rip off. Or maybe she's on his payroll.  p.s. I want that t-shirt]

McClatchy Newspapers states that “when Abramoff pleaded guilty in 2006, as many as half a dozen lawmakers, including former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (love him!) of Texas and Rep. John Doolittle of California, were said to be under scrutiny for their dealings with his former lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig. Prosecutors have convicted 10 people, including five former congressional staffers, former Interior Deputy Secretary Steven Griles, former Justice Department lawyer Robert Coughlin and former Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio.”

This shakedown, a direct result of Abramoff’s seedy lobbying practices, resulted in the complete turnover of Congress in the 2006 election year. Granted, the Democrats now in office haven’t done much of anything and some of them have probably been hitting on underage House pages, but at lease they get to fill those fancy seats instead of some easily-swayed-by-free-golf-trips Republican, right? (I should probably visit factcheck.org before stating any of the latter.)

Anyway, in the fall of 2006, NAICA did an overzealous (and probably misinformed) exposé on the adventures of Little Jack and his friends on Capitol Hill. It is very long, grammatically incorrect at times, and much too campy. But it does have ridiculously Photoshopped pictures, which is something the Washington Post has really been dropping the ball on recently. Check it out!

A Fine Example of Chinese and Native American Art, by John Lurie

Featuring: polyglot artist John Lurie, The director of Primera Comuniòn Daniel Eduvijes Carrera, an essay by Australian New Media artist and curator Jenny Fraser, and a trip through Western Spirit, a chat with Melissa Henry, and a review of the Great Bear Chief – Val Kilmer’s relatively new cd Sessions with Mick Rossi.

[www.thenaica.org]

objectified child, originally uploaded by naica.

So it has taken me a while to cobble some sort of critique of the Amazonia Brasil exhibit that’s down at the South Street Seaport now until July or something.
What can I say about it except it was a multi-media fiasco of diorama sized proportions. Literally. Dioramas your kid could probably make, though maybe not a detailed, proliferated throughout the large space as well as potted plants packed close together along thie sides of the river/forest-dioramaii. Ensconced within the lush-like confines of the foliage were card board cutouts of the Native peoples who were supposed to have been part of the whole shebang. At least according to a press release I had read on the Seaport website. Well, maybe they could get visas? I, for one, was diappointed. it truly was an under-whelming experience since I along with NAICA contributing writer and resident anthropologist, Logan Green paid $16.00 dollars to enter, but not before a vaguely Indian looking Latina prompted us to go all the way through to the back where the giftshop was located. Ahhh but of course there would be a giftshop! And come to find out this “giftshop” was really a separate store that sold trinkets and such purchased for pennies from the Native peoples of the beleaguered rainforest. It would probably not come as a surprise but that shit was expensive!
I bought a necklace.
I felt bad for ten minutes. It’s a pretty cool necklace made from some shell or another. I feel like an asshole. Worse than a tourist.
Anyway, a booze cruise (a cruise ship you pay to float around on and drink ’til you puke) had just docked to let off it’s white Jersey-drunk inhabitants who made idiotic comments about the jungle and their “jungle fever” which could only be squelched by more “jungle juice.”
Logan and I would later see this same group of morons getting even more drunk at a bar in the mall, also along Pier 17.
See how convenient it is to visit the Amazon, purchase some khaki shorts at Banana Republic and get drunk at a happy hour in one of several drinking establishments? Lower Manhattan Commercial developers have thought of nothing but your pleasure: conveniently located exoticism coupled with cheap alcohol and sweatshop attire = An all-American good time.

For more of the horrible exhibit visit our gallery page up top. If you have a conscience of any kind you will feel disgusted too.

“A spokesman for the Japanese cabinet said Friday that the government would officially recognize the Ainu [backgrounder] – an ethnic minority mainly concentrated on Japan’s Hokkaido island who traditionally lived by hunting, gathering and fishing – as an indigenous population after both houses of the country’s parliament unanimously endorsed a non-binding resolution urging the move. The spokesman added that the government will establish a committee to discuss measures to protect members of the group. The long-resisted official recognition comes in response to Japan’s obligations under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People [PDF text], passed [JURIST report] by the UN General Assembly last September with Japan’s support. This will be the first time that Japan has recognized a group as indigenous. Bloomberg has more. The Mainichi Daily News has local coverage.”

“The Japanese government has long been accused of discriminating against the Ainu, despite a 1997 law [text] meant to protect Ainu rights. Previous to that, the Ainu fell under the 1899 Hokkaido Former Aborigine Protection Law, which promoted their assimilation with mainstream Japanese society. Experts say that the government’s traditional assimilation policy [CWIS backgrounder] and wide-spread discrimination have reduced the Ainu population and has led to the group trailing behind the rest of the nation in education and income.”

[Source]

Deadline to submit: Monday, July 14, 2008

The 7th Annual Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival (WAFF) invites you to submit your work to one of North America’s longest-running indigenous film and video festivals, happening this November 20-23, 2008.

Call For Submissions!!!!!!

Submissions are now being accepted in 7 categories. WAFF pays screening fees to artists and there is no submission fee for entries received on or before the mid-July deadline.

For complete rules and entry forms, go to www.aboriginalfilmfest.org or email info@aboriginalfilmfest.org.