Thursday, February 28, 2013

Music - Idle No More Free Download of "Songs For Life" Volume 1 and 2 on RPM.fm - To share, promote, curate, interview, and profile emerging and established Indigenous Music Culture of First Nations, Aboriginal, Inuit, and Métis musicians.

Video Trailer ~ RPM is a new centralized music platform to discover and bring together fans with the most talented Indigenous musicians from across Turtle Island and beyond. RPM.fm curates, interviews, and profiles Indigenous artists from around the world to help bring them an international audience, and to give music lovers the opportunity to discover the very best of Indigenous Music Culture.



Music and Idle No More: RPM Interview on CBC's The Current.




Videos music "Derek Miller ... proves music is the medicine ... of my Soul

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Short doc film "Heartwood: Forest Guardians of Cortes Island" by Daniel J. Pierce and about The Children's Forest Trust of Cortes Island, British Columbia Canada

 






Heartwood: Forest Guardians of Cortes Island is a feature-length and transmedia documentary about citizens on the remote BC island of Cortes who are uniting under a common vision of healthy forests and thriving communities. As one faction of the island launches a blockade against timber giant Island Timberlands, the Klahoose First Nation and the Cortes Forestry Co-Op are leading the push for a Community Forest on much of the island's Crown Lands.



Cortesians are saying NO to industrial logging and YES to sustainable, ecosystem-based community forestry.

Video: Carrington Bay Children's Forest 

 Video: The Children's Forest Trust

Video: Cortes Island Ancient Forest: Basil Creek Watershed







Heartwood: Forest Guardians of Cortes Island is set against a backdrop of global social unrest, economic turmoil, accelerating climate change, and indigenous awakening, Cortes is a microcosm of a world in crisis. With our ancient forests depleted and the market demands of the developing world becoming more and more vociferous, communities are taking a stand against foreign investors with no connection to the land. These tenacious Cortesians will lead us deep into the woods of Cortes to show us why their forests are worth saving—and how far they are willing to go to save them.



About the Director - Daniel J. Pierce
Daniel graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BFA in film production and screenwriting. He got his first taste of docs while pursuing a rare and bizarre opportunity to shoot the restoration of the iconic Hollow Tree in Vancouver. "The Hollow Tree" premiered at DOXA 2011 in Vancouver and was picked up for broadcast on CBC Documentary and Knowledge Network in 2012. Daniel is also co-founder of the Junction Media Studio in Gastown,Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada) a shared workspace for emerging media-makers.

Thanks to the film's sponsors







Video Animated Short ~ "Greed" by Alli Sadegiani

Video Animated Short ~ "Invention of Love" by Andrey Shushkov

Monday, February 25, 2013

Video: Animated Short ~ "Goat and Aaron" by Gabe Askew

Click here to watch the Video "Goat and Aaron" by Gabe Askew



Goat & Aaron

Created by Gabe Askew

Living in a visually rich world of textures and expansive landscapes, Goat & Aaron is a touching personal short from Hornet director Gabe Askew.
The story picks up after an unexplained disagreement between two brothers, Goat and Aaron. To work out their differences, they take a hike together. The beauty of nature brings them back together, but the violence in Goat's heart can't be controlled and it pulls him under.
The film is currently traveling the festival circuit. Gabe is developing a feature inspired by the short.

Video: Animated Short: "Tarboy" by James Lee

Monday, February 18, 2013

Video: Canadian Television Network Interview with Actress and Indigenous Activist Tantoo Cardinal

This is a brilliant interview with a woman who has the long view of collective history, and healing what is in the dark which needs be brought up into the light.

Watch VIDEO: actress and activist Tantoo Cardinal reflecting on the Idle No More movement during an interview for CTV (Canadian Television Network)

Video: "Inside Story Americas - Idle No More", Alberta Tar Sands" and "USA-Canada Pipeline Projects, Land Rights ~ Interviews by Al Jazeera TV on Political Leaders Listening To and Respecting The People Who Elect Them

Sunday, February 17, 2013

What is "Idle No More"? Idle No More Is Not Just an "Indian Thing" By Wab Kinew Director of Indigenous Inclusion, the University of Winnipeg

Huffington Post Video  #IdleNoMore is about Democracy, the Environmental Idle, Rights, Finding Meaning, Engaging Youth.

“One of the things that has differentiated Idle No More from Occupy Wall Street — a movement it has been incorrectly compared to from the beginning — has been its insistence on the pedagogical importance of and within the movement towards bringing about the changes it envisions.”
San Francisco State University Professor Joanne Barker 




What is Idle No More? 
By Wab Kinew Director of Indigenous Inclusion, the University of Winnipeg (Dec 17, 2012)

 It is a loosely knit political movement encompassing rallies drawing thousands of people across dozens of cities, road blocks, a shoving match on Parliament Hill between chiefs and mounties and one high profile hunger strike.

 It is also a meme tweeted and shared about thousands of times a day, for messages about indigenous rights, indigenous culture and cheap indigenous jokes ("Turn off your ignition #idlenomore").

 The name Idle No More comes from a recent meeting in Saskatchewan. Sylvia McAdam and three others were mad about Bill C-45, the omnibus budget bill. Their biggest frustration was that nobody seemed to be talking about it. Two provisions in particular upset them: the reduction in the amount of federally protected waterways and a fast tracked process to surrender reserve lands. In McAdam's view, if Aboriginal people did not speak out it would mean they "comply with [their] silence." So she and her friends decided to speak out. They would be "Idle No More." They held an information session under the same name. Co-organizer Tanya Kappo fired off a tweet with the hashtag "#IdleNoMore."

 #IdleNoMore struck a nerve. Though bill C-45 has become law, many of Aboriginal people have voiced their opposition to it. Many of the other tensions in the indigenous community has started to bubble up to the surface and "Idle No More" now encompasses a broad conversation calling for recognition of treaty rights, revitalization of indigenous cultures and an end to legislation imposed without meaningful consultation.

 To me this conversation is more than just an "Indian Thing." It is one that Canadians of all backgrounds should pay attention to, if not participate in. The ideals that are underlying this action are ones to which we all aspire, even if we may disagree on how exactly to pursue them.


5. #IdleNoMore is about Engaging Youth

 When Grand Chief Derek Nepinak went on national television after he and some other leaders got into that shoving match outside the chamber, he acknowledged the Chiefs were responding to young people calling for action via social media. At the rallies held in cities like Winnipeg, Windsor and Edmonton, it has been the youth who have done the organizing, and it has been the youth who have made up the majority of attendees. Scanning Facebook and Twitter, "#IdleNoMore" has popped up in the timelines of people who typically discuss Snookie or the Kardashians. Agree or disagree with the message, Idle No More has accomplished something all Canadians want: it has young people paying attention to politics.


4. #IdleNoMore is about Finding Meaning

 Much of the talk around Idle No More is about preserving indigenous culture, either by revitalizing spiritual practices, or by keeping intact what little land base we have left. The reason culture is so important is that it provides a way to grapple with the big questions in life: "Who am I?," "What am I doing here?" and "What happens after I die?" Some of the answers have been handed down as words of wisdom. Other times, you are told to go out on to the land and discover them for yourself through fasting or prayer. We need these ways. As I look around and see many fellow Canadians searching for meaning in their own lives, I think to myself perhaps they could use these ways as well.



 3. #IdleNoMore is about Rights

 What almost everyone carrying the Idle No More banner is calling for is meaningful consultation between the federal government and First Nations people. This is what section 35 of our constitution is all about: Aboriginal and treaty rights are recognized and affirmed, and that means we have to talk. If there is no meaningful conversation happening, it is troublesome. Aboriginal people may be the canary in the coal mine. If we overlook one section of the constitution does that mean others are in similar jeopardy?


2. #IdleNoMore is about the Environment Idle


No More started in part because of outrage that Bill C-45 reduced the number of federally protected waterways. The environment continues to be a regular topic at Idle No More protests. Dr. Pam Palmater, one of the leading voices in the Idle No More conversation, argues this is indigenous environmentalism is significant since the crown has a duty to consult with Aboriginal people before natural resource projects proceed. She says, "First Nations are Canadians' last, best hope of protecting the land, water, sky and plants and animals for their future generations as well." 



1. #IdleNoMore is about Democracy

 Democracy thrives when well-informed people are engaged and make their voices heard. Idle No More started with four young lawyers trying to inform the people in their communities about an issue they were passionate about. Now many people are engaged. Even more information is being shared, and even more voices are being heard. There is no one leader or "list of demands" attributable to Idle No More. While this may seem chaotic, this is what democracy is all about. Democracy is messy. Democracy is loud. Democracy is about hearing a wide ranges of voices and trying to build a path forward among them. It is not about shutting off debate or trying to rush things in through the back door.

More Resources (below)

First People's Blog (New Directions In Indigenous Studies - A Joint Collaboration of Four University Presses)


Huffington Post Canada articles (below)

Huff Post dedicated Idle No More page

Speaking With The Founders of Idle No More

Why Idle No More never Needed Your Sympathy

Idle No More: Hints of a Global Super-Movement

Idle No More -- Think Occupy But With Deep, Deep Roots

The Price of Oil : Kill Bill C-45 ~ Exposing  The True Cost of Fossil Fuels

Idle No More Art ~ Posters Promote A Revolution

How Does Native Funding Work










Video music "Last Word" by Wab Kinew featuring Tinsel Korey