United States Supreme Court Rules on Federal Land Trust for Native American Indian Tribes

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on ability of the federal government to take land into trust for Native American Indian Tribes

As reported by the Associated Press:

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday limited the federal government's authority to hold land in trust for Indian tribes, a victory for Rhode Island and other states seeking to impose local laws and control over development on Indian lands.

The court's ruling (The case is Carcieri v. Salazar, 07-526) applies to tribes recognized by the federal government after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act

The U.S. government argued that the law allows it to take land into trust for tribes regardless of when they were recognized, but Justice Clarence Thomas said in his majority opinion that the law "unambiguously refers to those tribes that were under the federal jurisdiction" when it was enacted.

Continuing…

Indian rights advocates said Congress intended for the law to set a new standard for future relationships with all tribes, regardless of when they were recognized.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston rejected the state's argument that Rhode Island should be the applicable authority. The high court reversed the appellate ruling.

It remains unclear how many tribes could be affected by Tuesday's ruling. Lawyers for Rhode Island believe several hundred tribes recognized after 1934 might now be unable to place new land into a federal trust without specific permission from Congress. Richard Guest, an attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, said dozens of tribes may be affected. Read more about the ruling here....

Following on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, chairman of a congressional committee that oversees Native American Indian issues said Wednesday that he will call a hearing on the repercussions of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could derail the Mashpee Wampanoag's quest to build a casino.

As reported by South Coast Today,

A hearing before the House panel could be the first step toward a congressional reaction to Tuesday's decision by the high court, which found the U.S. Department of Interior doesn't have the authority to take land into federal trust for American Indian tribes recognized after 1934.

"While the full ramifications of this decision are not yet known, it has the potential to throw a shroud over the sovereign nature of land held by untold numbers of Indian tribes," U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-West Virginia, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement issued Wednesday. "In the near future, I will convene my committee to hold a hearing on this most pressing issue."

No date has been set for a hearing, a spokeswoman for Rahall said.

Among expert observers and political insiders, the expectation is that Congress will move to provide relief to tribes recognized after 1934 in the wake of Tuesday's Supreme Court decision.

But what that fix might look like remained to be seen Wednesday.

What are people's opinions on this new ruling and how do you think it will effect tribes? Leave a comment and share your opinion.

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Film About Aboriginal Australian Women to Premire at United Nations: Yajilarra

Yajilarra, a film about a group of Aboriginal women from the small Western Australian town of Fitzroy Crossing and their determination to save the town from the scourge of alcohol abuse, domestic violence and foetal alcohol syndrome, will be previewed tonight at Government House, Yarralumla, at a reception hosted by the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, and Mr Michael Bryce AM, AE.

“Yajilarra is a powerful, inspiring documentary about the courage and resilience of Aboriginal women in the remote Kimberley region of outback Australia, and how they have achieved meaningful change, with the support of many men, for their community,” said Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick.

“It is with a great sense of pride that I will be one of the team of women who will officially premiere this film at a side event to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York City on 4 March 2009 – an historic occasion that will mark the first time that Indigenous women from Australia will present at the UN Commission on the Status of Women.”

Commissioner Broderick said that the film was a stirring illustration of the power of women’s leadership in the face of community devastation.

The story of Yajilarra begins in 2007 when a group of Aboriginal women from the Fitzroy Valley in Australia’s remote northwest decided enough was enough. Their community had experienced 13 suicides in 13 months. Reports of family violence and child abuse were commonplace and alcohol consumption was rising at an alarming rate. Acknowledging that something had to be done urgently, and that things had to change, a group of courageous Aboriginal women from across the Valley came together. With the support of many men, they stood up for a future - for everyone in their community. The results were inspiring and have set the community on a path of healing.

“Yajilarra shows that, through the leadership of the region’s women, from the Marninwarntikura Fitzroy Women’s Resource Centre, the community of Fitzroy Crossing has entered a new era in its continuous efforts to ensure families and children have real hope and a positive future,” Commissioner Broderick said.

Commissioner Broderick will join the CEO, June Oscar and Chair, Emily Carter from Marninwarntikura Fitzroy Women’s Resource Centre and a representative from the Australian Government at the side event in New York.

WHERE:

In Canberra: Government House, Yarralumla
In New York: Side Event, 53rd Session , UN Commission on the Status of Women, Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, United Nations Building

WHEN:

In Canberra: 6 pm – 6.45 pm, Tuesday February 24
In New York: 5 pm – 6.30 pm Wednesday 4 March 2009.

Media contact: Brinsley Marlay 02 9284 9656 or 0430 366 529

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Black Mesa Water Conference in Flagstaff, Arizona

Black Mesa Water Conference April 2009
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Publication
Contact: Vernon Masayesva, (928) 255-2356

Native American traditional spiritual leaders, artists and scientists and their Western counterparts will come together in Flagstaff, Ariz., on April 6-7, 2009, to create a new vision of leadership and responsibility as the world faces the challenges of water scarcity, energy production and global warming in these troubled times. The Braiding Conference, so named because participants will braid together knowledge from a wide spectrum of cultures and disciplines, is expected to be the first round of an on-going conversation.

The Braiding Conference is sponsored by Black Mesa Trust, a Hopi grassroots organization dedicated to preserving water resources; it is funded by the Christensen Fund. The overall purpose of the conference is "to enhance understanding of the world in which we live and to demonstrate the power and reverence traditional teachings and science bring to bear," said Black Mesa Trust Executive Director Vernon Masayesva.

The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in California has provided funding for scholarships for Hopi and Navajo students and honorariums for their teachers. Fifteen $300 scholarships will go to Hopi high school students, and 15 to Navajo students. Five Hopi and five Navajo teachers will each be awarded a $500 honorarium to attend the conference and to help support the post-conference development of curricula based on the information they learn there.

The Braiding Conference hopes "to demonstrate to Native youth the significant contributions of their tradition and to encourage them to pursue purposeful learning of Western science, technology and mathematics as well as their own traditions of knowing and ancestral wisdom," said Masayesva.

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Internationally acclaimed scientists, teachers and artists, including water science pioneer Masaru Emoto, are featured in the film “What the BLEEP Do We Know!?” Quiet Axis creator, painter and environmental/space artist Lowry Burgess of Carnegie Mellon University and artist/muralist Michael Kabotie of the Hopi Tribe will soon gather with Hopi traditional leaders and teachers, including Keeper of the Pipe Jerry Honawa and former Hopi Chairman Vernon Masayesva, to explore what new paradigms of understanding arise from the braiding of Western and traditional Hopi sciences.

Through dialogue and explorations focused on the two systems of knowing and their unique approaches to the nature, actions and teachings of water, 16 distinguished core dialogue participants and conference attendees will share knowledge and experience to generate new understandings of the world we live in. The dialogue and discussions will be held April 6-7 in Flagstaff, Ariz., and will be led by Leroy Little Bear, former director of Native Studies at Harvard University and 2003 Canadian Aboriginal Person of the Year.

Unlike efforts to blend traditions, work at the conference will be more akin to the way in which dark and light threads are bound together before being woven into Hopi fabric. Like that single black and white strand – that strand that gives to Hopi weaving its unique character and endurance – the system of inquiry developed through conference dialogue will draw strength and quality from its respect for the integrity of traditional and Western approaches. As with all Hopi weaving, the work will draw energy from the optimistic hope of the weaver that the braiding of two into one will yield a singularity stronger, more beautiful, and more responsive to contemporary need and challenge than could be created from either on its own.

Conference registration will be limited to 200 persons. It will include both adult learners and some 40 indigenous youth whose attendance is intended to deepen their appreciation of traditional science and knowing, enhance their sense of identity, and promote more purposeful learning, especially in science and mathematics, as prerequisites for their effective leadership of their people in the years ahead.

Registration forms and information are available by e-mail at BraidingConference@gmail.com or by mail at BMT Braiding Conference, P.O. Box 30396, Flagstaff, AZ 86003, and at the Black Mesa Trust Web site, www.blackmesatrust.org. Registration for the Conference including all meals, banquet attendance and materials is $175, which may be paid by check or by credit card through PayPal.

Other members of the core group of dialogue participants include: Angelita Borbon, Pasqua Yaqui practitioner of sacred science and Mesoamerican oral traditions; Phillip Duran, physicist and former dean of science and mathematics at Northwest Indian College; Alan Hamilton, president of Rio Grande Return; Rabbi Nina Perlmutter, emeritus faculty and former chair, Philosophy and Religious Studies, Yavapai College; Al Qöyawayma, Hopi scientist, engineer and artist; Thomas Sisk, professor of Ecology and graduate programs director, Center for Sustainable Environments, Northern Arizona University; and Eric Weislogel, executive director of Metanexus Institute, an international transdisciplinary network in science and religion.

The conference is sponsored by Black Mesa Trust, Northern Arizona University, the Museum of Northern Arizona and others. Funding for the conference is provided by the Christensen Fund, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the SB Foundation, and others, including individuals. Persons and institutions interested in providing additional support to expand conference access and opportunity or to underwrite the work of Black Mesa Trust generally can contact Black Mesa Trust Executive Director Vernon Masayesva at kuuyi@aol.com

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To learn more about the conference, scholarships and honoraria, contact Vernon Masayesva, (928) 255-2356, kuuyi@aol.com.

Tanya Lee

(603) 377-0267

7270 Slayton Ranch Road
Flagstaff, AZ 86004

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Feburary 18-24, 2009: Five Key Indigenous Peoples Issues

Five Key Indigenous Peoples Issues for the Week of February 18-24, 2009


Chile: Government Unleashes Anti-Terror Law on Mapuche Activist

"They burst in aiming machine guns at us. They found him in the hallway, they grabbed him by the hair, they threw him on the floor and they beat him up," Ida Huenulef told IPS, describing the arrest of her son Miguel, the first indigenous Mapuche activist to be charged under the Anti-Terrorist Law by the government of Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

Members of his family said that 11 members of the special forces and "carabineros" (national police) raided their home in the district of Lo Prado in the west of Santiago, without showing any identification or producing a search warrant.

Miguel Tapia Huenulef was arrested in front of his entire family, who were held at gunpoint and intimidated during the violent operation in the middle of the night of Feb. 11.

"I went to get my daughter and they pointed a machinegun at her head, and when she picked up her little daughter, another carabinero came and pointed his weapon at her little head," said Ida Huenulef, describing how the police treated her 20-day-old baby granddaughter.

Miguel Tapia Huenulef, 45, was arrested as a suspect in an arson attempt perpetrated in January on an estate called San Leandro near the town of Lautaro, in the region of Araucanía, over 600 kilometres south of Santiago. Read more about Chile's actions against the Mapuche here....


Kenya: Changing Lifestyles Put Indigenous Communities At Risk

One of East Africa's last remaining hunter-gatherer communities, the Ogiek people, has largely remained separate from the rest of society, but NGOs warn that their ignorance and isolation from HIV/AIDS prevention efforts could heighten their vulnerability to the virus.

According to the Centre for Minority Rights and Development (CEMIRIDE), an NGO promoting the rights of indigenous peoples in Kenya, total ignorance of HIV among the Ogiek is not uncommon.

"There are no HIV campaigns at all directed at the Ogiek ... the government do not even have statistics about the prevalence amongst them," said Pattita Tiongoi, a programme officer with CEMIRIDE.

"The disease is penetrating through the Ogiek because of displacement, which has seen them mingle with their infected cosmopolitan neighbours like the Maasai and the Kalenjin."

Napuoyo Moibei*, who thinks she is about 35 years old, was evicted from the Mau forest in Kenya's Rift Valley Province several years ago and took up employment on a nearby wheat farm to make ends meet. Read more about Ogiek peoples changes here....


Taiwan: Plains Aborigines Seeking Renewed Indigenous Status

Name and status restoration activists of the Pingpu (平埔) — also known as plains Aborigines — yesterday visited the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) and urged it to give them a hand in their campaign.

The council, however, did not give a positive response.

“We, members of the Pingpu tribes, would like to invite [CIP] Minister Chang Jen-hsiang [章仁香] to attend the public hearing on restoration of Pingpu tribal names and Aboriginal status,” Siraya Culture Association chairwoman Wan Shu-chuan (萬淑娟) said as she handed the invitation to CIP Planning Department Director Wang Chiu-i (汪秋一), who accepted it on Chang’s behalf.

The Siraya are a Pingpu tribe that live in parts of Tainan and Chiayi counties.

Pingpu refers to assimilated Aborigine tribes that dwell on the plans, who once lived throughout the flat areas of the country from Keelung all the way to Pingtung before Han migrants from China and colonial powers arrived in Taiwan.

It’s not easy to find Pingpu today, since most have been culturally assimilated into Han society through intermarriage or were forced to change their identities. Read more about Pingu indigenous recognition here....


Philippines: "Largest Royalty Payment" To Lumads Divides Mamanwas

The estimated 400 families of Mamanwas in five towns in Surigao del Norte ought to be celebrating: they now have P51.5 million, the “largest royalty payment” made by a mining firm to a Philippine tribe, in their bank account. And there will be more payments, for 2008 and every year thereafter, not only from the Taganito Mining Corporation (TMC) but the two other mining firms operating in their ancestral domain.

But no one is celebrating. Instead, there is “kagubot” (trouble).

Datu Emiliano Gedi, the head claimant of the Mamanwas’ ancestral domain over five towns in Surigao del Norte and chair of the Provincial Consultative Body of the Asosasyon sa Madazaw na Panagkaisa nan mga Tribong Mamanwa sa Taganito ug Urbiztondo (Ampantrimtu), told MindaNews in a telephone interview that he hopes they can convene a general assembly to settle the issue among themselves.

The amount , representing 1% of the reported gross production of TMC from July 2006 to December 2007, was deposited to the account of Ampantrimtu in the Land Bank of the Philippines branch in Surigao City on February 19.

The amount does not include as yet the 2008 royalty. Read more about the Mamanwas' royalty payment here....


Colombia: Why They Kill The Awa

We write these lines overcome by tremendous pain and sadness. We write from the shared rage we feel towards this criminal act, apparently committed by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cauca, FARC, whom we condemn for these irreversible horrors and the shedding of innocent blood.

As we write, the Colombian Minister of Defense, Juan Manuel Santos, is arriving in the Department of Nariño to conduct the military operations that constitute the government’s response to the massacres and terror these indigenous communities are now facing. Referring to the difficulty the government authorities are having in obtaining the cooperation of the indigenous peoples, Minister Santos stated to the media: “We hope we can convince [the Awá] that the best position, the best attitude they can have is to collaborate with the authorities, with the Armed Forces.”

“Kick them while they’re down” is the phrase that best describes the government’s reaction to these terrible circumstances, basing its response on the supposition that, according to the information available, the FARC committed the massacre. The result is that the atrocity—this massacre, the ongoing massive displacement, and disappearances, all faced by the indigenous communities caught in the middle of this terror—is blamed on the victims. It is their fault, implies the Minister, because they refused to collaborate with the Armed Forces. He tries to convince us that, if the Armed Forces had been in the territory, the violence would not have happened. As a consequence, the complete militarization of the territory is underway with the pretext of protecting the Awá, who in turn run to the forests while some of their leaders, seeing no other option, call for the help of the Armed Forces. The Colombian corporate media, the government coalition and their spokespeople all echo these calls, and Colombians -terrified by the horror of this ongoing genocide, in turn call for the same. Read more about the Awa struggle in Colombia here....

Last weeks Five Key Indigenous People's Issues can be found here.

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Native American History: Current and Future Directions

Dear Colleagues --Neal Salisbury, a path-breaking scholar, pithy commentator, generous mentor, valued friend, and dedicated teacher in our field for many years, recently retired from Smith College. The History Department at Smith has organized a symposium in his honor, to be held March 5-6, 2009 in Northampton, Massachusetts. If you have ever studied or collaborated with him, or simply benefited from his scholarship, please read down the bottom! -- Alice Nash

* * *

NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY: CURRENT AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS A Symposium in Honor of Neal Salisbury

Smith College, March 5-6, 2009


Thursday, March 5 - Neilson Library Browsing Room

9:30am: Official Welcome and Introductions

10am-12noon: NAVIGATING NINETEENTH- TO EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICA

Chair: Prof. Kevin M. Sweeney, Professor of American Studies and History, Amherst College

• 'State Recognition' and 'Termination' in Nineteenth-Century Indian New England / Jean M. O'Brien, Associate Professor of History, University of Minnesota
• 'The Good Citizenship Gun': Indian Activists and the Quest for U.S. Citizenship in Progressive Era America / Frederick E. Hoxie, Swanlund Professor of History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Indian Lake is the Scene You Should Make: Emma Camp Mead, Indian Doctor/Entrepreneur/Activist/Fashion Plate / Margaret Bruchac, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Connecticut at Storrs
• 'A Large Circle of Influential Friends': Collaboration, Erasure and the Fieldwork of Frank G. Speck / Ann Marie Plane, Associate Professor of History, University of California at Santa Barbara

Comment: Alice Nash, Associate Professor of History, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

2-4 pm: NATIVES REPRESENTING AND BEING REPRESENTED

Chair: Ron Welburn, Professor of English and Native American Studies, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

• Toward an Indian Abstract: Mary Sully (1896-1963) / Philip Deloria, Professor of History and Program in American Culture, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
• Writing Dartmouth's Indian History at Dartmouth / Colin G. Calloway, Professor of History and Samson Occom Professor of Native American Studies, Dartmouth College
• American Indians and Museums: The Love/Hate Relationship at Thirty / Nancy Marie Mithlo, Assistant Professor of Art History, University of Wisconsin at Madison
• A Mutt Like Me: On the Absolute Necessity of Intellectual Crossbreeds in the Production of Native History / Rayna Green, Chair, Division of Cultural History, and Director, American Indian Program, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Comment: Barry O'Connell, Professor of English, Amherst College

4:30-5:30pm: INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE UNDERGRADUATES AND PRESENTERS

Place: Kahn Institute for the Humanities Seminar Room, 3rd floor Neilson Library

Convener: Alice Nash / NOTE: This is a mentoring session where undergraduates can talk about their own work and aspirations with this group of accomplished scholars. Please encourage your students to attend!

* * *

3/5 Friday - Neilson Library Browsing Room

9:30-11:30am ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY: CURRENT AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Chair: Frederick E. Hoxie

Discussants: Margaret Bruchac, Colin G. Calloway, Philip J. Deloria, Rayna Green, Nancy Marie Mithlo, Jean M. O'Brien, Ann Marie Plane

* * *

For conference-related questions please contact Richard Lim at rlim333@comcast.net.

For local accommodations see http://www.smith.edu/about_visit_accom.php.

* * *

SPECIAL NOTE: I am compiling a scrapbook to present to Neal. If you would like to contribute a letter, photographs, memorabilia, a copy of something you wrote that reflects his help or influence, etc. please send it asap to: Alice Nash, Department of History, 161 President's Drive, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003, email anash@history.umass.edu. If you prefer to make a video statement, post it on youtube, send me the link and I'll play it for him at some point during the symposium. Please forward this to anyone who might be interested. Thank you!!! -- Alice Nash

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Indigenous Peoples Fellowship at United Nations: Call for Applicants

United Nations Indigenous Fellowship Programme

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/fellowship.htm

*Deadlines to apply to the 2010 UN Indigenous Fellowship Programme*, per linguistic versions are:

• English: 30 April 2009
• Spanish: 15 July 2009
• French: to be confirmed
• Russian: 30 September 2009

UN Indigenous Fellowship Programme

The Indigenous Fellowship Programme (IFP) was launched by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the context of the first International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples (1995/2004).

The aim of the programme is to give indigenous peoples the opportunity to gain knowledge on the UN system and mechanisms dealing with human rights in general and indigenous issues in particular so they can assist their organizations and communities in protecting and promoting the rights of their people. In its first decade, more than 100 indigenous men and women from 46 countries undertook the programme. They provided human rights training to many more in their communities.

The IFP is accessible in four different languages:

• English,
• French,
• Spanish, and
• Russian

The programme -in its four linguistic versions- is held annually. Each language version has developed slightly differently and generally runs from 2 to 4 months. The selected candidates are entitled to a return flight ticket, living expenses and health insurance.

*Who can apply?*

1. The candidate must be *indigenous* (non-indigenous persons will not be taken into consideration, even if they have close links with indigenous communities and/or organizations).

2. Age should not be a limitation to participation in the programme, although preference should be given to candidates in the age-bracket 25-35 years.

3. Formal education should not be a limitation to participation in the IFP given the socio-economic barriers confronted by many indigenous peoples that limit access to formal educational institutions.

4. Candidates should agree to train other indigenous persons after the return to their respective communities/organizations.

5. The candidate should be proposed and his/her *candidacy supported by his/her indigenous organization and/or community*. It is desirable that the sponsoring organization has a firm constituency or membership and that it is representative.

6. The candidate should have a good working knowledge of the language, in which the programme is imparted.

*Selection process *

The selection of fellows reflects a gender and a regional balance. The general human rights situation in the respective regions/countries is also taken into consideration.

A pre-selection of 15 (first five preferences and 10 alternates) candidates is made by previous indigenous fellows. The final selection of successful candidates is undertaken by an advisory group composed of indigenous persons.

*In view of the large number of applications, we regret to inform that only successful candidates will be contacted. *

*How to apply?*

Fellowship applications will only be taken into consideration if they are fully completed. Both parts I and II must be *signed* and *faxed or sent by regular post* at the following address:

Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Unit
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Telefax number: (+41 22) 928 90 66

*E-mailed applications will not be taken into consideration, unless both parts I and II are signed and scanned*.

Application forms need to be accompanied by an *official recommendation letter* from the nominating *indigenous* organization or community.

Any questions pertaining to the Indigenous Fellowship Programme can be sent to the address mentioned above or E-mailed to: fellowship@ohchr.org

English speaking programme (sessions imparted in English):

The English speaking component of the Indigenous Fellowship Programme began in 1997, as an initiative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) developed in the context of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995-2004).

The English speaking component of the programme generally runs for four months from April/May to July/August. The Fellows are based at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland. The programme is an inter-active process, which consists of briefings on several topics (i.e. OHCHR's work, the UN system and mechanisms) individual and group assignments. Fellows also have the opportunity to receive training sessions with other UN agencies, including ILO, WIPO, UNESCO and UNITAR.

At the end of the Programme, each Fellow should have a general knowledge on the United Nations system, international human rights instruments and mechanisms, in particular those relevant to indigenous peoples and be capable of giving training sessions within their communities/organizations on the knowledge acquired.

Fellows attending the English speaking component of the programme are entitled to the following: a return ticket (economy class) from the country of residence to Geneva; modest accommodation in Geneva for the duration of the Programme; basic health insurance for the duration of the Programme; a monthly grant to cover other living expenses in Geneva.

The candidates that have been selected for the 2009 English speaking programme are:

• Ms. Kuno Caroline Bena (Karimojong – Uganda )
• Ms. Margaret Raven (Onemulla, Yamatji – Australia )
• Ms. Eunice Santawan Lepariyo (Ilchamus - Kenya )
• Mr. Ronald Waromi (West Papua – Indonesia )
• Mr. Datu Cosme Lambayon (Matigsalug – Philippines )

The 2009 English programme will take place from 1 April until 17 July at the OHCHR in Geneva.

Please note that the deadline to apply to the 2010 English speaking Programme is: Thursday 30 April 2009.
• Application form


Please note that the deadline to apply to the 2010 Spanish speaking Programme is: Wednesday 15 July 2009.
• Application form


Please note that the deadline to apply to the 2010 Russian speaking Programme is: Wednesday 30 September 2009.
• Application form

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Native American Indian Monument Valley Film Festival: Call for Entries

We are headed to our 3rd great year! The Monument Valley Film Festival is the only film festival of its kind on the Navajo Nation. For the past two years, the Monument Valley Film Festival has showcased films produced, written or directed by Native Americans from across the country.

This year we are very excited to make our call for entries for this years film festival, as well as expand or call for entries to all film makers for our Native Themed Program. Also added for this years festival are awards for the films in the Native Film Makers Program! Hurry and submit your entry (or entries) for possible selection to this years festival by May 1st, 2009.

Please print and use a separate form for each entry. Please provide two screening quality DVDs (NTSC only) of the entered work(s). Each entry must be submitted with a separate entry form.

A complete and signed agreement form and film synopsis must accompany each submission.

All submissions for the Native Film Makers Program must be written by, directed by, or produced by a Native American for the Native Film Makers Program. All genres accepted.

The Native Themed Program is open to all genres of film and film makers and must be Native themed. All films in this program are ineligible for competition in the 3rd Annual Monument Valley Film Festival.

The deadline for all submissions is May 1, 2009.

There are no entry fees, all submissions are free.

All submissions will not be returned and will be retained by the Monument Valley Film Festival for its film archive.

Notice of selection to the Monument Valley Film Festival will available on or before

June 8, 2009 via e-mail or phone.

Mail all entries to:
Monument Valley Film Festival
P.O. Box 434
Kayenta, AZ 86033

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