Shay encourages ECP students importance of language & tradition

LUPC's, Tony Shay, visited ECP on March 9. (Carmencita Mejia photo)

By Carmencita Mejia
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL— Land Use Policy Commissioner Tony Shay demonstrated the importance of preserving the Shoshone language and legends to the Early Childhood Preschool students and staff on Tuesday, March 9.
He opened with a story of why it was important for little Indian children to listen. He produced a picture of wahatehwe (two) newe (Indian) boys that lived in a kahni (teepee) in the doyaa’bi (mountains). A coyote came and took the little Indian boys because they did not want to use their naingi (ears) to listen.
He went on with the turtle legend and how a boy fell into the Baa’ (water) and was rescued by the turtle and fish animals. They saved him by turning him into a turtle. Years later he returned home and transformed back into a boy, he brought with him the turtle medicine and shared it with his people to make a sweat lodge. That is why a sweat lodge is shaped like a turtles shell.
Shay shared names of animals such as bungu (horse), bo’nai (mouse), gwi’yaa’ (chicken), baingwi (fish). He included the numerals semme (one), wahatehwe (two), bahaitee’ (three), watsewite’ (four), and manegite (five).
Shay asked why is it important to understand our traditional language? He answered with, “It’s for identity because we live on federal land as Indians. We are recognized by land base, membership, and our traditional culture such as customs, ceremonies, and language.”
He asked what do you think would happen if we didn’t value our language and culture? He said, “The winds would carry the people off into the four directions where they would disappear among society. We need to be cohesive and strong,” he concluded.

UI Native American film festival March 26 & 27

MOSCOW – The University of Idaho’s annual Native American Film Festival, Sapatq’ayn Cinema, will celebrate Native people telling their own stories through the art of film on March 26-27, at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre. The festival will kick off on Friday, March 26, at 7 p.m. with a ceremonial opening that includes Nez Perce Elder Horace Axtell and the University of Idaho Native American Student Drum.
Following the opening ceremony will be a screening of “Reel Injun,” Canadian Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond’s entertaining and insightful look at the Hollywood Native American. The film explores the portrayal of North American Natives through the history of cinema. Traveling through the heartland of America, Diamond looks at how the myth of “the Injun” has influenced the world’s understanding – and misunderstanding – of Natives.
The film festival continues Saturday, March 27, at 7 p.m. with a showing of Seminole/Creek director Sterlin Harjo’s latest film, “Barking Water.” Harjo described the film as “I tell stories from a place and about people that mainstream audiences rarely hear about.” The film follows Irene and Frankie, an older couple who have a difficult past, on a journey toward home and healing. With steady and graceful performances by Richard Ray Whitman as Frankie and Casey Camp-Horinek as Irene, this story takes viewers for a ride in the backseat of Frankie and Irene’s Indian car, listening to their past and the rhythmic soundtrack that sets the beat for a redemptive road journey.
“Barking Water” embarks viewers on a journey with Harjo, and wraps viewers in the charm and love of Oklahoma through the people and places Irene and Frankie visit along the way. In this sparingly sentimental and achingly poignant film, Harjo claims his place as one of the most truthful and honest voices working in American cinema today. “Barking Water” is an expression of gratitude for the ability to have lived and loved. Sapatq’ayn is a Nez Perce word meaning “to display” or “a motion picture.” Sapatq’ayn Cinema films are written, directed and acted by Native Americans, with a focus on contemporary Native experience. The festival’s goals are to enrich its audience’s understanding of Native American artistry, culture and history, and to foster positive intercultural relationships.
The festival is produced by English and American Indian Studies professor Jan Johnson. “Film is one of the most powerful and accessible mediums of contemporary Native American storytelling – a form of cultural sovereignty whereby Native people determine their own identities and destinies and tell their own stories,” she noted. “The festival reflects and explores the cultural diversity of our campus and our region, and our location in Indian Country.”
Sapatq’ayn Cinema is sponsored by the University of Idaho American Indian Studies Program and the Idaho Humanities Council. All shows are free of charge and open to the public.
For more information about Sapatq’ayn Cinema, visit http://www.webs.uidaho.edu/SapatqaynCinema/.
To learn more information about the movies, visit www.reinjunthemovie.com and www.barkingwaterfirlm.com.