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As Father's Day approaches, my heart is overwhelmed with a sense of bitter sweetness. It is at this time that Video Letters will be re-released through Vision Maker Media at the request of my three grown daughters. Our hearts are in mourning at the loss of their father Marvin (featured in Video Letters) as we lost him in the fall of 2012. My daughters miss him intensely. It was through Video Letters that they were able to reconnect with the blessedness of having a father and it is through Video Letters that they will always be able to see him and feel the love that he had for them.

In recent years, we have all reconnected on several levels. My oldest daughter was able to have him present at her college graduation and at the birth of her second son. The second oldest child was able to spend some very valuable and quality time with him fishing and hanging out in “father/daughter” time. The youngest of the three was able to rekindle her relationship with her father via phone conversations and solicit fatherly support during the time her husband was deployed in Afghanistan.

We are all sad at his untimely death but grateful for the time and opportunity that we were able to have with him. As always, Marvin was gracious and accepting of my husband and I of his wife. We shared quality time as a blended family and we truly considered everyone FAMILY.

Ironically, the one place that he fought so hard to get away from, was where he met his untimely death. I am sad, with Father’s Day approaching, that my children (once again) will not be able to share it with their father. It was the one thing that they so longed for all of their childhood but on the same note, I am grateful that with VIdeo Letters other children will be able to connect with their mothers or fathers and find balance in this world, the same way that my children did. I am grateful because I know that with this sadness comes great joy, the joy of knowing that Video Letters will let the world know my children’s father and what a wonderful human being Marvin Poor Bear was.

Jack Gladstone is from the Blackfeet Indian Nation of Montana and a "storysmith." Regarded as a cultural bridge builder, he delivers programs across the nation, on American Indian history.

Jack recently was honored with the CM Russel Heritage Award, and a Native American Music Award.

2013 marks the 29th year that Jack has been sharing insight about about Montana's Indigenous people at Glacier National Park.

Interview with Jack Gladstone | Jack Gladstone's Website | Jack Gladstone on Facebook | Subscribe to the Native Sounds Podcast

Hensci!

What does Growing Native mean to you? That is a question we posed to the Growing Native Advisory Council as we went through pre-production. The answers we received were varied, but connected – it’s growing us as a people in a way that sustains us as a people, it’s taking things that we knew and that worked in the past and building on that, it’s illustrating the interconnectedness of everything that we do. Growing Native is understanding our past in a very deep way; really coming to realize the nature of the challenge of our present; and beginning to think creatively and transformatively for what we need to be doing for our future. With each story we share, we hope to convey these ideas to audiences in an honest and respectful way.

The Festival of Native Arts at the University of Alaska – Fairbanks is one such story. This festival, and others like it, has the unique opportunity to bring multitudes of people together in one place to share their enthusiasm and respect for their cultures. Singers, dancers and artisans from across the state of Alaska come to the UAF campus for three nights of cultural celebration, and the event is organized and ran entirely by students.

From the Festival website –

This tradition began in 1973, when a group of University of Alaska Fairbanks students and faculty (representing a variety of colleges and departments) met to consider a spring festival focused on the artistic expressions of each Alaska Native culture. In less than three months, perhaps for the first time in Alaska, Native artists, craftspeople and dancers from all major Native culture groups gathered together at UAF to share with each other, the University community and Fairbanks their rich artistic traditions.

As the student’s prepared for the 40^th Anniversary, I caught up with one of our interview subjects for the episode, Marina Anderson (Tlingit/Haida), who would be emceeing the evening’s events. “This is the largest student run event in UAF history,” Anderson observed, “and this is the longest Festival we’ve had in almost 20 years. It used to go four or five days, but then it was cut down to two for a long time. Now that it’s back up to three days, and possibly four days next year, I think that really speaks to the growth and support the Festival has attained.”  That support is evident when you look around the Festival. Bustling crowds of visitors jockey for position at the artist tables set up in the main hall outside the dance auditorium, while dance groups anxiously await their turns to be led to the ready room for last minute run-throughs before their performance.

But this isn’t some flash in the pan visual extravaganza. These dances and songs have deep, personal meaning to the performers and oftentimes with the audience members themselves. I spoke with Dr. Theresa John (Yupik), a professor at UAF, and she told me, “These songs and dances are the pathway to passing down knowledge and healing for our people. The language, our stories, our words… these things are embedded in our dances and they create a connection to our history.” Dr. John, who has been involved with the Festival since its inception in 1973, told me that the Festival came about at a critical time at the University. The Native students were struggling to find their place in the larger community, and felt disconnected from their homes. The Festival came in and helped change all that.

“Students now take pride in who they are and where they come from,” dancer Marjorie Tahbone (Inupiaq) offered. Tahbone is former Miss Indian World 2011 from Nome, and she dances with UAF student dance group Inu-Yupiaq. This group is unique in that it combines the cultures of the students, who have become like a family, Tahbone says. “In some cases, dancing was banned in some villages, and as a result there are fewer songs for them to learn. The diversity on display at the Festival really uplifts the spirit, through watching you can see a little bit about others’ traditions.”

Anderson echoes this sentiment, adding “the Festival really built character for a lot of the students who participated. I have one friend who really came out of his shell over the course of the Festival. At first, he would be dancing and he would take his glasses off. He’s blind as a bat without them, so he took them off so he couldn’t see the audience and get embarrassed. By the last night, he was dancing with them on. That’s the kind of strength and pride that the Festival represents.”

The Festival of Native Arts, and by extension other programs that exist to promote Native culture, has represented a steady shift of focus on the role of culture in the classroom. Culture was once something either indifferently omitted or even violently repressed in the classroom. Now, culture in the classroom is celebrated. “About time, that’s what I’m saying!” Tahbone remarked, adding “That shift has and will continue to create a ripple effect that will change the way youth think about themselves to the point that now we are comfortable and proud of being Native.”

To illustrate that ever expanding “ripple effect” that Tahbone mentioned, look no further than the Fairbanks Native Association’s Children’s Performance. The Fairbanks Head Start works with dozens of little ones for their debut dance every Festival, and they have been doing it for years. Each batch of children grows up having the experience of Festival, and knowing that their culture has a place in the larger community, a place they can be proud of. “This joining of generations together is symbolically critical,” Dr. John stressed to me, “because in that time and place, when people gather together, despite being busy teachers or busy students or just busy… when people gather together, our ancestors join us and celebrate with us, reuniting us.”

As the Festival draws to a close, the “Heartbeat of the Drum” ceremony takes place. Each dance group sends out a drummer and they surround the auditorium. Singing in unison, the audience rises to their feet. It is in this moment that Dr. John’s words seem to resonate with crystal clarity. The steady beat of the drum reflects the unity of purpose that each person in that room represents. Times may change, people will come and go, but the beat of the drum continues. It sustains. It is past, present and future. It is Growing Native in the best possible way.

Mvto!

Hensci!

I’ve been working with youth for over ten years now, and I’m very proud of the accomplishments of the young people I work with. Today I want to call attention to some very special students. I recently had the opportunity to partner with the National Black Programming Consortia’s Public Media Corps to produce student work to be submitted to the American Graduate Film Festival. We worked with Northern Ponca students here in Lincoln, and Southern Ponca students from the White Eagle community in Oklahoma.

We worked with the students of a series of weeks developing story ideas for the American Graduate Student Film Festival. We talked about the dropout crisis, and how the numbers of dropouts is even worse in Indian Country. We talked about their own educational experience and the goals they had. And after we were done talking, we started doing.

There wasn’t a whole lot of encouragement necessary when I gave the students their cameras and turned them loose. People like to tell stories, and young people are no exception. Vision Maker Media is promoting six films in this year’s festival, but it could have easily been twice that many. The students had many great ideas, to the point that we had to narrow down the ones we could work on and feasibly get completed. Let it be known, however, that many of the students will continue to create films on their own, and it is very humbling indeed to have been a part of their growth as artists.

Be sure to follow the links and vote for their films by clicking the "Like" button on each film's YouTube page!

SOUTHERN PONCA

The Southern Ponca group in White Eagle was a whirlwind weekend full of good ideas and hard work! We finished two films in less than 48 hours, and I even got to dust off my acting hat. The students put together a zombie nightmare, a drama Lifetime would be proud of, and an insightful and personal depiction of education in the community. Congratulations on four great films! 

Here are the links to the Southern Ponca submissions:

NORTHERN PONCA

If the Southern Ponca was a sprint, the Northern Ponca group was a marathon. Being based in Lincoln, I was able to spend more time with these students and we really put in good work together. I feel like I got to know these students (who are all related to each other by the way) and through knowing them I can honestly say their work is a great reflection of who they are. Two words come to mind when I think about this group of kids: commitment and family. Watching their pieces, I think you’ll be able to make the connection.

Here are the links to the Northern Ponca submissions:

All in all, it was a fantastic experience. I look forward to working with these groups again and hopefully we will see more of their work as they continue their educations. Now please follow those links and support these kids with your vote!

Mvto!