Four Sheets to the Wind (2007, 91 minutes, 35mm, Rated R)
Saturday, May 3 at 7:45pm
A film by Sterlin Harjo and Ted Kroeber
When Cufe Smallhill, a registered Seminole
who is part Creek, finds his father dead one
morning, he disposes of the body in the family
pond according to the old man’s dying
wish. Cufe's cousin loads a donated coffin
with watermelons for weight, making Cufe’s
mother happy because a closed-casket funeral
is possible. Overwhelmed and confused, Cufe
sets off to begin a new life in the big city
of Tulsa, where his sister Miri is struggling
in her own ways. What follows is a sweetly
bitter tale about family, forgiveness and
something resembling love.
This film is preceded by a screening of shorts produced by students in the Native Lens program. A post-film discussion features a panel of local Native artists and scholars:
- Charlotte Coté (Nuu-chah-nulth)
- Tracy Rector (Seminole)
- Victor Pascual (Navajo/Mayan)
- Jonathan Tomhave (Hidatsa/Prairie Band Potawatomi/Hocak)
About the Presenters
Native Lens is a program of Longhouse
Media, which supports the growth and expression
of Indigenous youth through digital media
making. The mission of Longhouse Media is
to catalyze indigenous people and communities
to use media as a tool for self-expression,
cultural preservation, and social change.
Longhouse Media draws from traditional and
modern forms of artistic expression, storytelling,
teaching and inquiry, based in the technologies
of today.
Dr. Charlotte Coté (Nuu-chah-nulth) is an Assistant Professor in American Indian Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Coté was born and raised in her community of Tse-shaht, which is a member nation of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations situated on the West Coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. She has a BA in Political Science from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, B.C., and an MA and Ph.D. in Comparative Ethnic Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. Her areas of academic teaching and interest are Native sovereignty, treaty rights, Indian law and policy. Her research covers both Canadian and U.S. issues related to Native people.
Dr. Coté also has degree in broadcast communications and teaches courses on First Nations Filmmaking in Canada. She is a faculty member in the UW Native Voices Documentary Film Program and has coordinated Native film screenings at the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley. She is a member of the Native Arts Council of the Seattle Art Museum and is helping to coordinate a Native American Film festival to be held in the fall, 2008.
Dr. Coté has published articles on Indian sovereignty in Canada and the United States, traditional Native justice systems, Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth whaling, and the Northwest Coast Guardian Spirit Complex. She has just completed a book manuscript that examines the political, social, economic and spiritual importance of contemporary Nuu-chah-nulth and Makah whaling. Top of Page
Tracy Rector (Seminole) is a producer and filmmaker who earned her Masters in Education and Teacher Certification from Antioch University’s First Peoples Program. She specializes in Native American Studies, traditional plant medicine and documentary film. As the Co-Producer of the award winning films Teachings of the Tree People and Teachings of the Tree People: The Work of Bruce Miller, Tracy has developed an awareness and sensitivity to the power of media and film as a modern storytelling tool.
Her work has been featured at National Geographic’s All Roads Film Project, at the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian and she is the recent recipient of the prestigious Native American Public Telecommunications Producers grant and Horace Mann Award. As a Native Education specialist Tracy offers unique insight to her projects. Her vision is to bring traditional and contemporary education together in a foundation based in environmental stewardship. March Point is an example of co-collaborating with youth filmmakers as a process of alternative education and inquiry into the world. She is currently working with the Seattle Art Museum as a consultant and Native Naturalist for the Olympic Sculpture Park and in planning for the new expanded Native American wing of the Seattle Art Museumand traveling Coast Salish Exhibit. Tracy is also currently developing curriculum for IslandWood, an environmental education center. She is the Co-founder of Longhouse Media/Native Lens. Top of Page
Victor Pascual (Navajo/Mayan) was born and raised in Farmington, New Mexico and is a recent graduate of Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, where he studied Fine Art and Graphic Design with a minor in Art History and Sociology. He currently resides in Seattle, Washington working as a freelance graphic designer. Having been a graphic designer, illustrator and photographer for 5+ years, Victor has built a sizable portfolio while working proudly with some of the most aspiring people across the U.S. and Canada. As an illustrator, his work focuses on the contemporary struggles of being indigenous in an urban environment, while utilizing a design-style that overarches design in popular culture both in the U.S. and internationally. Though much of his illustrations are finalized on a computer, they are often times not conceived electronically, but through his trusty sketchbook.
For a more in-depth look at his work please visit www.pascualdesign.com.
Thank you to Victor Pascual for providing the artwork seen above in the City Folk film series image. His work will also be shown at a special exhibit at the Northwest Folklife Festival, May 23-26 in the Bagley Wright Theatre lobby at Seattle Center. Top of Page
Jonathan Tomhave (Hidatsa/Prairie Band Potawatomi/Hocak) is a PhD candidate in Communications at Native Voices: the Center for Indigenous Media at the University of Washington in Seattle. Tomhave has taught new media production and digital editing at the university and has taught video production to members of the youth media organization Native Lens. Tomhave is currently developing a video about the jurisprudence of rape on Native American reservations. Tomhave has lectured at the National Institute for Native Leadership in Higher Education at the University of New Mexico and served as a panelist at the University of British Columbia Aboriginal Student Graduate Symposium. At the University of Washington, Tomhave received the Mortarboard Scholarship and the American Indian Graduate Center Scholarship. He is a member of Native American Students in Advanced Academia. Tomhave received his BA from California Baptist University in Riverside, California. Top of Page
This program is made possible in part by
a grant from Humanities Washington, a state-wide
non-profit organization supported by the National
Endowment for the Humanities, the state of
Washington, and contributions from individuals
and foundations.
