POSTPONED: Dawnland Film Screening & Discussion

March 11, 2020

Date and Time Details:
Join us Wednesday, March 11

5 pm arrival
5:30 program start
6-7:30 film screening
7:30- 8:30 discussion

Location: Thomas Berry Hall

Address: 6449 Old Pietila Road, Clinton WA 98236

  • $50.00 – donation
  • $20.00 – donation
  • $10.00 – donation
  • – free

This event has been postponed as a preventative measure in response to King County recommendations on preventing the spread of COVID-19 novel coronavirus. To be notified when the event is rescheduled, please join the waitlist. Thank you!

Join us in Thomas Berry Hall for a film screening and discussion of DAWNLAND, a film exploring the devastation of Indigenous child removal from the early 20th Century through the Scoop era and into the present. The film goes in depth with the first government-sanctioned truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) in the United States, assembled in Maine. DAWNLAND follows the commission as it undertakes this historic investigation and bears witness to Wabanaki families whose experiences have been profoundly shaped by generations of systematic child removal.

Rebecca Black, 2nd generation Scoop survivor, and Carol Wishcamper, Maine TRC member, will be with us for the screening and discussion.

 

The Details

We invite you to arrive at 5 pm for this film screening and discussion.

We’ll provide coffee and tea. We know this event falls right at the dinner hour, and we invite you to bring your dinner or any snacks that will support your wellbeing during the showing!

After the film, we’ll have an hour of discussion with hosts Rebecca Black and Carol Wishcamper.

Shuttle support from our outer parking lot will be provided.

 

By Donation

All proceeds from this event will support the National Indian Child Welfare Association. You may donate directly here or during the registration process.

 

About Dawnland

EMMY® AWARD-WINNER – OUTSTANDING RESEARCH

JURY AWARD WINNER – BEST DOCUMENTARY WOODS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL, BUFFALO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER – BEST DOCUMENTARY, TACOMA FILM FESTIVAL

“My foster mother told me . . . she would save me from being Penobscot.”

For most of the 20th century, government agents systematically forced Native American children from their homes and placed them with white families. As recently as the 1970’s, one in four Native children nationwide were living in non-Native foster care, adoptive homes, or boarding schools. Many children experienced devastating emotional and physical harm by adults who mistreated them and tried to erase their cultural identity.

Now, for the first time, they are being asked to share their stories.

In Maine, a historic investigation—the first government-sanctioned truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) in the United States—begins a bold journey. For over two years, Native and non-Native commissioners travel across Maine. They gather testimony and bear witness to the devastating impact of the state’s child welfare practices on families in Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribal communities. Collectively, these tribes make up the Wabanaki people.

The feature-length documentary DAWNLAND follows the TRC to contemporary Wabanaki communities to witness intimate, sacred moments of truth-telling and healing. With exclusive access to this groundbreaking process and never-before-seen footage, the film reveals the untold narrative of Indigenous child removal in the United States.

The TRC discovers that state power continues to be used to break up Wabanaki families, threatening the very existence of the Wabanaki people. Can they right this wrong and turn around a broken child welfare system? DAWNLAND foregrounds the immense challenges that this commission faces as they work toward truth, reconciliation, and the survival of all Indigenous peoples.

Living at the easternmost edge of Turtle Island, the Wabanaki people are the first to see the new day’s light. If harmony and justice begin in the east, as some prophesize, surely the TRC is a sign of this beginning.

Categories : , ,