American Indian Heritage Month Programming on Lakeland Public TV

November is American Indian Heritage Month in the United States. In the spirit of that celebration, Lakeland Public Television, KAWE/KAWB Channels 9/22 will be airing several programs related to and about America's Indigenous Peoples. The fourth submission, Rising Voices/Hothaninpi, is about indigenous language revitalization, something that is going with the northern Minnesota Ojibwe, the Shared Vision Group, and Bemidji's Ojibwe Language Project.

The first program listed is also a program timely with the Ojibwe of Northern Minnesota, the revitalization of the sport Lacrosse. Other programs are related to Ojibwe country with an entry on uranium mining, and the importance of cultural revitalization and its healing affects.

And if you have not discovered FNX, (First Nations Experience Television) more on that follows the November programming described below.

Program synopses follow:

Medicine Game

Saturday, November 7 at 9pm

This film, six years in the making, shares the remarkable journey of two brothers from the Onondoga Nation driven by a single goal - to beat the odds and play the sport of lacrosse for national powerhouse Syracuse University. The obstacles in their way are frequent and daunting, but the brothers' love for the game, each other, and their family's unyielding determination propel these young men towards their dream.

Road to Andersonville

Monday, November 9 at 9pm

The first film to document the story of Michigan's Native Americans in the Civil War who served in Company K of the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters. During the Civil War, a regiment of sharpshooters was being recruited to fight for the Union, but there was a problem - few men could pass the marksmanship test. Since Michigan's Native Americans were famous as skilled hunters, it was decided to recruit one company -Company K- from among the tribes in Michigan. Nearly 140 men volunteered for Company K in the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters regiment. Company K was sent to Virginia in 1864, and fought in some of the fiercest battles of the Civil War.

Finding Refuge

Thursday, November 12 at 7:30pm

The efforts of one dying woman to preserve her Native culture don't end when she passes, but prompts a renewal in finding pride in that culture. She confronts the violent event over two centuries ago that began the destruction of her people and the shame that colonialism created.

Rising Voices/Hothaninpi

Monday, November 16 at 9pm

Rising Voices is a portrait of a culture today, focusing on the myriad conflicts around the disappearing language on the Lakota reservations of North and South Dakota. The Lakota nation consists of 170,000 tribal members. Yet the language is clearly at risk - just 6,000 people still speak Lakota now, and the average age of its speakers will soon be 70 years. Before Columbus, Lakota was one of 300 Native languages spoken north of Mexico. Today only half of those languages remain; experts say that by the year 2050 just 20 indigenous American languages will exist. Today, Lakota tribal members, in partnership with non-Indians, struggle to save their native language by introducing a new way of teaching, brought to the Lakota reservations from places like the Czech Republic and France. These methods are producing results; for the first time, schools are capable of creating fluent second-language Lakota speakers. The new methods are helping the Lakota language to find its voice again.

Crying Earth Rise Up

Thursday, November 19 at 8pm

A Lakota mother studying geology seeks the source of the water contamination that caused her daughter's critical health problems. Meanwhile, a Lakota grandmother fights the regional expansion of uranium mining. Crying Earth Rise Up exposes the human cost of uranium mining and its impact on Great Plains drinking water.

Tracing Roots: A Weavers Journey

Thursday, November 26 at 7:30pm

Tracing Roots is a portrait of an artist and a mystery. The film follows master weaver and Haida elder Delores Churchill on a journey to understand the origins of a spruce root hat found with Kwaday Dan Ts'inchi, the Long Ago Person Found, a 300-year-old traveler discovered in Northern Canada in a retreating glacier. Delores's quest crosses cultures and borders, involving artists, scholars and scientists, raising questions about the meaning of connection, knowledge and ownership.

FNX

Lakeland Public Television public television has made available to cable subscribers, Indian programming 24/7 on First Nation Experience Television (FNX). Lakeland PTV is pleased to provide the local broadcast of this channel dedicated to telling the stories of Native Americans across the United States.

The FNX television channel presents Native American stories and content to create a diverse and entertaining channel across all media platforms. The unique non-profit channel is the result of a shared vision and values between the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and PBS/KVCR both located in San Bernardino, California. Through Native-produced and/or themed documentaries, dramatic series and arts programming, the FNX Channel illustrates the lives and cultures of Native American and indigenous people around the world. FNX is truly the voice of Native American and indigenous Communities. FNX is available over the air on channel 9.2 in the Bemidji area, and channel 22.2 in the Brainerd area.

Take a look at the link below for more info on FNX

http://www.lptv.org/fnx-first-nations-experience/#page=schedule&day=20150930&provider=Broadcast