Trailer for College Production at Red Lake

"I think Indigenous Peoples are going to emerge as the leaders. They are holding on to this Ancient knowledge of how we should treat the land, how we should be on the land. So I think it's important to listen to their stories." -From the film on the Sami, Europe's only recognized Indigenous Peoples

I hope you will scan this missive and consider supporting this very worthy cause that connects American Indians to East Indians. If you find it worthy and of interest, please read it all and take a look at the links, including a 30 minute film a bright and curious student group did on the Sami Indigenous Peoples of Europe. You'll see the connection and a good lesson for a chaotic world in need of re-connection to nature, in my view.

Perhaps you recall the College of St. Benedict's & St. John's U. Students Five-day Visit to Red Lake in early October. They came to film segments on the Ojibwe Spiritual and Cultural view on the significance of Water. The film group is known as Extending the Link (ETL), a name that describes their philosophy of Think Globally, Act Locally. Soon they will travel to the Ganges River in India to look at the Hindu spiritual relationship to water.

Click on the link below for a two and a half minute trailer about Red Lake edited from footage taken during their visit. It includes a pitch to help them raise money for the next step of their project, a trip to India. Listen for the Voices of Spiritual Leader and Hereditary Chief Greeting Spears, TC member/DNR director Allen Pemberton, Wesley Cloud, Clifford Hardy, Michael Meuers, and some beautiful footage of Red Lake Nation. (Chief Spears and Cloud invited ETL to interview at the Ponemah Round House)

On the same page as the trailer, learn how you can help support these young filmmakers travel to India to finish this connection to Red Lake. It will be released in spring 2018 without cost to all. (Availability will include YouTube) Check out the fundraising video to learn more about the project and how you can be a part of their journey! All donations are fully tax deductible as a 501c3. Info of how to donate on line or write a check for snail mail is at the link.

Red Lake trailer plus how to help

http://extending-thelink.squarespace.com/donate

Does ETL do a Professional Job? See for yourself in a special film on the Sami Indigenous Europeans. (Note: ETL does not narrate, rather those interviewed tell the story)

Nominated for National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Upper Midwest Regional Student Production Award for College Non-Fiction: Obbasa Ain Gállit – We Continue highlights indigenous issues through the lens of the Sámi people. The Sámi are the only recognized indigenous group in Europe. They reside in their homeland, Sápmi, which is comprised of Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, but they also have a diaspora in North America due to a small group of reindeer herders being paid to immigrate to Alaska during the time of the gold rush.

Sami Peoples trailer: A two-minute teaser (scroll down a bit to image of teepee) to see if you want to watch the 30 minute film, link follows.

http://extending-thelink.squarespace.com/video

Film on the Sami Peoples, Obbasa Ain Gállit – We Continue: you will feel the connection between ALL Indigenous Peoples when you see and hear these European Indigenous Peoples, who trace their ancestry to the stone age, talk like Indians. A 28 minute film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvqy7NgXgEA

From an earlier Press Release

The students visiting Red Lake were bright, respectful, and professional. Twelve of the 20 involved came to visit, they included: Grace Lindquist and Brennan Lafeber who are Co

–Directors for Extending the Link.

"Because Water is one of the four elements - the first round of Creation - we are focusing very tightly on water," said co-director Grace Lindquist, "we want to show everyone why the problems surrounding pipelines and water access/ownership is much more than an issue of resource distribution, and we must respect our water as it is a source of spiritual life as well."

Extending the Link (ETL) is a non-profit structured organization at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in St. Joseph and Collegeville, MN. Their mission is to foster awareness surrounding social justice issues through the creation of annual documentaries.

"Our team is made of 20 passionate students who strive to educate the community about under-represented social justice issues through the creation of annual films," said co-director Brennan Lafeber. "We are all dedicated to telling stories important to the global community. Each year, we focus on a different topic, and cover the story both locally and abroad."

ETL's motto is "Think Globally, Act Locally," and therefore each film focuses on an issue at an international and domestic level with the goal of tying the story back into how it affects our local community in Minnesota.

"We typically research our topic during the summer and fall, and travel to film the international elements of our film in late December and early January," noted team member Danica Simonet. "we then return to campus and compile our footage to create a documentary to be shown to our campus, and broader community. You can check out examples of our past work on our YouTube page and our website, just Google "Extending the Link.'"

This year, for their 11th film, they are focusing on the cultural significance, spiritual importance, and value of water. They say their inspiration came from the recent issues of water rights and pipeline projects in the headlines, and the idea is to highlight the deeper significance of water to Native Americans in Minnesota.

"For our international aspect, we plan to parallel this story to the cultural significance of water to the Hindu population in Kolkata and Varanasi, India." said well-traveled team member Alexis Solheid. "Our overall goal is to be a voice for this issue and help them tell their story."

Students said they selected the topic for the film last May and conducted research throughout the summer. They interview for the domestic aspect of the film in October through December while simultaneously fundraising for international travel.

"We then travel to the country of interest for approximately three weeks over winter break to document the international side, said ETL member Padra Xiong. "When we return in January, we immediately begin editing footage and piecing our story together. At the same time we begin organizing our 'act local' initiative, which is a project we sponsor to create sustainable change relating to the issue in our community."

By April the group will have its final product and premiere the film on campus and be added to their website and YouTube free of charge to all. In May the process begins again with a new topic.

"Again, this year we will be telling the story of the spiritual and cultural value of water, said Lindquist. "While the issue of water pollution and access is widely covered, the idea that water is more than a resource for human exploitation and represents life and spirit to many cultures is largely overlooked.

"We will be paralleling the stories of the Hindu religion in Varanasi, India to those of Native American tribes in Minnesota, specifically The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. Our team enjoyed our visit, hearing your stories, and learning from your tribe," concluded Lindquist.

The goal is to be an outlet and resource for the tribe and to tell the story of how water is important to the Red Lake Ojibwe culture.

Here is a list of awards ETL films have won for three of their films, and links to those films:

St. Paul On-the-Line Film Festival: Films for Life Award

• Awarded for Ger Kler: A Journey of Untold Strength (EXL's 7th project tells the story of Karen refugees living in Thailand and Minnesota) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieJJ_qK0xj0

National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

Upper Midwest Regional Student Production Award for College Non-Fiction

• Awarded for Ger Kler: A Journey of Untold Strength (EXL's 7th project tells the story of Karen refugees living in Thailand and Minnesota) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieJJ_qK0xj0

• Awarded for Ubumwe: Together we Grow (EXL's 9th film, titled Ubumwe meaning Unity in Kinyarwanda, highlights the stories of women in agriculture both in central Minnesota and Rwanda.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb2Rhw90PcQ

• Nominated for Obbasa Ain Gállit – We Continue (EXL's eighth documentary highlights indigenous issues through the lens of the Sámi people. The Sámi are the last recognized indigenous group in Europe. They reside in their homeland, Sápmi, which is comprised of Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, but they also have a diaspora in North America due to a small group of reindeer herders being paid to immigrate to Alaska during the time of the gold rush. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvqy7NgXgEA

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