I am currently fundraising for my short film SHIMASANI, which was shot back in
June. I currently have a rough cut, but the post production is stalled because
of lack of funds. Currently I’m trying to raise $5,000 to get the ball
rolling at least.
The film is based on one of my grandmothers experiences when she was in her
teens back in the early part of the 20th century. The film is entirely in
Navajo, has fantastic performances and is beautifully shot.
If you go to the link below i’ve opened a fundraising account on fundable.
Any help (cash) you could donate would much appreciated.
In the late 1920’s on the Navajo Reservation, teenage Mary Jane spends her
time daydreaming while tending to her flock of sheep and working with her Masani
(maternal grandmother). One day her older sister Anna Mae runs away from
boarding school and brings home with her a book of World Geography that shows
Mary Jane an entirely new world that is “just over the mountain”. In the end
she must decide whether to maintain her traditional life with her grandmother or
go out into the larger world.
Cafesociety.org spent 5 years working with schools and young people on several of the Native American reservations in Arizona. Here is a selection of those Films made during Cafesociety.org digital workshops with young people on the Navajo , Hopi and Gila River Indian Community reservations. [1998 - 2003].
Our largest project to date on the reservation was REZ02 and invloved 8 creative practitioners visiting Arizona to hold a series of new media workshops with young people.
On July 18th 2002, a crew of 8 digital artists made their way from the UK and Holland to Arizona, USA to create a series of digital stories working with a selection of native american and rurally isolated young people.
Firstly we aimed to deliver a language and culture based multimedia project, showing students how to use film making equipment, web design, photography and computer animation to tell a story.
The project explored Language Ecology which is the preservation of linguistic and cultural diversity. By using multimedia and film making projects we equipped the young people with new skills to record and preserve their own heritage and stories.
The second goal of the project was to open up discussion with teaching staff from schools in Arizona to the possibility of future ways of collaboratively working and developing online curriculum projects and materials with schools in the Withernsea and South Holderness region of England.
We believe in the necessity for the preservation and celebration of all voices and if the youth are empowered with the skills to use modern day communications technologies, they can continue to speak out in their own voices, protecting and promoting their own cultures as they see fit.
Around 9.30 the crew were packed up and ready to leave Gateway Ranch. Departure was a little reluctant as we had all been captivated with the beauty of the place and the energy of our hosts. It was a shame we couldn’t stay around to meet and work with the kids at the Star School. Still we were looking forward to what the Gila River community experience would be and if our impressions of the Star School have only made us determined to return for a longer period in order to work with the kids some time soon.
The drive was a long one, we finally arrived around 4pm, after traffic jams and a couple of stops to stretch our legs and take pretty view pictures along the way.
The Heat:: Rising. And rising..
First impressions
We finally found our destination, the sister building to the Gila Crossing North Campus location (where we will be teaching), which is situated on the edge of the reservation, just outside Phoenix, close to Tempe. We were met by Mike who is the chairman of the board, director of River Children Project 21st Century, Kris Radke and the school’s principal, Jagdish Sharma. It was immediately obvious that we were back with city people, this was going to be a change from Rez life. Our accommodation for the week is a hotel about half an hour away from the school and about 10 minutes from Tempe. The hotel has a pool
Dinner was in Tempe, after not being allowed into their first choice of location because Jon’s international driving license was not enough for the doorman (according to state law it must an Arizona license or your passport) the crew was happy with a Tai restaurant. After dinner it was straight to bed, tired from the drive, the intense heat and the food.
Before heading off to the school the crew took a trip up a mountain. No ordinary mountain this mountain – and the land around it – has been bought by artist James Turrell. For the past 25 years he has been busy creating his own, unique form of ‘land art’. Not yet open to the public, the crew had the honor of exploring the installation as it stands now as their host Mark and his wife know James and the crew working on this piece.
An ex-pilot this is a man with a unique perspective on the land around us. Turrell has actually shaped the mountain to fit his vision: You walk through tunnel ways that lead off into chambers, natural light beams dance through cylindrical openings and round shapes, you pass through from light to pitch black darkness, fumbling to feel the wall and find your way. The whole space plays with your perception of space and gravity. Our voices echo all around.
Out in the open on top of the mountain, looking over the edge you see the landscape from a perspective that stands you in awe of mother nature. Passing clouds cast dancing shadows, encroaching slowly across the land. As Turrell owns the land all around the mountain, the landscape is free of any buildings (as Mark pointed out, his ranch is perhaps the only “glitch” on Turrell’s canvas). This was an imposing experience, back on the ground everything suddenly seemed out of proportion.
At the Star School
Nirit, Murray and Lucy filmed short introductory interviews with the Star School team. Justin treats us to a longer interview. He spoke to us about the concept of “Ke”, which feeds into the school, into how he teaches the children and how he lives his own life: everything being related to everything. He spoke of his community, culture and language. We were enthralled. Nirit, so much so that she almost forgot to concentrate on the filming she was so busy listening !
Felix gave Tom and Kate a crash course in Net Fusions Objects and Fireworks and how to optimize graphics for the web
Jon updated the multimedia content for the Rez02 site
Annabel finished off the editing on some footage from our week at Tuba City /Moenkopi and began editing the interviews
Back at the Ranch
Sunset shadow dancing. Just as the Father sun was beginning his evening performance, the van pulled up outside the Hogan. Murray put on a CD & turned up the tunes. Rather appropriately the first tune was the classic “Don’t worry be happy”. Perfect for a tired crew to shake off the stresses of nine solid days working, moving and dealing with each other in confined spaces! Shadow dancing against the backdrop of an expansive landscape, a majestic sunset and the San Francisco Peaks (one of the four sacred mountains of Navajo land).
Bugs dinner: Down at the house the crew were treated to Mark’s infamous carrot sauce pasta. Delicious. The black, beetle like flying bugs that come out at night here were most intrigued by the lure of lights, people and carrots. Eventually we gave in and retreated outside to the darkness where their attack was subdued a little The evening progressed with a showing of Miles – the nine year old son of Mark and Kate - showing us his first digital film. Nirit had spent the evening editing the mornings shooting with him. First time results were impressive. Following the premiere Murray and Gill were joined on the trampoline by Jon.
Mystic texts: Late into the night, Nirit and Jon discussed the Kabala (a heavy spiritual exploration into Judaism & numbers – decoding our future). Three guys visiting the area who are also staying at the ranch – Devin (New Jersey), Jason (Connecticut), Aktan (from Turkey) – have an interest in this, Jason has been reading about this for the past few years. The guys are traveling around with Jason, who has a students grant to research Native American spirituality. The conversation got interesting as Nirit translated parts of the Hebrew text and the guys discussed what they knew. Jon was a little unnerved by it all, but he felt better after asking Nirit to accompany him back to the Hogan.
No rest for the wicked, it was an early rise in order to make it to “Star School”, situated on the edge of the Navajo reservation at the edge of the Painted Desert in Northern Arizona, close to Flagstaff. After a call in to a local camping shop to pick up some ropes to tie bags onto the top of the van, the crew set off. After a drive down tracks that led to what looked like the middle of nowhere they found the school!
Star School
A solar powered school, “Star school” is apparently a unique kind of place. Established a year ago by Dr Mark Sorenson, he and his team are still in the process of developing the place, though it is already an active school. This time the students are the adults who teach at the school and / or are involved with the school and the local community. Students of the school are a mix of Navajo, Anglo. Hispanic and a couple of other Native tribes. So, this time the crew work with teachers/ community leaders Mark, Kate, Justin, Richard and Tom to create some initial multimedia content for the web site of Star school and guide them through the setting up of their networks and about their hardware choices. Initial talks with the team at Star school threw up some fascinating conversations.
Project development: Following initial talks the team established their network and conducted a first audio interview that will be written up as a piece for Star school to use as content on their web site, to introduce what they are all about to the world. Tomorrow, some interviews will be filmed, these will be brief portraits of those involved in the school for the Star school web site and a more in depth interview exploring Language ecology, ecology and culture with Justin for Rez02.
Back at the ranch
Dirt track driving: For the two nights we are here the crew are guests of Mark and his wife Kate at the Gateway Ranch. Their ranch is around 7 miles away from the school and is in a stunning location. An expansive landscape formed from volcanic rocks long ago stretches as far as the eye can see The sand is black this time. Gill and Annabel had been taken up their earlier in the day, to get some much needed sleep. Murray returned to collect Felix, Jon, Lucy and Nirit after a hard days work.
The drive back took them along a dirt track, where Murray nearly hit an oncoming car and further up the track he was having such fun driving through large mud puddles from the afternoon’s rain that we missed the turning to the ranch! We’re currently reviewing Murray’s off road driving skills…
Cook out: dinner was cooked over an open fire at the ranch. Certainly the best meal yet. And even the veggies were happy, with veggie burgers and corn dogs, fresh corn and delicious potatoes. Felix attempted grilled bananas and chocolate for desert. The moon was majestic in the sky. All in all the best dinner experienced on the trip yet.
Bedding down: Felix, Jon, Ray and Annabel opted to sleep in the Hogan, which is situated a little way away from the house. The location treated the crew to stunning views, extraordinary lights at sunset (and again at sunrise) and an atmosphere of calming, quiet, isolation. That despite four people being in there. It was comfortable too. The other three (Lucy, Nirit and Gill) opted for beds and power at the ranch. The beds were very much appreciated, possibly by Nirit the most who , despite being the smallest , managed to loose herself in a large double bed.
The team set off from Herman’s Hogan around 8am (7am, Hopi time). Coffee, showers and food were on the minds of most. We found our coffee while calling in on old colleague of Jon’s, Luanne Somers at the ETIP centre at Monument Valley High School in Kayenta. ETIP is a centre dedicated to the advancement of use of digital technologies in the classroom. Jon, Ray and Felix end up giving a spontaneous, twenty minute, presentation to a class of school teachers there to learn about ETIP. All this on very little sleep, only one machine coffee and no showers!..
At Moenkopi Youth Program
Project development:
Design: Gill finished off the flyer, poster and t-shirt designs with the girls. Looking good.
Sound: Murray tightened up the soundtrack, laying vocals to the music. Vocals included some Hopi chanting and humorous rap.
Film: Annabel finished off the basketball promo. Lucy worked with Bobby on his story – “The Coyote and the Chipmunk” – and Annabel and Nirit filmed the finished script.
Community interview: Lucy and Nirit are taken to meet one of the students grandmothers. They chat to her about the Hopi language in her community today. She tells us her thoughts on the beauty and importance of the Hopi language to her and her community.
Back at Base
A productive household: The crew settle into a late night session trying tto meet the deadline for tomorrow. Nirit is lost in the basketball edit, Jon and Felix repair the website, Murray in bits and beats, Ray is braving a MAC, Lucy writes up some content, Annabel and Gill go through the still images; Shonie and Marci iron on the “Rez Dogs” logo onto the t-shirts.
A word from our hosts: “Lots of pale skins with creative minds – you guys came here with good intentions towards us and looks like you’ve achieved it! (Marci).
Best in the West vs Rez Dawgs: Names have been selected for the Basketball teams. Gill’s girls are well on their way to a great design for the flyer and t-shirt.
Spoken words: Nirit’s crew begin editing their interviews; Annabel makes progress editing a promo spot with Bobby; Murray records the vocals for the soundtrack with Ramson and Derek (aka. Sonny);
Once upon a time: Bobby and Rejna select stories they want to tell in English and Hopi.
www.Rezo2.net: Lucy writes and Jon and Felix battle with Dreamweaver software.
The heat: Still no air conditioning - the sun was fierce today - we have nothing left to sweat - until tomorrow.
Out and about – Herman’s Hogan
After school the crew set off for Monument Valley and Herman’s Hogan. Herman is a Navajo medicine man and an old friend of Jon’s from previous visits. We arrive just before darkness falls and a spectacular full moon rises. A large tribe of Rez dogs are there to greet us. Some gaze and some buy from Herman’s jewellery, conveniently laid out on the Hogan floor. Business over with, the gems are pushed back and the beats begin. 6 drummers and 4 singers, all from Herman’s clan take their places in the Hogan. With drums, voices, stories we stay awake and last well into the early morning..
Dawn awakening: Ray is rudely awakened from a perfectly peaceful sleep on a trampoline; the crew tackle squatting on the red sand and Herman’s live stock show they are far from camera shy.
The crews experience: “Like being back in my favourite photograph” (Annabel); “a reunion with old friends” (Jon);
“took me somewhere else without any additives” (Murray);
“trippy” (Gill);
“different” (Ray).
Successes
The crew ran through the equipment list check and the kids were given a how to handle equipment tutorial. No equipment breaks today.
Project development:
Words project ‘Happiness is..’: The crew worked with small groups of kids in rotation; Annabel focused on editing the images, Murray began on the soundtrack (incorporating the words being spoken), Gill worked on the graphics for the credits.
Web site: Jon and Felix continued working on web site development.
Interview techniques: Nirit began working on interviewing techniques with kids.
Diary and research: Lucy wrote the diary from the first few days, floated between the kids listened to them telling her stories. About their music, their dances and their culture.
Basketball: After Lunch the crews idea that the kids organise a basketball match which would involve preparing all the promotional material and making a film about basketball, was presented to them. They liked it.
Gill began working with Kayla and Trisha on the graphic design for the flyers and t-shirts for the teams. The girls had strong ideas about using traditional design, and symbols from Hopi and Navajo cultures; Murray began working on a soundtrack for the film with student Derek leading the inspiration; Nirit began creating the film with students Bobby, Leandre and LaTonya filming and interviewing; Annabel focused on the editing with Bobby; teacher / student Ramson began researching the history of Basketball in the Hopi culture. Lucy helped with research / inspiration for the graphic design and sound.
The heat: the computer room is given an extra fan. Crew in the conference room are grateful for small mercies.
I believe the children are our future, teach them well & let them lead the way, quote from Ms Whitney Huston, from Nirit.
Back at Base:
Chinese flavours: A tired but inspired crew arrived back home. Murray, Annabel, Gill and Ray went to eat at a Chinese restaurant on the Navajo reservation. All reservation businesses must be Navajo owned, but there really was a Chinese cook there. Perhaps they are married to a Navajo, the food was exquisite.
Wrestling, fried bread & books.
Jon, Felix, Nirit and Lucy gratefully accepted an invitation to Marci’s house. Fried bread and beef stew awaited us. Jon is a vegetarian, but that didn’t matter. The star of the evening was the fried bread. Excellent.
Nirit wants to make a short film piece about this special dish. Marci’s son Dorian wrestled with Felix. Not sure Felix was actually winning that one. Afterwards he treated us to his Scottish accent. (Seems this Scottish theme keeps coming back at us.. firstly the chance encounter at Monument Valley, Murray’s highway drive, Marci and Dorian’s obsession ). Marci and Dorian dream of going to Scotland one day. Lucy was happy with Marci’s books of stories. Jon fell asleep on the sofa.
The day starts in fine style as this time it’s Ray who takes over the kitchen. Omlettes to be proud of. Eggs for strength, as we prepare to spend the day exploring the desert in Monument Valley.
8 people and around 10 cameras, feeling slightly Japenese, we hit the road. The journey is smooth, we stop for drinks and telephone calls home, Jon and Lucy discuss the green hills of England and the foot & mouth crisis with a Navajo lady selling items by the garage. She asks us what we’re hear to do. We tell her and she approves.
We call in at Luanne’s house on the way there. Luanne is a teacher who coordinates at various Native American schools. She’s not home. We leave a pink post it note on the door and carry on. Happy we bought pink and not yellow.
Just before Monument Valley visitor centre we stop and check out some Navajo arts and crafts stalls. The road is dusty and hot. The rocks of Monument Valley rise up in the distance. We feel like we’re in a film set. We are looking for Herman, an old friend of Jon’s who sells jewellery here..he’s not there but we chat to his nephew. Nirit films and Nirit and Lucy interview him. He tells us the stories depicted on the jewellery. In Navajo and English.
We drive on and up into Monument Valley. To say it takes your breath away is an understatement.
Work begins today and we have our first project planning meeting as a group all sitting in the same physical space. A controlled panic ensues. Some great ideas are formulated and a schedule confirmed. We are ready for the youth we will begin to work with on Monday. We are excited to know what will they create with us.
The rest of the day continues in true American style, Burgers to eat and walkie talkies to play with, bought at Wallmart a few years back, on one of Jon’s previous visits. Walkie talkies are popular in this area, we can receive from a 2 or 3 mile radius round from Shonnie’s house so we tune in and chat back. Murray records the transmissions.
Late into the night we prepare for the workshops and begin building the site for rez02.net.
Our first sun rise on the Rez and cameras are already in hand, Jon interviews Ray about why we are here. After a late breakfast our host Shonie took a jet lagged crew out to a local flea market. We encounter the hot, dry desert air for the first time.
We explore food, herbs, jewellery, t-shirt designs. We chat to some locals and taste the local fried bread, mutton and stew. Then the dust devils stand up to attention, as a sand storm begins to blow. We head for cover in the van, taking a drive up to a higher spot for our first team view. Stunning desert rocks, looking like they’ve been carefully air brushed in gradual tones of sand red orange. The cameras come out and we sit in wonder clicking away.
Back in the van we follow the road round to the famed dinosaur tracks, there’s a fossilised egg there too. Murray is convinced it’s ‘Diloafasaurous’ tracks. Nirit experimented with some new imprints for future generations to find fossilised Nikisaurous. Back at base, the techies got their computers out, the projector came out and Shonie’s white wall became a cinema screen.
Shonie takes Nirit on a magic car ride. Nirit explores.
Shonie becomes the star of the day as Jon interviews our host.
We explore the local supermarket, return home and make the household discovery of the trip so far – Felix is an unbelievably good cook. We leave him in the kitchen. The result is delicious.
That night the crew experience their first taste of local tradition that is still very much alive. Marcy escorts a tired but curious group to a Squaw dance ceremony.
On July 18th 2002, a crew of 8 digital artists made their way from the UK and Holland to Arizona, USA to create a series of digital stories working with a selection of native american and rurally isolated young people.
Phoenix Airport 1pm Thursday July 18th: Jon, Murray and Annabel arrive and are met by Shonie and Marci. Shonie is an old friend of Jon’s, Marci is his girlfriend. Shonie is of half Navajo and half German Jewish blood and lives on the Navajo reservation where he moved from city life in Phoenix around 15 years ago.
Six of our crew flew in from the UK and two flew in from Holland. Four went via Frankfurt; one went via Pittsburgh; one via Newark and one via Detroit. One had arrived direct from Holland three days earlier. Eventually they all came together outside a Casino, off highway 89 direction North from Phoenix. Two hours later they arrived in Tuba City, Arizona.
Together they picked up the first essential item for the trip ‘ the van for the crew ‘ and made their way to an all American style warehouse for supplies. It was enormous. Motorbikes, drinks, food, clothes, technical equipment, huge plasma screen TVs. They picked up food supplies and Felix fell in love. It was immediate. He stumbled across an isle of wall to wall Beef Jerky. He looked, he bought some, he tasted. It was Love at first taste.
Back at the airport, Gill, Ray and Nirit arrived one after the other. By 10 pm Nirit was through customs, but her bag was not. No fresh clothes, no computer. By 11pm they were in the van driving North. They were hot, they were sticky, they were tired. Felix was still happy. Nirit was not.
About an hour and a half later the van pulled off the highway to pick Lucy up outside a Casino. She’d arrived three days earlier and been staying with George, Annie and Zamora in Cottonwood. George is a Yaki Indian from Mexico, Annie is from Canada and Zamora is their four year old daughter – a wise soul in a young body. Finally all together, the team left the casino behind, no richer, but getting more tired by the hour.
After a couple of hours of driving there was a pit stop at Wallmart. A classic American one stop shop for whatever you could possibly need. Nirit needed clothes! Not an easy task, Nirit is a small woman. American sizes are far too big. Finding clothes she liked in the children’s department was not easy. Almost an hour later we stumbled out and back into the van.
Finally we arrived in Tuba City on the Navajo Reservation, Arizona. We piled out of the van and into Shonie’s house, where he is kindly letting us stay. A tired, thirsty crew were happy to arrive. Felix decided to get a haircut immediately. Obviously still high on his new love Murray gains a new nickname from Marci – Murray, aka Moby.
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.JPG "Christian Conversion - Freetown")
 (Medium).JPG "Winifred Holtby film project - Hull")
.JPG "swimming pool - Freetown")
.jpg "more power to you - Freetown")
.JPG "beauty shop murals - Freetown - Sierra Leone")
![Way of the Navajo [2003] on Vimeo by Jon Robson](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2689/4140032207_ebf4e72a2d_s.jpg)
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