Ramona, Rita and Ramona's mum (born in Ireland), a nephew, and a friend spent a week together in April near Drogheda, just north of Dublin. We explored a 5200-year-old passage tomb, Newgrange, where the sun shines into a burial chamber on the winter solstice. We enjoyed the Irish countryside, the people, Dublin and some delicious food! There is laughter galore when 3 generations, and a friend, travel together.
Stories I Didn't Know in NYC /
Last month, on April 7th, director Rita Davern and Ramona Kitto Stately, Dakota Educator held a LIVE virtual Q&A with 300 NYC middle and high school students. They watched Stories I Didn’t Know through a program called Movies That Matter put on by the Jewish Museum of NYC. The program invites middle and high school students to view award-winning documentaries that examine current social issues such as representation and identity, immigration, and civil rights followed by Q&A sessions with filmmakers and Stories I Didn’t Know was one of those documentaries!
CreatEVE Event: Film Screening and Discussion, ‘Stories I Didn’t Know’ /
In recognition of National Women’s History Month in March, The Grand Center for Arts & Culture (New Ulm, MN) in cooperation with the New Ulm Film Society, will be screening our documentary, ‘Stories I Didn’t Know’ on Thursday, March 31 at 7pm.
Both director and producer Rita Davern and Dakota Educator Ramona Kitto Stately will be at the film screening and will hold a Q&A session following the film! This event is FREE and all are welcome.
Check out the article about us in The Journal.
Bringing Stories I Didn't Know to Louisiana /
At the beginning of March we were invited to screen Stories I Didn’t Know to the Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA) - Department of New Media, Journalism, & Communications Arts students. Director Rita Davern, co-director Melody Gilbert, Dakota Educator, Ramona Kitto Stately and Dakota artist Reuben Kitto Stately were present for the Q&A. The screening was possible thanks to the Department of New Media Journalism and Communication Arts at NSULA in collaboration with The History We Stand On series organized by the Ethnic Studies and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. Read more about the screening below:
Photo by Emily Zering (Purple Media Network)
Must Listen: Reuben Kitto Stately’s Gift for Reclaiming Dakota Roots through Language and Music /
Reuben Kitto Stately, who features in our documentary, is a Dakota musician and recording artist. He recently sat down with Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe members and siblings, Leah Lemm and Cole Premo for Native Lights, a weekly, half-hour radio program.
In the interview, Rueben shares “ how he discovered his passion for learning Dakhóta language, how he has dedicated himself to being a life-long learner, as his gift to share. He believes language is the key to reclaiming Indigenous culture, art, and identity. Reuben also traces his love of music back to falling asleep to drums on the Pow Wow trail as a baby. And he explains how Indigenous musicians inspired him to pursue music, tell his own authentic stories, find his own creative voice.” - Minnesota Native News
Stories I Didn't Know on PBS World Channel during November /
We are happy to announce that Stories I Didn’t Know will show on the PBS WORLD Channel during November 1-12, throughout the U.S. Our film will be on in 71% of tv households ! To check the airing date and time please check your local listing using the:
OR
or simply go to our Screenings page and use the station finder.
Must Read: Peggy Flanagan hails $1.3 million investment to teach K–12 students the ‘full true history’ of Minnesota’s Indigenous people. /
Ahead on Indigenous Peoples Day a wonderful news was released that made us so very happy!
Minnesota Lieutenant Governor and a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, Peggy Flanagan has played an instrumental role in the campaign for more accurate Indigenous history in Minnesota schools. The the $1.3 million investment will go towards teaching…
[..] kindergartens about Indigenous communities’ relationships to land and water; sixth-graders will study how the Anishinaabe and Dakota practice tribal rights today; and high school students will learn Indigenous perspectives on settlers’ westward expansion alongside the theory of “manifest destiny.” In addition to learning Indigenous perspectives on history, students will study contemporary Indigenous communities.
- by BECKY Z. DERNBACH for Sahan Journal
FREE EVENT: Stories I Didn't Know at Lakeshore Players Theater /
Stories I Didn’t Know will screen at the Hanifl Performing Arts Center in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, Oct. 11 at 7PM
The event is FREE and kindly sponsored by the Lakeshore Players Theatre company in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
Director Rita Davern, Dakota educator, activist and artist Ramona Kitto Stately and Dakota and Ojibwe recording artist Reuben Kitto Stately, who both feature in film, will be there for a post-screening discussion.
We are looking forward to seeing you in person!
To book a FREE seat click on the button bellow:
NOTE: Masks and proof of vaccination or a negative Covid Test are required for indoor events at Lakeshore Players Theater.
Screening in Bulgaria at Sofia DocuMental /
We are going to Bulgaria! Stories I Didn’t Know will screen at Sofia DocuMental Film Festival on September 8, 4pm at the Czech Center in Sofia. Our film is part of a small retrospective of our co-director and producer Melody Gilbert who is teaching a workshop at the festival and showing her latest films.
She will be there in person to answer questions and meet the Bulgarian audience!
Crew and Cast Party /
We’ve released Stories I Didn’t Know during a pandemic and we’ve never had the chance since then to get together the cast and crew to celebrate the successes of our film. We’ve seen each other plenty online but not enough in person.
Last Sunday, we finally managed to gather together most of the crew and cast for a small outdoor party. Some managed to join us virtually, some couldn’t make it but we were happy to have the chance to see and hang out with everyone!
Recommended Articles Vol. 4 /
You probably know by now that we are big fans of such news!
“Native American Tribe in Maine Gets Back Sacred Island Taken 160 Years Ago"
“The Passamaquoddy Tribe reacquired 140 acres of their ancestral territory, thanks to help from The Nature Conservancy which granted them funds to purchase Pine Island, known to them as Kuwesuwi Monihq.”
““The Tribe felt this land loss was an injustice,” explains Indian Township’s Chief William Nicholas. Today with the island’s return, he continues, “There is no doubt that the Ancestors are jumping all over the place over there.””
Host a STORIES I DIDN'T KNOW community screening! /
We are thrilled to announce that now you can bring our documentary to your community! You can host a screening of Stories I Didn’t Know at your campus, theater, organization, or community venue. Also, you can book the co-directors Rita Davern and Melody Gilbert at your event.
We can wait to connect with you and your communties!
Recommended Article Vol.3 /
Great news for the Stockbridge-Munsee Community - Band of Mohican Indians! The Open Space Institute, a land conservation group in New York is returning to the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe the Papscanee island in New York, near Albany, a place of great historical value for the Mohican people.
“It’s a site that we have fought to protect before, now that it’s back in our ownership it’s very significant,” Stockbridge-Munsee community Director of Historical affairs Heather Bruegl said.
Read the whole article ( by Brennen Scarborough for 7 WSAU-TV) down below:
Webinar: "Reckoning with Two Paths: Histories and Futures in Mni Sota Makoce" - Center for Community and Civic Engagement at Carleton College /
On Monday May 3rd, Stories I Didn’t Know co-directors, Rita Davern & Melody Gilbert, Dakota educator Ramona Kitto Stately and Dakota artist Reuben Kitto Stately, who both feature in the film, were on a panel called “Reckoning with Two Paths: Histories and Futures in Mni Sota Makoce” alongside Minnesota filmmaker Keri Pickett (First Daughter and the Black Snake) at Carleton College. The Carleton Community had the chance to stream both films for free before the discussion.
“The ‘Prophecy of the 7th Fire’ says a ‘black snake’ will bring destruction to the earth. We will have a choice of two paths. One is scorched, and one is green.” So begins the story of environmentalist and Ojibwe White Earth Community leader Winona LaDuke’s fight against the Embridge Pipeline 3 Project in northern Minnesota chronicled by director Keri Pickett in the documentary First Daughter and the Black Snake. In LaDuke’s activism we see not only see how to stop and choose a different path but also to reclaim from the snake what has been lost to the fire. The peoples of Minnesota have followed the two paths with their contesting visions of life, land, and livelihood for generations. In a personal narrative, Stories I Didn’t Know, directed by Rita Davern and Melody Gilbert, Rita faces the consequences of her ancestors’ choices in settling on land taken from Dakota communities who had lived for generations on lands at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. As she researches methods of legal restitution, Rita meets activist and Bdote Educator Ramona Kitto Stately and musician Reuben Kitto Stately, from whom we learn the effects of the westward expansion through on the land on which we stand. ”
This event was sponsored by Center for Community and Civic Engagement, The Dean of Students, The Dean of the College, The Department of Political Science, The Department of History, American Studies, Environment Technology and Science, The Public Policy Program
Amplifying Indigenous Voices Panel at #AVFF2021 /
On Monday, April 26, 2021 co-director Rita Davern, Dakota educator Ramona Kitto Stately and Dakota artist Reuben Kitto Stately participated in a panel organised by Alexander Valley Film Society alongside filmmaker Shane Anderson ( Guardians of the River) and Sammy Gensaw, Yurok Native and Director of Ancestral Guard (Guardians of the River), filmmaker Daniel Byers (Aguilucho: Dance of the Harpy Eagle) and José De Jesús Vargas González, Co-Director Panama Programs - The Peregrine Fund (Aguilucho: Dance of the Harpy Eagle).
The AMPLIFYING INDIGENOUS VOICES panelist had a thoughtful conversation around how to create more seats at the table for indigenous folx to tell their own stories and what can they as creators and allies do when funding and access to resources can be an issue.
Watch the full conversation down below.
Credit: Alexander Valley Film Society