Salmon River Native Film Class Places Third

Submitted by Katsistsionni Fox

The Salmon River Native Film Class is the third place winner of a national film competition "Storytelling about Health and Wellness in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities" Challenge, sponsored by National Indian Health Tribal Health Research Office. Five students from SRC Native Film Class worked together to create this film to enter into the competition as a class project. Since many of them were involved with Ohero:kon, they decided to focus on how the Ohero:kon rites of passage ceremony is bringing health and wellness to our community. As a class we read the guidelines carefully and chose who to interview. The students interviewed Tribal Chief Beverly Cook and Mohawk midwife and researcher Katsi Cook as well two students from our class. One student was tasked with narrating the intro of the film, while all worked on filming and editing various segments of the five minute short film.

Chief Beverly Cook was present when they announced that we had won third place in this competition. She said that there were over 30 films submitted, many of them professionally done. I am so proud of my film students and what they have accomplished. It is amazing to see our youth empowered as filmmakers.