First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church - 330 First Parish Rd, Scituate MA 02066

First Parish Social Justice Initiatives

2022: Indigenous Peoples

Engagement in educational activities to broaden our knowledge and perspective regarding Indigenous Peoples
Events in this series:
  •  Fourth Sunday Donation: Plate donations not earmarked for pledges went to support the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project, a joint collaborative effort of members of the Assonet Band of Wampanoag, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah and the Herring Pond Band of Wampanoag. Their mission is to return language fluency to the Wampanoag Nation as a principal means of expression.

  • Documentary Screening and Discussion: First Parish presented a screening of the documentary Up Heartbreak Hill, from filmmaker Erica Scharf.

  • Book Discussion: First Parish held a moderated discussion of "An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Resources about Indigenous Peoples
For anyone who is interested in learning more about Indigenous Peoples on their own, our resource lists contain suggestions from different types of media (articles, movies, podcasts, TV shows and books). Please also check First Parish Scituate's newsletters and social media pages for updates including calls to action, local events, and opportunities to connect with Indigenous Peoples in our area.
ACTION:
ARTICLES:
VIDEO RESOURCES:
  • Here is a list of documentaries on pbs.org that raise up the voices of Native Americans and Alaska Natives:
    • Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On - Available Nov. 22. Experience the story of the Oscar-winning Indigenous artist from her rise to prominence in New York’s Greenwich Village folk music scene through her six-decade groundbreaking career as a singer-songwriter, social activist, educator and artist.
    • Alter-NATIVE: Kitchen - Meet three talented young Indigenous chefs — Brian Yazzie, a Navajo/Diné chef originally from Arizona, now based in Minnesota; Kalā Domingo, a Hawaiian culinary student and heir to his dad’s catering throne; and Hillel Echo-Hawk, a Pawnee-Athabaskian chef and caterer in Seattle – all preparing foods from their native cultures that sustained their communities for generations.
    • If Cities Could Dance: Indigenous Enterprise Brings Powwow Dance to the World Stage - Indigenous Enterprise, made up of a new generation of Native American Powwow dancers from across the U.S. and Canada, is on a mission to bring Native culture to new heights and audiences.
    • A Qayaq to Carry Us - Get to know the Sugpiat community as they come home to Kodiak Island in Alaska to learn and build Indigenous knowledge. Merging Indigenous knowledge with western science, Dr. Sven Haakanson and other Sugpiat people in Akhiok pass along the ingenuity of traditional knowledge in a living context to young Sugpiat while building a kayak from wood gathered on the treeless beaches of Cape Alitak.
    • Local USA, Season 6. Ep 8: In Their Element - The film features indigenous leaders from four communities across the United States, each working to protect a different natural resource: earth, air, fire, and water. For people whose existence is inseparable from their native land, climate change is not a tale of the future - it is the present.
    • Conscience Point, Season 21, Episode 4 - A Native American activist fights to protect her tribe from the onslaughts of development in the Hamptons.
  • Bounty  Penobscot parents and children read and react to one of many government-issued bounty proclamations that led to settlers hunting and scalping indigenous men, women, and children. (9 minute video)
  • *A Conversation with Native Americans on Race (6 minute video)
  • Dear Georgina A Passamaquoddy woman who was removed from her home and indigenous community in 1942 tries to fill in some of the details of her early life in foster care. (14 minute video)
  • *Tedx Talk "We the People" by Mark Charles (Navajo): "The three most misunderstood words in US history" (17 minute video)
  • *Dawnland – Documentary about the investigation by the first official Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the United States into the removal of Native American children from their homes in Maine to teach them how to be white. Next online screening March 9, 2022. Emmy award winner (86 minutes).
  • Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World - 2017 documentary by filmmaker Catherine Bainbridge examining the role of Native Americans in contemporary music history.  She exposes a critical missing chapter, revealing how indigenous musicians helped influence popular culture.  Available on Amazon Prime, also in local libraries.  (1 hour 42 minutes)
  • Reservation Dogs – Sitcom about Native American Teens streaming on Hulu.  Link here is to an article about the series.

AUDIO RESOURCES:
Social Media 
The 21-Day Challenge
  • The 21-Day Racial Equity Indigenous Challenge  Many of the resources included above (*asterisked) appear in America & Moore's comprehensive list of resources and ideas that challenge non-Indigenous people to select one activity per day for 3 weeks that will broaden your knowledge and perspective regarding Indigenous Peoples.