American Indian Heritage Month

It's that time of the year again. Make sure to add some Native American movies to your Netflix queue. Not sure what to watch? Then head over to my film site ReelArtsy.com and browse through the Native American category.

Here's the trailer for Tkaronto:


And if you haven't seen Smoke Signals yet then what are you waiting for???

Native American Heritage Month

This is the month where our country is supposed to take the time to spotlight and celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of those indigenous to our land.

November is the national Native American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month. But why am I just learning about this?

And where's the coverage in the news?

I feel embarrassed and saddened when I think about how little our country pays attention to Native Americans. The only time I can remember seeing a news story centered on a Native issue was when CNN did a short piece interviewing Alaskan Natives on what they thought about Gov. Sarah Palin.

I mean, come on, one story a year is completely subpar.

I wish that there was some magical solution to make things right in this country but easy answers are hard to find. So what are your thoughts on the issue? Do you think things are fine as they are? If not, what kind of change would you like to see happen?

Lastly, here are some cool links to check out:

• Native American Heritage Month
  
• Smithsonian Center Resources
  
• Reznet News
  
• Smoke Signals
  

Questions Not Asked

In this 2008 presidential election some questions and issues are being left out and ignored as usual.


When are the candidates going to mention Native Americans? When was the last time a candidate had a nationally televised forum centered on the issues of people with disabilities? And what about the Deaf community? Or little people? And the list goes on. It's usually the same old arguments with the presidential debates.

Conservative vs. liberal.

But when was the last time that either side really advocated for those groups of people? When have they made a big push to bring their issues to the forefront?

It's clear that we have a war in Iraq, that our economy is struggling and our environment needs preservation. But let's not forget about the other stuff.

What are some questions you'd like to hear the presidential candidates discuss?

Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards

I so wish I could go to this.

An Aboriginal awards show is some exciting stuff. I just found out about this event and it definitely deserves a spot on my list of award shows I'd like to attend. Right under The Oscars, The Almas, The AZN Excellence Awards and The Black Movie Awards.

So here's the 411, according to the event's official website:

The second annual Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards will take place Friday, November 2, 2007 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. This spectacular gala event will be broadcast live on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network(APTN) which will feature performances by the best Aboriginal recording artists across North America.

Naturally, the category I'm most interested in is: Best Gospel CD.

And by the way, the dude in the cowboy hat is Shane Yellowbird, winner of last year's Best New Artist, Best Music Video and Single of the Year.

(Hat tip to The Native Blog)