Paulette Moore — Van Evera Filmmaker/Lecturer-in-Residence, Northland College 2015/16
September 2015 — Van Evera Filmmaker/Lecturer-in-Residence, Northland College, Ashland, WI
Background: I am Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) of mixed Native and British heritage enrolled at Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Ontario. I am an educator and filmmaker who spent two decades based in Washington, D.C. working as a director, producer and writer with Discovery Channel, National Geographic, PBS, ABC and other national and international media outlets. I am also currently a PhD candidate in continental philosophy, Indigenous philosophy, and media studies with the European Graduate School based in Saas Fee, Switzerland.
In 2004 I began making community-based, independent films as a filmmaker-in-residence at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia. My 2007 film Wit, Will and Walls documents the history of desegregation in the Shenandoah Valley and has been used across the country to facilitate dialogue about race. In 2009 I began work as an associate professor of media arts and peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA. There, a student in my graduate course and Northland College alumna Danielle Taylor created a research project called “Voices of the Penokee Hills” about the proposed GTac mine threatening Northern Wisconsin. In 2013/14 I built on Danielle’s research and collaborated with my undergraduate students to create To Wisconsin with Love, a film about the Anishinabe-led multicultural resistance envisioning alternative economies and practices as resistance to the GTac mine. I came to know Northland College as I made To Wisconsin with Love and screened it throughout Wisconsin.
The William P. Van Evera Lectureship: From the Northland College Website description
The William P. Van Evera Endowed Lectureship Fund was created so that every year Northland College could host an eminent authority to give a public lecture and lead a seminar to engage students, Chequamegon Bay area citizens, and faculty. Designed to bring these groups together around a particular environmental issue, the Van Evera Lecture and Seminar was established to bridge teaching and research with application and action.
The goals of the Van Evera lectureship to bridge teaching and research with application and action are a natural fit with both my teaching and filmmaking style. My goal in both my teaching and my film projects is to collaborate across disciplines on campus and to connect students with the surrounding community through meaningful and embodied practice.
This lectureship was a tremendous opportunity for me to continue to explore the powerful stories of the Northwoods communities while creating deeper collaborations through art and film. I appreciate the autonomy, flexibility, and support provided to the lectureship and Northland College’s progressive focus on the environment and sustainability. Nia:wen (“Thank you” in Kanien’kéha).
This document lists events and milestones that were completed during my time as the William P. Van Evera Filmmaker/Lecturer-in-Residence and shows insight into the ongoing evolution of my philosophy and practice.
October 6–7, 2015 — Asbestos-Like Mineral Fibers in the Upper Midwest: Implications for Mining and Health Workshop
I engaged two projects for the Mineral Fibers in the Upper Midwest conference which featured the work of Dr. Tom Fitz on the presence of asbestos in the Penokee range. The first project utilized video to document Dr. Fitz and the conference speakers which the principals can keep to build an archive. The following footage is an edited four-minute sequence, with highlights from the raw footage showing the impact of Dr. Fitz’s advocacy.
The second project from the Asbestos-Like Mineral Fibers conference engaged students from my Social Media for Social Change course and taught them strategies for live-tweeting that archived what was being discussed while adding value to information shared at the event. Here are a few examples of student tweets under the Twitter hashtag #rockscon:
November 5th, 2015 — Northland Student Films Seedlings Featured at the Eighth Annual Big Water Film Festival
Students in our Fall 2015 Introduction to Video class were provided with the exciting (and daunting) opportunity to present their semester projects at the local Big Water Film Festival in Ashland, Wisconsin. Class participants had just six weeks to learn to film, edit and find a story in the footage. Students created several films about harvest, titled Seedlings, that became a draft of the hour-long documentary that would premiere in April. On Thursday, November 5th, students presented their films along with other filmmakers at the festival’s “Sneak Peek” night at Northland College’s Alvord Theater. Festival organizers said the interest in the students’ films brought in the biggest crowd on the “Sneak Peek” night that they had ever seen.
November 14–17, 2015 — “People of Harvest: An Embroidered Art and Idea Exchange” by Northland College Arts for Societal Change Class
“People of Harvest: An Embroidered Art and Idea Exchange” was a Northland College Arts for Societal Change class project and companion piece to the documentary film From Wisconsin With Love. The art project focused on the ways in which harvest is an act of embodiment, liberation and healing for the communities of the North Woods of Wisconsin. The project honored local harvesters and the traditional and sustainable methods that they utilize.
Through class films and readings like Suzi Gablik’s 1992 book The Re-enchantment of Art as well as personal reflections on the transformative power of art, the students and I engaged an iterative process to create meaning around and collaborate on the project. Students photographed harvesters and their harvest and, through a series of community “sewing circles,” beaded and embroidered the portraits — with powerful results.
The results were displayed at Northland College’s Thanksgiving Convocation on Thursday 11/19, on the walls of The Black Cat Coffee House from December to February and on Friday 4/08/16 at the premiere of the From Wisconsin With Love documentary.
February 11, 2016 — “Relationship and Responsibility On Screen and Beyond” — a Northland College-Sponsored SpotTalk at The Spot Community Center in Ashland, WI
The SpotTalk provided a unique opportunity for me to introduce myself and my philosophy to the Northwoods community in advance of the April documentary. The Spot was an inviting environment to present my personal and professional journey from working in mainstream media to becoming a collaborative, community filmmaker. The following link, biography, and promotional photo advertised the SpotTalk.
Click here for a link to the Facebook invitation to the talk.
Paulette Moore spent twenty-five years in Washington DC as a journalist and filmmaker with Discovery Channel, National Geographic, PBS and others. Now she works as a “StoryDoula” in communities, evolving a mainstream media aesthetic to tell stories of resilience, resistance, envisioning and abundance. In 2014 Moore created To Wisconsin with Love about resistance to mining in the Penokee Hills. Currently she’s collaborating with Northland College students and the greater Bay area community to create a film about how sustainable harvest quells the violence of extractive industry.
March 17, 2016 — From Wisconsin With Love Rough Cut Screening by Northland College Documentary Students at Bad River “Alternatives to Mining” Conference
By March 2016, our documentary students had worked through the footage gathered throughout the year and had created a rough cut of our film. We re-framed the focus of the film from the story of a local harvest to one highlighting the influence of Anishinabe prophecy and practice on the Northwoods communities. Freshman students Aletha Hefko and Kalley Rittman introduced the film at the Bad River Ojibwe’s “Alternatives to Mining” conference and fielded feedback from the audience since audience testing is a critical step in the process of filmmaking. Students had a rare opportunity to take responsibility for presenting collaborative work to the community and react to feedback.
April 5–7, 2016 — Promotional Appearance on “Deep Cuts,” Northland College’s Tuesday Night Radio Show and Other Promotions
In the week before the premiere, the class promoted the upcoming film and conference in a variety of ways. On April 5, student Kalley Rittman and I were interviewed at length on the “Deep Cuts” radio show hosted by Jeremy Oswald. On April 7th, our class also hosted Northland College’s first “multimedia poster” session on Honors Day.
April 8, 2016 — From Wisconsin With Love — Conference and Film Premiere at the Northland College Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute
Friday, April 8th was an all-day gathering of dialogue, films, poetry, music, and arts, followed by the premiere of the film From Wisconsin with Love. The conference provided a foundation to the film by featuring locally and nationally recognized food and sustainability advocates. We also continued the “People of Harvest” embroidery and beading project following the locally-sourced lunch provided by farm-to-table chef Jon Boy Berthel. We were honored that Indian Country TV/News From Indian Country live-streamed the entire conference and film. The program materials and links to the livestream and Northland College coverage of the premiere are below.
Click here for the Indian Country TV livestream of the event.
Click here for the Northland College article covering the premiere.
9–9:45am • Opening and introductions
9:45–10:30 • Land and Food Sovereignty in Northern Wisconsin
Joe Rose, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe elder, retired Northland College associate professor of Native American Studies10:30–10:45 • Break
10:45–11:30am • Harvest as Resistance and Envisioning
Los Angeles-based Indigenous farmer and activist Tezozomoc and Northland College Filmmaker-in-Residence Paulette Moore will share dialogue and film clips from the 2008 Oscar-nominated film The Garden, the tragic story of the razing of a 13-acre urban garden — the country’s largest — and the eviction of the South Central Community farmers, and Moore’s To Wisconsin With Love about the Penokee Hills mining resistance11:30-Noon • Review: Chequamegon Bay Area Studies
Ana Tochterman, director of research programs at the Center for Rural Communities, and Emily Donaldson and KayDee Johnson, Northland College sustainable community development students, will talk about their research in the regionNoon-1pm • Simple Lunch
Locally sourced soup and bread (vegan and non-vegan options) with chef Jon Boy Berthel1–2 • Embroidery, Beading, and Photography Project with Poetry and Music
Join local poet Rob Ganson, Kelly Morse, LA-based farmer/activist/poet Tezozomoc, and others2–2:45 • Discovering and Discerning Asbestos in the Penokee Hills
Dr. Tom Fitz, Northland College geoscience professor and Marissa Fish, Northland College geoscience graduate2:45–3 • Break
3–4 • 7th Generation Earth Ethics: Protect Our Future
Dr. Patty Loew, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe member and life sciences communication professor at the University of Wisconsin, will speak about her 2014 book “7th Generation Earth Ethics” and producing the Bad River youth 2014 film project, Protect our Future4–5 • Presentation from Washburn Elementary students who were invited to the White House to garden with First Lady Michelle Obama
5–6:30 • Break
6:30 –7 • Film reception
7–9pm •From Wisconsin with Love Film Premiere and Discussion
A discussion will follow the film with filmmakers Northland College students Aletha Hefko, Sadye McCloud, Axel Peterman, Kalley Rittman, Katelyn Roling, Filmmaker-in-Residence Paulette Moore, featured local harvesters with analysis by Dr. Brian Tochterman, Northland sustainable community development professor
Link to the entire film From Wisconsin With Love:
April 12–25, 2016— “People of Harvest” Collaborative Embroidery and Beading Events in St. Joseph, MN
This project came full circle in mid-April when I collaborated with Northland College alumna, M.A. in Restorative Justice from Eastern Mennonite University, and community builder Danielle Taylor on both the art project and a screening of From Wisconsin With Love. Danielle invited me to restart the “People of Harvest” embroidery and beading project in her community in St. Joseph Minnesota with new harvest prints from a local printer named Mary Bruno of Bruno Press.
May 14, 2016 — From Wisconsin With Love Art Show and Film Premiere at Minnesota Street Market, St. Joseph, MN
On May 14, 2016 the “People of Harvest” art project went on display at the Minnesota Street Market and we screened the From Wisconsin With Love documentary to celebrate the opening of the St. Joseph’s farmer’s market. All of the embroidered and beaded prints are now for sale for $30 each with proceeds benefiting the Bad River food sovereignty program.
Click here for the Northland College announcement of the film screening.
Click here for a link to the the collaborative embroidery Facebook event.
June, 2016 — “Old Ways, New Battles”: Four Videos on How Ojibwe Treaty Rights Support The Environment, a Collaboration with Ojibwe Journalist/Entrepreneur Paul DeMain’s Native American Educational Technologies, Inc. (NAET)
In June, I revisited the two …Wisconsin With Love film projects as I collaborated with Ojibwe journalist and entrepreneur Paul DeMain to create four videos about the ways in which Anishinabe treaty rights support the environment. It was an exciting project for both of us, since Paul had excellent on-the-scene footage of the mine fight and my footage served as background and foundation for the stories. Our work was an effective collaboration between the college and a local community leader and we hope to work together on similar projects in the future.
For more information contact pmoore@northland.edu.
Again, thank you to the William P. Van Evera Lecturer-in-Residence program, to Northland College, and to all of our collaborators for your support.
