BLT January Film Series: Afro-Indigenous Relationships to Land

An Afternoon of Film and Discussion with Clan Mother Shoran Waupatukuay Piper of the Golden Hill Paugussetts

Join the Branford Land Trust on Saturday, January 21 from 1:30 – 4:00 p.m. at the Blackstone Memorial Library for a series of short films that highlight Native American bonds to land, including nations in the northeast like the Narragansett, Penobscot, and Shinnecock. The films will be followed by a discussion led by our guest Clan Mother Shoran Waupatukuay Piper, author of the book Red Road: Traditional Voices of Afro-Indigenous America. (You may also attend via Zoom. See details below.)

The Golden Hill Paugussetts are a Connecticut state-recognized tribe. Granted reservation land since the 17th century, their land base was whittled away until today they retain a quarter-acre reservation in Trumbull — the smallest reservation in the country.

The films we’ll watch include:

Return — 27 minutes; chronic disease and restoration of traditional foodways (Oglala Sioux; South Dakota)
Place Matters — 5 minutes; mental health consequences of dispossession and termination of federal recognition (Klamath; Oregon)
Ma’s House — 10 minutes; restoring a family house for community (Shinnecock; Long Island, NY)
Remothering the Land — 10 minutes; food sovereignty (Ohlone; California)
Homeland — 20 minutes; activism against toxic water pollution (Penobscot; Maine)
Mashapaug Pond — 6 minutes; erasure in open spaces (Narragansett; Rhode Island)
In the Land of My Ancestors — 10 minutes; the importance of land for ceremony (Ohlone; California)

This event is free and open to the public. It will be held in-person at the Blackstone Library (758 Main St, Branford). We’ll follow the Library’s mask policy.

If you prefer to attend the event via Zoom webinar, you must register in advance. To do so, please visit: tinyurl.com/4ddztwjy. A link to the meeting will be emailed to you after completing the online form.