Native American Film began as a half year course and has grown to be a full year course. In this class, we begin by investigating Native American stereotypes in media. Students critique Native American films beginning with John Wayne westerns on through contemporary Native films.

The most exciting part of this course is the hands on experience that the students receive creating independent films. They learn the basics in camera operations, lighting, audio, script writing, and film editing. The most outstanding films are showcased at the annual Native Student film festival at the Galaxy Theatre in Cornwall. This is a joint project with the Akwesasne Mohawk Board of Education (AMBE) and is organized by Margaret Peters and Katsitsionni Fox.

The students produce many independent films. Three films were recognized in 2006 by the National Museum of the American Indian for the theme “Giving Thanks”. N.M.A.I. chose 7 films from across the country, and three of these were from SRC!

The final for the course is a group film project that is produced by the class. For this final project they all have a hand in writing, directing, filming, acting and editing a short film.

Check out this link to our you tube channel featuring student films here at Salmon River Title VII Program: Including films from Native Film, Mohawk Club, and Advanced Mohawk. We also have films from the summer film program “Film Fundamentals”, which is a collaborative initiative with SRC Title VII, JOM & SRMT Broadband.