Available:
OCT 2 @ 10A MT - OCT 11 @ 11:45P MT
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The moving feature length documentary Gather features Native Americans who are building their own future while wrestling with past injustices.
What unites these motivated people is something often overlooked in human rights; food and the deep layers of tradition that surround it. Director Sanjay Rawal has found several different stories and interwoven them in an effective way, giving clarity to both the abundant atrocities imposed upon this continent’s indigenous people and the remarkable attempts by a new generation to bring back what has been lost. Following the film, we’ll speak with Elsie Dubray, a 17-year-old Cheyenne River Sioux scientist who looks at the health benefits of buffalo. We’ll also be joined by Chef Nephi Craig, an innovative White Mountain Apache chef who is using traditional ingredients to (re)create food that is traditional, sustainable and healthy for his people. The lessons from this film are wide-ranging with hopeful implications for anyone who believes in justice and appreciates the origins of their food.
Speakers
Nephi Craig
On the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona, Nephi Craig, acclaimed chef and founder of the Native American Culinary Association, is attempting to establish a first-of-its-kind indigenous cafe where Apache chefs prepare Apache grown produce for Apache diners.
As a legacy of his foray into the high-paced world of fine dining and French cuisine, Nephi has personally had to battle addictive and violent behavior that destroyed his last marriage and threatened to estrange his son. Through this period of recovery, Nephi realizes the importance of reconnecting with his Apache identity through food. His story is shared in the film Gather - he will join us for a Q&A in our show “The Drum Is Calling.”
Elsie Dubray
A gifted 17-year old scientist, Elsie is taking a research project to the Regional ScienceFair, analyzing the comparative health effects of eating a beef-based diet versus a traditional Lakota diet based on Buffalo.
Her father Fred has dedicated his life to bring the buffalo back to traditional lands. Fighting the powerful cattle industry has been an uphill battle though, and Elsie is performing research that directly threatens that industry. Despite this, Elsie holds steadfast in her unshakeable belief that Native wisdom and food practices can begin to heal the scourge of health disparities that plague Native communities. We follow her story in the film Gather, and she joins us for a Q&A in our show, “The Drum Is Calling.”
Sanjay Rawal
Sanjay Rawal spent 15 years working on human rights campaigns globally. He also ran initiatives for acclaimed artists and philanthropists, one of whom encouraged him to start making films. Sanjay’s work has been supported by Ford, Bertha, BritDoc, Fledgling, 11th Hour Project, NoVo, and the Omidyar Network. His work has won an assortment of honors, including a James Beard Media Award. His most recent film, Gather is at the center of our show, “The Drum Is Calling.”
Raye Zaragoza
Raye Zaragoza is a galvanizing presence, a self-assured artist making music to fight for, represent, and celebrate those left too long outside the spotlight. Known for tenacious feminist anthems and fearless protest folk, her stage presence teems with determined morale. She will open our show, “The Drum is Calling” with an original song she wrote for the film Gather.
Learn more: rayezaragoza.com
Film
Gather
Gather follows the stories of natives on the frontlines of a growing movement to re connect with spiritual and cultural identities that were devastated by genocide.
A indigenous chef embarks on a ambitious project to reclaim ancient food ways on the Apache reservation; in South Dakota a gifted Lakota high school student, raised on a buffalo ranch, is proving her tribes native wisdom through her passion for science; and a group of young men of the Yurok tribe in Northern California are struggling to keep their culture alive and rehabilitate the habitat of their sacred salmon.
All these stories combine to show how the reclaiming and recovery of ancient food ways is a way forward for native Americans to bring back health and vitality to their people.
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