WATCH THE "ROCK YOUR MOCS" PANEL DISCUSSION IN THE VIDEO ABOVE

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Works distributed by the NFB mentioned in this collection are not longer available on VUCAVU.

 

 
 
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We are Not a Phase: Indigenous Screening Series + Talks

Rock Your Mocs: Community Event and Panel Discussion

Panelists: Jessica “Jaylyn” Atsye (#RockYourMocs, Creator) and Charlene Moore (Moccasin Stories, Director)
Moderator: Kat Pasquach
Date: November 19, 2020 7 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Cost: Free
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

 

#RockYourMocs519

Rock Your Mocs

November 19, 2020


Panel: Jessica “Jaylyn” Atsye ("Rock Your Mocs" creator) and Charlene Moore ("Moccasin Stories" Director)

Moderator: Kat Pasquach

FREE streaming of the films on VUCAVU:
9 am (EST) November 19 to 9am (EST) November 21, 2020

 

#RockYourMocs

Rock Your Mocs is a selection of films celebrating Indigeneity and the beauty of having pride in one’s own culture. The films illustrate that it is women who lead in their communities to revive identities and cultural practices despite forced acculturation. The films showcase the artistry and the connection to family that is practiced through knowing the material culture.

The film selections are in concert with #RockyourMocs week 2020. Moccasins have always had an integral role in Indigenous fashion. The making of which has inspired makers and the popularity in mainstream fashion has led to the development of an international Indigenous run company, Manitobah Mukluks. Moccasins are understood as the original footwear across Turtle Island, however the word very generally means shoe and the styles are infinite. I am learning Huluniixsuw (speaking the  Lunaapeew language). It is commonly known as the Delaware/Munsee language and it is the grandfather language. The word for shoe is mahksun, when said aloud it sounds like the word moccasin and many in Algonquian language family have a similar sounding word. However, there is another word for moccasin, shoopeek. In the film Moccasin Stories (Charlene Moore, 2016), the significance of moccasins is shared and that moccasins have the power “to teach people who they are”. The film shares some of the teachings around the making and wearing of moccasins. 

 

Moccasins are understood as the original footwear across Turtle Island, however the word very generally means shoe and the styles are infinite.
sweet night
Still image: Sweet Night, Jessie Short, 2016, WFG

 

The Pandemic has created a great void in opportunities to gather and to dance. In Hila (2016) the music is composed and performed by Inuk artist Tiffany Ayalik, it is a choreographed snowshoe dance. The film is a beautifully documented experimental performance by Ayalik, who is a JUNO Award winning performer in the trio Quantum Tangle. The other selected film featuring dancing, Hipster Headdress, is a public service announcement against cultural appropriation. This ultura-short film by Amanda Strong highlights that headdresses are not costumes. Cultural appreciation over cultural appropriation are concepts that are important to understand to give space for Indigenous people to tell their own stories and to share their own culture in their own ways. 

Sweet Night (Jessie Short, 2016) and It Starts With A Whisper (Shelley Niro, 1993) show young women on a path toward knowing themselves and their culture. In Sweet Night directed by Jessie Short, the young woman is given a gift that is significant to her finding out who she is as an Métis person. In the opening scene of It Starts With A Whisper, raised beadwork scrolls across the screen along with moccasins and clothing that originates from the filming location Six Nations of the Grand River. It is the water that calls to the young woman named Shanna from the Grand River to Niagara Falls. “The waters that whispered along the banks of the Grand River have become the thundering torrents of Niagara Falls, as native people around the world celebrate their cultures and gain empowerment”. Ideally, this film would be projected in its original format of 16mm. This is the artist and filmmaker Shelly Niro’s first film, she is an award winning artist whose work continues to challenge representations of Indigenous people. 

We are proud to support Rock Your Mocs with this screening, please use any or all of the following hashtags:

#RockYourMocs519, 

#RockYourMocs2020, 

#NationalNativeAmericanHeritageDay

- Julie Rae Tucker
 

Support Indigenous creators : 

The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw, created by Shelly Niro

UJIMAA

ImagineNative

Hire BIPOC

Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto

 

Understanding cultural appreciation over cultural appropriation are concepts that are important to understand and to give space for Indigenous people to tell their own stories and to share their own culture in their own way. 
It Starts with a Whisper, Shelley Niro & Anna Groneu, 1993, CFMDC
It Starts with a Whisper, Shelley Niro & Anna Groneu, 1993, CFMDC

 

ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS

JESSICA "JAYLYN" ATSYE
Rock Your Mocs was founded by Jessica “Jaylyn” Atsye of Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico U.S.A. and she has partnered with Emergence Productions, a Native American owned Event Production Company, who together are working hard to expand this cultural empowerment initiative worldwide.

CHARLENE MOORE
Charlene Moore is a filmmaker, sound recordist and is the Director of the film Moccasin Stories.

Winnipeg filmmaker and member of York Factory First Nation, Charlene Raven Moore is passionate about storytelling and highlighting Canadian issues that affect Indigenous Peoples. As a Cree, Saulteaux, and Welsh woman, Charlene creates films that focus on identity, connection, and resilience. Charlene advocates for Indigenous Peoples’ to hold narrative sovereignty because she believes storytelling can be a powerful way for audiences to heal, learn, and explore. To support the community of Indigenous filmmakers in Winnipeg, Charlene volunteers as a board member of the Indigenous Filmmakers Association and co-organizes the annual Indigenous Film Summit held in Winnipeg. 

She has completed two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Indigenous Studies and Film at the University of Winnipeg, as well as the New Voices and IndigiDocs programs at the National Screen Institute. Charlene is currently a participant in the Hot Docs Filmmaker Accelerator program and is working to complete her Masters in Indigenous Governance at the University of Winnipeg. 

Charlene has created numerous films that have been nationally broadcasted and have played internationally at film festivals. Charlene worked as a writer, director, and editor for her debut documentary Moccasin Stories,a 20-minute film created with support from Bell MTS. She recently wrote, directed, and produced her NSI IndigiDocs film When the Children Left, which has been broadcasted on APTN and documentary Channel. The 11-minute documentary was recently screened at the 2019 Gimli Film Festival with Charlene winning the Indigenous Spirit Award and Manitoba Shorts Audience Choice Award. Charlene is currently developing her first feature documentary Birthright, which follows her family’s healing journey to their first ceremony.
 

KAT PASQUACH
Kat Pasquach,Aboriginal Outreach and Retention Coordinator, Aboriginal Education Centre will host a discussion on Black & Indigenous solidarity exploring the topics of kinship and relocation. Students, Staff and Faculty from the University of Windsor and St. Clair College are encouraged to attend.
 

JULIE RAE TUCKER
Julie Rae Tucker is the Director of Public Programs & Advocacy at the Arts council Windsor & Region. She is a  Windsor-based artist, independent curator, and cultural worker. Tucker, earned her BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and MFA from  the University of Windsor. She is  Lunaapeewi from the Munsee Delaware First Nation and is of settler descent.

VUCAVU is proud to host the University of Windsor and the Arts Council Windsor & Region's programming 2020-2021 series entitled "We are not a phase: Indigenous Screenings & Talks".

     

The University of Windsor, the Windsor & Region Arts Council and VUCAVU would like to thank the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) for their participation in this programming.

VUCAVU EXPANDED
This curated program is part of the VUCAVU Expanded project.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.​