Staff and wire report
A group of students at Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and Harlem High School has continued its work to look at serious issues through film, with the recently released film "Blood Quantum" which premiered April 29 at the "Guiding the Way from Our Past into Our Future" student film festival held in Harlem.
The release was a continuation of the work of Harlem High School's Milk River Productions, guided by the Montana group that provides professional media arts instruction, MAPS Media Institute.
That collaboration has led to a series of films and recognition, including the Milk River Productions film about how the Fort Belknap Indian Community is working to preserve its Aanniih and Nakoda cultures, "Looking Forward From Yesterday" being featured in 2020 at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula and the Future Forward Film Festival in Portland, Oregon.
he student-formed production company was created in 2019 through a MAPS film workshop, a press release said.
"Blood Quantum," the release said, came about after MAPS Media Institute facilitated an intensive one-week film workshop hosted at Aaniiih Nakoda College on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation following meeting virtually for several months.
Students interviewed tribal and cultural leaders, parents and one another to start a community conversation about a topic affecting past, present and future generations.
"The students chose the topic of blood quantum and the other things that go with it, like tribal IDs and treaties, because we felt it needed to be the next public conversation we have in our native communities," student director and 2023 Harlem High School graduate Amilia Blackcrow said.
The Indigenous Foundation website says blood quantum is a strategy used by the government and tribes to authenticate the amount of "Native blood" a person has by tracing individual and group ancestry. The amount a person has is measured in fractions, such as ¼ or ½. This measurement can affect a person's tribal identity and ability to become a federal member.
The blood quantum policy was first implemented by the federal government within tribes to limit Native citizenship, the website says. However, tribes were granted the authority/ability to create their own enrollment qualifications after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.
When making their documentary, the release said, the members of Milk River Production interviewed people who gave honest and diverse answers to the many student questions, including:
"How do you identify blood quantum?"
"What are ways Native Indigenous people can address blood quantum?" and
"What is your opinion of tribal IDs?"
"The student's thoughtful questions encouraged interviewees to think about their history, identity and beliefs. Some had answers, and others found that they still had questions and something new to think about," Milk River Productions Advisor Craig Todd said.
"Blood Quantum" is not only a film about percentages of Native Indigenous blood a person possesses. At one point, Blackcrow asks, "What defines you as a Native Indigenous person?" The answers are thought-provoking and drive to the mutual understanding that culture holds a place of importance above all else, Todd said.
When asked what she hoped people would take away from "Blood Quantum," Blackcrow said in the release, "I hope this film shows how important it is to be educated, not only with a degree but with who you are within your culture. I also hope it helps people realize that we are always evolving and growing and aren't always going to look the same. We are a community and must stick together rather than bring each other down."
"Blood Quantum" was produced in partnership with Fort Belknap and Harlem students, and MAPS Media Institute.
"This MAPS workshop started with the students exploring concepts and issues affecting their lives," MAPS Executive Director Clare Ann Harff said. "Then, with the guidance of tribal knowledge keepers and professional artist-instructors, students learned research and interview techniques, cultural protocol and knowledge, filmmaking processes, camera and audio operation, digital file maintenance, and provided feedback in the editing process.
"While the students made all the major decisions with the interviews, filming, and editing, they also shared a collective sense of responsibility to ensure their vision was respectfully rooted within the needs of the larger Fort Belknap Native Community," Harff added.
The film was made possible with support from Fort Belknap Tribal Historic Preservation Office, Aaniiih Nakoda College, the National Endowment for the Arts, Harlem High School, Greater Montana Foundation, The Steele-Reese Foundation, Craig Todd - Milk River Productions Advisor and MAPS Media Institute.
To watch "Blood Quantum" or to learn more about MAPS Media Institute, people can visit https://mapsmediainstitute.com or watch "Blood Qantum" on YouTube at https://youtu.be/gp8qUM1Ca2o .
For more information, people can contact Craig Todd at craigmttsa@gmail.com or 406-690-2524.