International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management
.JPG)
What We Do
Indigenous Film & Art
The International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management is proud to have launched the Indigenous Film & Arts Festival. 2023 marks the Festival's 20th anniversary.
“Why,” you may ask, “is a law and policy research institute organizing a film festival?” We're involved because film, especially good film, and especially film wrtten, made, and directed indigenous peoples, is perhaps the most expressive medium we have for communicating messages about who we were; who we are; and who we are striving to become. These messages undergird all the work we do whether it's examining the societal impacts of genetic research, or looking at roles indigenous peoples can play in warning and educating the public of long-lived environmental contamination, or developing different approaches for protecting native intellectual property rights.
Film lets us “talk story.” It lets us convey to others our unique perspective of the universe and all the creatures, places, and things within. Film lets the viewer see with our eyes how we are connected to each other, and to past and future generations in more compelling ways than mere words permit.
Education and Training
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit sed do eiusmod tempor. Ut enim ad minim veniam, nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi.
.jpg)
Policy Analysis
The lands, resources, and rights of indigenous peoples are affected by a complex web of science, research and development, resource management, educational, social, and other policies of national and international governmental agencies, NGOs, and private corporations. In some instances these policies directly implicate indigenous peoples's lands, resources, and rights. However, in the main, the impact on indigenous peoples of these policies is unintended and collateral. The International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management believes that indigenous peoples and their representatives should participate in the development of these policies. The Institute's Workshops and Roundtables serve two purposes. Through briefing papers we first demonstrate how the lands, resources, and rights of indigenous peoples are affected. Secondly, through a series of facilitated dialogues with representatives from academia, government agencies, Indian tribes, indigenous peoples's organizations, NGOs and the private sector we examine and propose research and action agendas to support policies that protect and advance indigenous peoples's interests in areas as diverse as long-term stewardship of highly contaminated sites, genetic research, and energy development.
Civil Society/Public Participation
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi.
Environmental Protection
Energy
Societal Impacts of Science and Technology
Risk
Art, Cultural, and Society
Film
Climate
Intellectual Property
Our ‘Ohana
Mervyn L. Tano
President
.gif)
Jeanne M. Rubin
General Counsel and Film Festival Director
.gif)
David Conrad
Director
.gif)
Morris Te Whiti Love
Director
.gif)
Jack Hibbert
Director
.gif)
Halena Kapuni-Reynolds
Director
Kristina Maldonado-Bad Hand
Director
Russel Barsh
Associate
Madrona Murphy
Associate
.jpeg)
(October 9, 2023) Brant Janvier, shown here with his son, August at the 2023 Alberta Film & Television (Rosie) Awards, where the film, Heartbeat of a Nation, in which he and August are featured was awarded Best Screenwriter (Documentary Under 30 minutes). The film, directed by his brother Eric Janvier, is a production of the National Film Board of Canada and a celebration of Dene cultural reclamation and revitalization. Brant will discuss and answer questions about the role drum-making and drumming plays in the transmission of traditional knowledge at the October 11 screening of the film at the 20th Annual Indigenous Film & Arts Festival in the Infinity Theater of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
Brant Janvier is from the Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation located in the Treaty 8 Territory of Northern Canada. Brant is passionate about learning and sharing his culture. He is the Band Designate for his Nation with Child and Family Services and now provides opportunities for children and families to heal through cultural activities and ceremony.
Brant Janvier is from the Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation located in the Treaty 8 Territory of Northern Canada. Brant is passionate about learning and sharing his culture. He is the Band Designate for his Nation with Child and Family Services and now provides opportunities for children and families to heal through cultural activities and ceremony.
.jpg)
(October 10, 2023) Halena Kapuni-Reynolds (center), a member of the Institute's Board of Directors is shown here among colleagues at the October 5-8 Annual Conference of the Western Museums Association in Pasadena, California. He participated in a panel focused on shifting language around museum decolonization to museum Indigenizaton, and moderated a Bishop Museum panel focused on their Living Cultures program.
.jpeg)
(October 12, 2023) Great films from Canada and even better talk-story with a rapt audience at the 20th Annual Indigenous Film & Arts Festival at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Brant Janvier's stories of drum-making, family, inter-generational transmission of traditional knowledge, and drumming were the evening's highlight.
The talk-story continued for another 3-hours over a late-night meal at the Institute's offices (AKA Merv's and Jeanne's place) where we were treated to a song by Brant but this time drummed on a painted hand drum from Makah. You can hear Brant's song by clicking on his picture at right.