2
Heii Whakak kite eng ga he Dec clara atio on of Th ndig gen nous Cinem ma In WE THE INDIGENOUS SCREEN STORYTELLERS UNITED IN THIS NORTHERN CORNER OF OUR MOTHER, THE EARTH In a great assembly of wisdom we declare to all nations: WE GLORY IN OUR PAST: • • • • • •
when our earth was nurturing our oral traditions when night sky evoked visions animated in our dreams when the sun and the moon became our parents in stories told when storytelling made us all brothers and sisters when our stories fostered great chiefs and leaders when justice was encouraged through the stories told
WE WILL: • • • • • • •
hold and manage Indigenous cultural and intellectual property be recognised as the primary guardians and interpreters of our culture respect Indigenous individuals and communities nourish knowledge from our traditions to modern screen appearance use our skills to communicate with nature and all living things through screen storytelling heal our wounds through modern screen expression carry our stories to those not yet born
And thus through motion picture, we will make the invisible visible again. We vow to manage our own destiny and recover our complete humanity in pride in being Indigenous screen storytellers. Created by Åsa Simma (Sámi), with Darlene Johnson (Dunghutti). Accepted at the Indigenous Film Conference in Kautokeino, Sápmi, October 2011. Māoriland Film Festival is New Zealand’s premier international Indigenous Film Festival. Now into its eighth year, it is a cultural and arts event that invites New Zealanders to the Indigenous world through screen storytelling. Each March the Indigenous world comes together in Ōtaki, Aotearoa (New Zealand) to celebrate Indigenous screen storytelling at Māoriland Film Festival, the largest Indigenous film festival in the Southern Hemisphere. Located on New Zealand’s Kāpiti Coast, Ōtaki is a vibrant seaside town where Māori culture and language thrives. Māoriland is celebrated for its manaakitanga and community spirit. It is a place where creatives come to heal.