PSU Anthropology Department

A significantly important Native American film is coming to Portland!

 

The Ecotrust Trust of Oregon is screening Cherokee Word for Water

Wednesday, June 18th, at the Hollywood Theater, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd.,

Portland.

                                                               Reception: 6:00-6:45 PM

                                                            Screening: 7:30-9:00 PM

 

Q&A with Charlie Soap, husband of the late Wilma Mankiller, director

and producer, and Kristina Kiehl, producer, will follow the

screening.

 

Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for children. Please go to:

http://ow.ly/x1Vi3. for tickets or the Hollywood Theater box office.

Do not wait to get your tickets.

The Cherokee Word For Water is a feature-length motion picture

inspired by the true story of the struggle for, opposition to, and

ultimate success of a rural Cherokee community (living in property)

to bring running water to their families by using the traditional

concept of “gadugi “– working together to solve a problem.

 

 

Set in the early 1980s, The Cherokee Word For Water begins in the

homes of a rural Oklahoma community where many houses lack running

water and others are little more than shacks. After centuries of

being dehumanized and dispossessed of their land and identity, the

Cherokee people no longer feel they have power or control over their

lives or future.

 

 

Based on the true story of the Bell Waterline Project, the movie is

about a community coming together to improve its life condition. Led

by Wilma Mankiller, who went on to become the first woman chief of

the Cherokee Nation, and fullblood Cherokee organizer, Charlie Soap,

they join forces and build nearly twenty miles of waterline using

volunteers. In the process, they inspire the community to trust each

other and reawaken universal indigenous values of reciprocity and

interconnectedness.

 

 

The successful completion of the waterline sparked a movement of

similar self-help projects across the Cherokee nation and in Indian

country that continues to this day.

 

 

Please join us on June 18th to see this Native American film. It is a

truly a beautiful and inspiring true story!