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Broadcast Premier of Standing On Sacred Ground Series Begins May 17
by Dan Bacher
STANDING ON SACRED GROUND took nearly eight years to complete and focuses on eight threatened cultures—one fight. Using ancient wisdom and modern courage, indigenous communities around the world protect lands of spiritual and ecological significance for future generations. This new series exposes governmental, industrial and consumer-related threats to indigenous peoples’ sacred landscapes around the world. Fourteen years after In the Light of Reverence, which featured the late tribal leader Florence Jones and her successful battle to protect Mt. Shasta from development, Toby McLeod and Jessica Abbe have released another film on the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, currently seeking to stop the US from enlarging Shasta Dam and wiping out their remaining sacred sites on the McCloud River. The films provide extremely rare access to the wisdom, creativity and passion of indigenous elders and activists battling contemporary threats that affect us all. Whether it is global climate change, or well-intentioned but culturally destructive tourism, or the trampling of human rights in the pursuit of mineral resources—the films touch viewers deeply and offer solutions rooted in respect for traditional practices. As journalism, as education and as art, these films will have a long life. Within the films, deep background to some of the most compelling and important environmental stories of our time are explored: tar sands and the Keystone XL pipeline, melting glaciers, and growing global resistance to mining by indigenous communities protecting sacred lands. Heres a link to the STANDING ON SACRED GROUND trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut5UakPc5MM Photo of Winnemem Wintu War Dance Courtesy of Winnemem Wintu Tribe.