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Declaration of Indigenous Cinema

Written by Åsa Simma (Sámi), with support from Darlene Johnson (Dunghutti), and accepted and recognized by the participants of the Indigenous Film Conference in Kautokeino, Sápmi, October 2011.

Solemn Declaration

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 in the stories told

We will

hold and manage Indigenous cultural and intellectual property

be recognized 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 make the invisible visible again
We vow to manage our own destiny and recover our complete humanity in pride
In being Indigenous screen storytellers