Land Trust Film Series Set: 'Afro-Indigenous Relationships to Land'

BRANFORD, CT — The Branford Land Trust presents its January Film Series, 'Afro-Indigenous Relationships to Land' Saturday, Jan. 21 from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at the Blackstone Memorial Library for a series of short films that highlight Native American bonds to land, including nations in the Northeast like the Narragansett, Penobscot, and Shinnecock.

The films will be followed by a discussion led by our guest Clan Mother Shoran Waupatukuay Piper, author of the book Red Road: Traditional Voices of Afro- Indigenous America.

The Golden Hill Paugussetts are a Connecticut state-recognized tribe. Granted reservation land since the 17th century, their land base was whittled away until today they retain a quarter-acre reservation in Trumbull, the smallest in the country.

The film series includes:

• Return — 27 minutes; chronic disease and restoration of traditional foodways (Oglala Sioux; South Dakota)
• Place Matters — 5 minutes; mental health consequences of dispossession and termination of federal recognition (Klamath; Oregon)
• Ma’s House — 10 minutes; restoring a family house for community (Shinnecock; Long Island, NY)
• Remothering the Land — 10 minutes; food sovereignty (Ohlone; California)
• Homeland — 20 minutes; activism against toxic water pollution (Penobscot; Maine)
• Mashapaug Pond — 6 minutes; erasure in open spaces (Narragansett; Rhode Island)
• In the Land of My Ancestors — 10 minutes; the importance of land for ceremony (Ohlone; California)

This event is free and open to the public. It will be held in-person at the Blackstone Library, 758 Main St., in Branford. Attendees are asked to follow the Library’s mask policy. It will also be streamed via Zoom webinar, which requires registration in advance. Visit: tinyurl.com/4ddztwjy. A link to the meeting will be emailed after completing the online form.

About the Branford Land Trust

The Branford Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, accredited by the Land Trust Alliance, established in 1967 to protect Branford’s open space and natural resources. Run by volunteers and supported by member families and businesses, the Land Trust maintains more than 30 miles of hiking trails, and manages and protects over 1,000 acres in more than 130 parcels and holds conservation easements on another 400 acres in Branford. For more information, visit www.branfordlandtrust.org.