Hosted by the Place Justice Project of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Register here
Join us for a virtual screening of “Bounty” followed by a conversation with filmmakers and educators
“We are citizens of the Penobscot Nation. Together we bring our families to Boston to read our ancestors’ death warrant.”
Bounty, part of the Upstander Project’s Dawnland film series, reveals the hidden story of the Phips Proclamation, one of many scalp-bounty proclamations used to exterminate Native people in order to take their land in what is now New England. In the film, Penobscot parents and children resist erasure and commemorate survival by reading and reacting to the government-issued Phips Proclamation’s call for colonial settlers to hunt, scalp, and murder Penobscot people.
PANELISTS
Dawn Neptune Adams
Dawn Neptune Adams (Penobscot Nation) (she/her) is a filmmaker and journalist with Sunlight Media Collective, and co-director of and a participant in Bounty. She is an Upstander Project collaborator. Her grassroots environmental activism began with the protection of Indigenous Sacred sites in Huntington Beach, CA in 1998. Since then, she has been a tireless advocate for environmental justice and Indigenous rights at the tribal, local, state, and national levels. Dawn is actively involved in politics for change across a wide spectrum of influences. She is a Racial Justice Consultant to the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine; an active member of Racial Equity & Justice of Bangor, Maine; and a former Indigenous Peoples’ Policy Advisor for the Hunter/Elias 2020 Presidential campaign. Dawn has served as the Wabanaki Liaison to the Maine Independent Green Party since 2016 and was the Vice Presidential Candidate to the Dario Hunter 2020 Presidential campaign.
Zev Bliss
Zev was born in the Dawnland. They grew up as a student in Portland Public Schools, and are proud to have returned home to teach. They are passionate about their students, social and economic justice, and education’s liberatory potential and responsibility. They are honored to be a part of PPS’s Wabanaki Studies work.
Mishy Lesser
Mishy Lesser, Ed.D., (she/her) is the learning director for Upstander Project, co-director of the Upstander Academy, and an Emmy® award-winning researcher. Mishy has authored Upstander Project’s many learning and viewer guides and is a Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies Affiliate. She is a Circle Keeper and has been featured on WBUR (Boston) and PRI/BBC’s The World. Mishy was a Fulbright Scholar in Ecuador and spent 12 years learning and working in the Andes. She is a descendant of Ashkenazi Jews whose ancestral language is Yiddish and lives with her husband in the territory of the Massachusett Tribe.
Jared Lank
Jared Lank is a Mi’kmaq documentary filmmaker. He earned his BA in Geography-Anthropology and a Masters of Public Policy, Planning and Management at USM. His work investigates traditional folk and occult knowledge of the Wabanaki, focusing on traditional ecological knowledge and life ways focusing on Indigenous resilience and cultural continuity in the Waponahkik. Currently, his work is on display at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art’s 2023 Biennial exhibition through May 7, 2023 in Rockland; one of 35 artists selected from 423 applicants. In 2021 he was also chosen as a member of the 4th World Media Lab cohort, a partnership between Nia Tero, SIFF, Big Sky Film Festival, and Points North Foundation that supports Indigenous filmmakers globally. He has worked with Nia Tero and Upstander Project on films in the Reciprocity project and on Upstander Project film Bounty, that reveals the hidden story of the Phips Proclamation, one of many scalp-bounty proclamations used to exterminate Native people in order to take their land in what is now New England. Jared is a tribal advisor for the Portland Public School’s Wabanaki curriculum development, aiding in both film production and curriculum structuring. He is currently developing a short documentary about Casco Bay.
The Bounty Teacher’s Guide and media ecosystem support educators, students, and the members of the general public who want to deepen their understanding of the issues raised in Bounty.
- Teacher’s Guide (four lessons)
- E-timeline of scalping in the Dawnland
- Series of educational videos for teachers seeking action steps
- A photo, word, and film exploration of the Bounty story
PLACE JUSTICE EVENT SERIES
This is the fifth event in the Place Justice Event Series. The series features free, virtual and in-person panel discussions and film screenings to engage the public in considering the often complex and contentious issues related to offensive place names and other problematic commemorative practices in the place now known as Maine. Read more about The Permanent Commission’s Place Justice Initiative here.
