My Brother’s Wedding, 1998

My Brother’s Wedding is devoted to my brother, Clint Shenandoah (Onondaga Nation) and his wife Tonya Shenandoah. This film was shot on super 8mm and hand edited, than transferred to digital video. It pays honor to the Ongwehonwe and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy with a subtext regarding their Creation Story, hence the start in the sky world. It shows my brother and Tonya in their traditional regalia at their wedding outside the Onondaga Nation Longhouse. No filming or photography is allowed inside the Longhouse out of honor and respect. The accompanying audio is a remix of Robbie Robertson’s “The Code of Handsome Lake” and perfectly addresses the wedding and the traditional people of Onondaga.


Contrary to Popular Belief, 2005

This short video is a mathematical dissection exposing one of American Cinema’s “directorial masters”, D.W. Griffith as nothing more than a man absent virtue, imagination, or courage. A juxtaposed ten-second increment descends second-by-second down to a final one-second image from The Battle of Elderbush Gulch inter-cut with the ascension of a one-second image culminating into a final full ten-seconds of Powwow dancers. Contrary to Popular Belief addresses cinema’s long history of racism towards, misrepresentations and inaccurate depictions of Native Americans, something D.W. Griffith perpetuated throughout his life, although not solely encompassing Native Americans.


Owihwagayonh or (Going Back to the Old Ways), 2005

Owihwagayonh or (Going Back to the Old Ways) is a film about my struggle with being raised in the Catholic Church a tactic of the assimilation policy of the United States Government against Native Americans. It represents my revelation of Our (Native Americans) collective past; to the traditional ways of the collective Native American culture; my disowning of the Church and its teachings; and my return to the Old Ways – the traditional spiritual ways. Throughout the film there is quite a bit of symbolism embedded within. It was shot on 16mm black & white and color film stocks and transferred off a Steenbeck flatbed editor onto digital video format. It remains somewhat unfinished.