"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right. "

- From Reverend Lowery’s Benediction at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, 2009

Goodness, this last year has been trying - in both good and bad ways. On the good side, for the first time in United States history, a presidential candidate reached out to the Native American community making their vote a priority through voter outreach programs and the building of a coalition of Native scholars, lawyers and tribal leaders with whom he intends to address issues specific to their communities. In turn, Indian Country responded by voting in record numbers for Democratic nominee Barack Obama. Evidence suggests that some 90% of registered Native voters did their civic duty by casting their votes - many for the first time in their adult lives - for Obama. The overwhelming support from the Native population aided in turning several key red states blue - proving that even a 1% voting bloc can make a difference.

The 2008 National Election would find me voting for the first time - ever. Up until this point I had always cast a cynical eye toward national politics believing it a waste of time no matter how you voted. Like the San Carlos Apache we meet in an essay in this edition, I too believed that one was more directly affected by local politics making them more important - the personal is political after all. But the truth is I couldn’t name my local commissioner and I wouldn’t be able to pick out the Governor of New York in a line up – even if my life depended on it! In short, I have been a hypocritical cynic, but recent global and domestic upheavals have me thinking differently. I began to see voting in the national election less as a civic duty, but rather as a moral obligation, not only to my country, and myself, but also to the world at large. So, like the first time voter described in Leonard Gath’s essay “One Percent Politics,” I registered and waited in a multi-cultural line of voters to make the right choice for all rather than a cynical choice benefiting none.

“These are challenging times…”

By now that’s an obvious statement, but permit me the redundancy for I am living them. As with so many here in New York City I am (three months and counting) unemployed. And with more layoffs happening everyday the job market is flooded with competition I don’t enjoy. My skill set is opaque, at best, difficult to describe. Thus, it’s been a challenge to find suitable employment, even harder to pay for basic necessities, like Internet access, yet somehow I’ve remained (mostly) optimistic.

It’s not that I believe President Obama is going to personally find me a job, or buy me some groceries. It’d be a nice gesture, but I’m not holding my breath. What I do believe is that he will work in the interest of all citizens rather than a few moneyed interest groups. It will take time, but I have faith, which is odd because I’ve never had faith in our system. But President Obama has inspired me to have faith in a common good; to act not in one’s own prurient self-interest, but to work for the benefit of all.

This is precisely why I founded NAICA online. Though it is a platform to showcase Indigenous artists the world over my hope has been to inspire cross cultural dialog by not only featuring these artists, but also non Natives who have found inspiration in aspects of tribal culture that speak to their specific subjectivities, and which has found it’s way into their work. Of course, we always cast a critical eye, but instead of condemnation we ask questions in the hopes of revealing a tangible benefit for the Native community as well as the community at large.

On a personal note, I have been humbled by the willingness of the artists and filmmakers who have shared their art, their history and their culture with us here at NAICA. Thank you to all who have participated in the creation of this website, for contributing your words (for free), your art, and your time. More importantly, thank you for believing in the common good that is the true spirit in which we publish these editions.

Here’s to hoping that hope itself is no longer a delusion.

Con mucho amor de mì a ustedes,

Marìa Colòn
Editor

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Mission:
NAICA: Native American Indigenous Cinema and Arts Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting contemporary Indigenous cinema and art the world over. Our mission is to present the work of established and emerging Indigenous artists in an innovative, new media environment that challenges, both critically and historically, the concept of Indigenous art in mainstream media. It is in this environment that NAICA aims to bridge cross-cultural communication, to educate the public at large, and to promote cultural evolution and the pursuit of high art.

NAICA, Inc 501c3 pending.