I:MIG, LLC - Native Talk

NATIVE TALK PRODUCTIONS, LLC

Caroline’s Biographical Information:

Caroline Felicity Antone had been a counselor for over 18 years when she came across an opportunity to host and produce a talk show which focused on Native Americans. In spite of her fears and lack of confidence she challenged herself to give it a try. She soon enlisted friends and peers to be guests and they turned out to be very talented Natives in their own regard. Caroline realized that she could also bring to the forefront her different passions, including counseling high risk youth, and victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and addictions. Her favorite shows have focused on individuals who have overcome alcoholism, drug addictions, and other forms of trauma, to become productive citizens, family men and women, and community leaders. These brave people have turned their lives around in spite of the obstacles they encountered.

Short Film: “Breaking the Code of Silence”

After two years of hosting her talk show, Caroline decided to take her experience one step further to produce and direct a short film called “Breaking the Code of Silence,” about Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse. In her counseling experience, she realized that many of the people who told her their stories only did so after Caroline shared her story. She wondered what would happen if she got elders talking about their abuse…would the youth then feel encouraged to share their stories? Caroline thought this film could be used to get the families to start talking about this issue. In developing the film, she decided it would be divided into at least three parts; the first segment, “Breaking the Code of Silence” is about people telling their survival stories; the second segment would concentrate on the affects of Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse; and the third would address the question, “What are we doing to stop it?” Caroline is currently working on Part II “The Affects of Abuse”.

Other film work

As she continued to gain a reputation for herself, Caroline was recruited to film other projects, one of which was on the topic of gun control. The South West Center for Law and Policy received a grant for Gun Safety and they contacted Caroline to provide the media part of the workshop. This workshop was a collaborative effort with Bernard Siqueiros, Director of the Tohono O’odham Culture Center. He told the history of how O’odham People came upon having guns; what the guns were originally meant for; and how much guns in those days were respected and rarely, if ever, used to hurt one another. Detective Matthew Hall, from the Tohono O’odham Police Department, talked to the youth about the dangers of handling a gun and how to react in a safe manner if they should see a gun when there were no adults present. Caroline’s role was to film families who had lost family members by way of guns. When the project was completed, Caroline expressed her feelings about making the video, and then showed the video around her community. It was such an emotional and informative project, it became a turning point for her in that she instantly knew she had to do more of the video projects so that O’odham and other Native Tribes could tell their stories. There are so many stories out there that no one has tapped into; and it is amazing how powerful each one of them could be to the empowerment of the her Nation, and others.

Native Talk Productions

Native Talk Productions (NTP) was developed by Caroline for Native people and those interested in Native culture. Native Talk is a public access cable television program produced at Access Tucson, in Tucson, Arizona. In this half hour show, Caroline interviews Native American guests and documents the beautiful, talented peoples that make up their culture.

The theme of Native Talk is “Bringing the past into the present to strengthen the future.” Caroline does this by featuring guests of her Tohono O’odham community and other Native Americans through:

· Storytelling

· Celebrations

· Bringing awareness of different issues regarding Native Americans of today.

· Showcasing their talents, skills and cultural traditions

· Informative interviews; and

· Education regarding different cultures in the Native American Community

Healing Through Media and Art

The Tohono O’odham Justice Center “Children’s Program” collaborated with “Native Talk Productions” to work with high risk youth. Caroline developed a program called “Healing through Media and Art.” This program has proven to be very successful due to the collaboration amongst the juvenile judge, the youth probation program and the Children’s Program under the Justice Center. This is the first media program that the Justice Center is providing to youth who have a high risk for offending or a history of dropping out of school and getting in trouble. It has also been successful in uniting members of opposing gangs, because video production is a team process with the same goal – making movies!

The first video created was called “Rez Life” and focused on the everyday experiences that youth face on the reservation.

While filming “Rez Life,” the youth also had an opportunity to work with the Tohono O’odham Police Department, The Tohono O’odham Ambulance Department, and the staff of the Day Program Center under the Juvenile Probation Department. This allowed the students to experience positive relationships with these departments, as opposed to negative ones they may have faced in the past.

This also provides an opportunity to work with the community creating video documentation of what is happening on the Nation. The youth media program is called “Thunder in the Desert.” This program has been recruited to film and create DVD’s for the Tohono O’odham Police Department for response to school emergencies; the Gathering of Native American’s conference for youth; and Rupert Lopez of the Tohono O’odham Police Department who coaches a wrestling team after school. These are opportunities they would not have been able to explore if it wasn’t for the programs.

My Brothers and Sisters House

For a long time Caroline was trying to figure out how to reach youth who do not have access to televisions, video players, computers, or other sources of electronic information. Suddenly, she thought about developing comic books for kids.

Her friend, Jon Proudstar, had written and created his own comic book called “Tribal Force” with notable commercial success, so she asked Jon for his help in creating a comic book for kids. Jon recruited art illustrator, Juan Heinrich to do the Graphic Art, which is amazing!

The story of “My Brothers and Sisters House” is loosely based on Caroline’s own struggles growing up – some of it is fictional, and some of it is reality based. The other children in the comic book are based on children Caroline spent time with in her youth; their names have been changed to protect their identities. Much of the passion for creating this comic book came from a desire to honor her cousins, of whom she says, “If it wasn’t for them protecting me, I believe I would not be here today.”

The storyline is about five kids who no longer trust the adults in their lives; the people who are supposed to be their caretakers; and so they go on adventures where they try to figure out how to get out of predicaments, but they end up getting into more trouble. They start becoming open to the spirits around them and the land embraces them and in time nurtures them by teaching them about their emotions, behaviors and choices in life without blaming or shaming them.

It is Caroline’s hope that this comic book will educate children in many ways concerning the environment, emotions, behaviors, addictions, depression, learning to become resourceful, and what to do in case of emergencies. It also touches on different tribes and their cultural differences to the Tohono O’odham tribal rituals and traditions. There are so many creative avenues we can take to a new level on this project. We just need your help!

(The first issue of the comic book was paid for by H & R BLOCK and we are so grateful)!

POSTERS

Creating posters for Native People to express their needs and enable our youth to relate to different topics…. In the near future we will also be having poster contest.