Art House | 492 E. 13th Ave., Eugene, OR 97401

---Tickets Still Available • November 21st, 6:30PM ---

Please join us this Thursday, November 21st for the screening of "s-yéwyáw Awaken". This character-driven documentary connects the transformative stories of three Indigenous multimedia changemakers and their four Elders. Read the film synopsis below where you'll also find the trailer and purchase ticket links.

We're excited to have Robert P. (Bob) Tom, a Grand Ronde Tribal Elder, and Deborah A. Miranda, an Indigenous author and poet lead the post screening Q&A audience discussion.

s-yéwyáw Awaken

Ecko Aleck of the Nlaka’pamux Nation (Lytton, BC,) Alfonso Salinas of the shíshálh Nation (Sunshine Coast, BC,) and Charlene SanJenko of Splatsin of the Secwépemc Nation (Shuswap, BC,) are learning and documenting the traditional cultural teachings and legacies of their Elders, including the impacts of genocide resulting from Canada’s Indian Residential School (IRS) system. 

Calling the audience’s attention to the filmmaking process of narrative collaboration between an Indigenous and settler team, this character-driven documentary connects the transformative stories of three Indigenous multimedia changemakers and their four Elders.

Infused by Indigenous ceremony,

s-yéwyáw Awaken walks alongside the process of intergenerational healing.

Q/A Panelists

Deborah A. Miranda is an enrolled member of the Ohlone-Costanoan Esselen Nation, with Santa Ynez Chumash ancestry.

She is author of "Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir", four poetry collections, and is currently finishing a fifth collection, "maxana chempapisi: Blood Writing". Retired Thomas H. Broadus Professor of English at Washington and Lee University, she now lives in Eugene, Oregon with her wife, writer Margo Solod, and two large rescue dogs.

Her article, “A String of Textbooks: Artifacts of Composition Pedagogy in Indian Boarding Schools,” is posted at academia.edu.

Robert P. (Bob) Tom, Grand Ronde Tribal Member and Elder, comes from the tribal people of the Southern Oregon Ashland area and South on the Oregon Coast along the Rogue River.

While living in Eugene he founded the United Indians of Lane County. He was deeply involved with the NASU students and the University of Oregon Longhouse community which became an important place for many of Eugene’s communities of color before there was a place for them in the University.

He mentored many students at the UO and was asked by them to become part of the very first Council for Minority Education where he supported and advocated for all students of color.