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Ishi's Return

30 min | Documentary Short | Chris Eyre

  • SYNOPSIS

 Ishi’s Return is a half-hour film about Ishi, billed in 1911 as the “last wild Indian” when he wandered out of the woods in Oroville, CA, and became a national sensation. When Ishi died, his brain was removed and sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Eighty years later, his descendants in California fight to have his remains repatriated to his ancestral home.

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Release: October 2016

Chris Eyre

Director
Chris Eyre (Cheyenne/Arapaho) has been described as “the preeminent Native American filmmaker of his time” by People magazine. Eyre is an internationally recognized film and television director and producer who has received many awards, including a Peabody, an Emmy and Brandon Verzal Tyler “Blue” Tarpalechee (Muskogree Creek).

Brían Wescott

Producer/Writer
Brían Wescott is an enrolled Athabascan/Yup’ik from Alaska. He co-produced and acted in the groundbreaking feature film Christmas in the Clouds (2005), the first Native American comedy, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won strong recommendations on Ebert & Roeper and in Oprah’s “O” Magazine. Wescott started his career as a researcher on the documentary series 500 Nations (CBS) and developed a versatile below-the-line resume on studio features and television shows including Dante’s Peak (Universal) and The X-Files (Fox).

Roberta Grossman

Producer
Roberta Grossman has written and produced more than forty hours of documentary television. She recently completed the feature documentary Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh. An award-winner at 11 film festivals, Blessed Is the Match made the shortlist for the Academy Awards and aired on PBS’ series Independent Lens in April 2010. Grossman was the series producer and co-writer of 500 Nations, the eight-hour CBS series on Native Americans hosted by Kevin Costner. Grossman’s documentary, Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action, premiered in 2005 and screened and won awards at more than forty festivals worldwide.

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Walt Pourier

Vice Chair

Walt is Oglala Lakota and created the logo for Urban Rez. He is Creative Director, owner of Nakota Designs Advertising Designs and Graphics. Executive Director of the Stronghold Society nonprofit dedicated to instilling hope and supporting youth movements through Live Life Call To Action Campaigns.

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lynn palmanteer-holder

Lynn Palmanteer-Holder, an Indigenous plateau woman of North Central Washington and member of eight of twelve Tribes of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Lynn recently retired as inaugural Director of Tribal Government Affairs for Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, the state’s oversight agency of 34 CTCs.  She is a highly accomplished professional that spans over 40 years. She is an experienced educator that has a demonstrated history across K12, post-secondary & higher education as a teacher, school counselor, superintendent, researcher, and professor. Also, she has diverse experience as an entrepreneur, Tribal leader and administrator. She is skilled in curriculum and program development, facilitating government to government relationships that led to formal partnerships between state institutions and Tribes developing custom programs. Lynn has served on many boards and has been recognized for various statewide, and national awards. She has several scholarly publications and has done various conference presentations and speaking engagements, at the local, national and international level. Lynn holds a Ph.C. (ABD) in Social Welfare Policy from University of Washington. She earned her M.Ed., with a concentration in counseling psychology from Washington State University and B.Ed., in K12 Education from Eastern Washington University. Lynn is a wife of 49 years, a mother of three adult professional children, granny of 10 and great granny to two. Lynn and her husband are high school sweethearts, and together enjoy time with their 15+ two-legged blessings.