RECENT WORK
-Subsistence in Northwest Iñupiat region-
COUNTING ON CARIBOU
Iñupiaq Way of Life in Northwest Alaska
Iñupiaq Way of Life in Northwest Alaska
Produced: 2016
Counting on Caribou showcases the ways in which the Iñupiat people of Northwest Alaska are seeking to maintain their connection to caribou and the influences that threaten this staple subsistence food
Counting on Caribou showcases the ways in which the Iñupiat people of Northwest Alaska are seeking to maintain their connection to caribou and the influences that threaten this staple subsistence food
Tied to the land
Voices from Northwest Alaska
Film series
Produced: 2015
Tied to the Land film series, a Sustainable Futures North project through the University of Alaska Fairbanks, showcases 10 northwestern Alaskan villages as they adapt to rapid changes in climate, weather and resource development. You will be immersed into the daily lives of active hunters, fishers and gatherers in the northwestern arctic by land, sea and air.
Tied to the Land film series, a Sustainable Futures North project through the University of Alaska Fairbanks, showcases 10 northwestern Alaskan villages as they adapt to rapid changes in climate, weather and resource development. You will be immersed into the daily lives of active hunters, fishers and gatherers in the northwestern arctic by land, sea and air.
A Greenpeace award winning short film!
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For more information on the Sustainable Futures North project through the
University of Alaska Fairbanks go to:
University of Alaska Fairbanks go to:
Effects of weather and climate
on subsistence Communities
Produced: January 2014
The activities of subsistence hunters, fishers and gathers are dramatically effected every day by weather and changing climate conditions. Having accurate information to gauge ice thickness, wind, temperature can make the difference between success and failure, safety and danger. Effects of Weather and Climate on Subsistence Communities takes us to seven Northwestern Alaska Native communities (Kotzebue, Kivalina, Point Hope, Noatak, Ambler, Buckland and Deering) to find out how people there deal with and adapt to ever changing and less predictable environmental conditions.
The activities of subsistence hunters, fishers and gathers are dramatically effected every day by weather and changing climate conditions. Having accurate information to gauge ice thickness, wind, temperature can make the difference between success and failure, safety and danger. Effects of Weather and Climate on Subsistence Communities takes us to seven Northwestern Alaska Native communities (Kotzebue, Kivalina, Point Hope, Noatak, Ambler, Buckland and Deering) to find out how people there deal with and adapt to ever changing and less predictable environmental conditions.
Effects of Weather and Climate
on subsistence communities
Inuktitut language version
Produced: December 2014
-Athabascan music and dance film-
Tradition in Tune
Produced: March 2013
When gold was discovered in Alaska over a hundred years ago, miners, trappers, and traders who came to seek their fortunes brought their fiddles and an old country music tradition with them. The Athabascan people they interacted with heard the music, picked it up and claimed it for their own. For the past thirty years Native Fiddlers have gathered in Fairbanks Alaska to trade tunes, hear each others' unique styles and perform for a grateful audience.
Tradition in Tune takes viewers to the thirtieth anniversary Athabascan Fiddle Festival, a four-day, non-stop expression of Native unity, culture and values.
When gold was discovered in Alaska over a hundred years ago, miners, trappers, and traders who came to seek their fortunes brought their fiddles and an old country music tradition with them. The Athabascan people they interacted with heard the music, picked it up and claimed it for their own. For the past thirty years Native Fiddlers have gathered in Fairbanks Alaska to trade tunes, hear each others' unique styles and perform for a grateful audience.
Tradition in Tune takes viewers to the thirtieth anniversary Athabascan Fiddle Festival, a four-day, non-stop expression of Native unity, culture and values.
Click link to find the Athabascan Fiddle Association on Facebook
-Ethnobotany Films-
TIES TO ALASKA'S WILD PLANTS
Film Series
Film Series
Produced: 2016
This film series is designed to teach viewers about the many traditional Alaskan indigenous ways of using wild plants for food, medicine and construction material. Filming of Iñupiat traditions occurred during the summers of 2013 & 2014 in Kotzebue, Alaska and filming of Tlingit transitions of Helen Watkins occurred in 2015 in Juneau, Alaska.
This film series is designed to teach viewers about the many traditional Alaskan indigenous ways of using wild plants for food, medicine and construction material. Filming of Iñupiat traditions occurred during the summers of 2013 & 2014 in Kotzebue, Alaska and filming of Tlingit transitions of Helen Watkins occurred in 2015 in Juneau, Alaska.
Special featured film in honor of Helen Watkins
November 16th, 1939 - February 9th, 2016
November 16th, 1939 - February 9th, 2016
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ETHNOBOTANY CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
University of Alaska Fairbanks
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Produced: May 2015
This film takes viewers into the world of ethnobotany experienced in the ancestral landscape of the Iñupiat people, while witnessing the happenings at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Chukchi Campus-run course in Kotzebue, Alaska in the summer of 2014. Through interviews with instructors, Elders and students, you will get an idea of what ethnobotany means to this diverse audience, while also learning what to expect out of a UAF two-week intensive summer field course.
This film takes viewers into the world of ethnobotany experienced in the ancestral landscape of the Iñupiat people, while witnessing the happenings at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Chukchi Campus-run course in Kotzebue, Alaska in the summer of 2014. Through interviews with instructors, Elders and students, you will get an idea of what ethnobotany means to this diverse audience, while also learning what to expect out of a UAF two-week intensive summer field course.
For more information about the University of Alaska Fairbanks Ethnobotany program go to:
-Smithsonian films-
The Art of Bentwood hats
Produced: July 2014
For one week in March of 2012, the Smithsonian Institution’s Arctic Studies Center at the Anchorage Museum brought together two master artists and two apprentices to make Aleutian Islands bentwood hats while also sharing their traditional knowledge with school children, visitors, and museum staff.
Video recordings were made and edited into six film segments including an introduction, how-to steps, and interviews with each artist and apprentice.
For one week in March of 2012, the Smithsonian Institution’s Arctic Studies Center at the Anchorage Museum brought together two master artists and two apprentices to make Aleutian Islands bentwood hats while also sharing their traditional knowledge with school children, visitors, and museum staff.
Video recordings were made and edited into six film segments including an introduction, how-to steps, and interviews with each artist and apprentice.
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A limited number of DVD/CD copies are available upon request.
Please contact Dawn Biddison at biddisond@si.edu.
A teachers guide and lesson plans are in progress.
Please contact Dawn Biddison at biddisond@si.edu.
A teachers guide and lesson plans are in progress.
Iñupiaq Language and culture
Produced: May 2013
These six Iñupiaq Language and Culture films, edited for the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, are designed to help teach Iñupiaq language and culture through discussions with Elders over traditional objects that are on loan from the Smithsonian in DC and currently housed in the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center area of the Anchorage museum. You will hear several Iñupiaq dialects spoken between eight Elders during a workshop in January of 2012.
These six Iñupiaq Language and Culture films, edited for the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, are designed to help teach Iñupiaq language and culture through discussions with Elders over traditional objects that are on loan from the Smithsonian in DC and currently housed in the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center area of the Anchorage museum. You will hear several Iñupiaq dialects spoken between eight Elders during a workshop in January of 2012.
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Click link for the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center website
For more Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center videos go to:
For more information about the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center at the Anchorage museum go to:
-Southeast Alaska Culture-
Produced: 2015- 2016
SHARING OUR KNOWLEDGE
'“Sharing Our Knowledge” is a multi-disciplinary conference that includes artists, academics, students and other learners meeting with Alaska Native tradition bearers, elders, and fluent speakers to discuss subjects such as linguistics, archaeology, art and music, Alaska Native history, museum studies, cultural anthropology, indigenous law and protocols, fisheries, and traditional ecological knowledge."
- www. clanconference.org/
'“Sharing Our Knowledge” is a multi-disciplinary conference that includes artists, academics, students and other learners meeting with Alaska Native tradition bearers, elders, and fluent speakers to discuss subjects such as linguistics, archaeology, art and music, Alaska Native history, museum studies, cultural anthropology, indigenous law and protocols, fisheries, and traditional ecological knowledge."
- www. clanconference.org/
Sarah Betcher directed and edited the film production of the 2015 conference, totaling 65 different video recorded sessions. Below are 4 sessions that Betcher filmed and edited.
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To view all of the 2015 Sharing Our Knowledge sessions, click the link below.
