October 28, 2024
NEWS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Charmaine Nelson (626) 344-4325
SPECIAL FILM SCREENING OF ‘IMAGINING THE INDIAN:
THE FIGHT AGAINST NATIVE AMERICAN MASCOTING’
Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting will be screened at the Pasadena Senior Center on Saturday, November 9 at 2 p.m.
A discussion of the film will follow, hosted by its co-director/co-producer Ben West, along with W. Richard West Jr., the President and CEO emeritus of the Autry Museum of the West.
The award-winning feature-length documentary details the current uprising against the misappropriation of Native culture in a national reckoning about racial injustice. This reckoning has succeeded in the removal of Confederate imagery, toppled statues of Christopher Columbus and forced corporate sponsors of Washington’s NFL team to change its most-offensive name. ‘Imagining the Indian’ examines the origin and proliferation of the words, images and gestures that many Native people and their allies find offensive, and explores the impact that stereotyping and marginalization of Native history have had on Native people.
Reservations are required, and the cost for this event is free for members of the Pasadena Senior Center and $5 for nonmembers. To register or for more information, visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org
The film’s Co-Director/Co-Producer, Ben West, is a filmmaker who has worked with companies such as Carsey-Werner Mandabach, Telenova Productions, Mandalay Pictures, and outlets such as the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian. West serves as Executive Director/CEO of Rena Flying Coyote Collective dedicated to telling the stories of Indigenous Peoples through Film, Television, and the Arts. Ben is a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, and has chosen to focus much of his life’s work on Native Peoples.
W. Richard West, Jr. is Founding Director and Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian and President and CEO Emeritus, Ambassador, Native Communities, of the Autry Museum of the American West. He is a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and a member of the Society of Southern Cheyenne Peace Chiefs.
The Pasadena Senior Center’s mission is to improve the lives of older adults through caring service with opportunities for social interaction, fitness programs, basic support and needs services, education, volunteerism and community activism. With 10,000 Americans per day becoming older adults, the center is a leader in addressing issues of aging and provides innovative, cutting-edge, nationally recognized programs for this population group.
As a donor-supported nonprofit, the center operates without any local, state or federal funding and provides more services to older adults than any other organization in the San Gabriel Valley. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. To learn more visit www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org or call 626-794-4331.