Longhouse Media is a

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

non-profit

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

media arts New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of electronic media technologies. It comprises virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video games, robotics, 3D ...

organization, based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. It was established in January 2005 by Executive Director, Tracy Rector and former Artistic Director, Annie Silverstein, with the support of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. Longhouse Media supports the use of today’s technologies by indigenous people and communities as a tool for self-expression, cultural preservation, and social change. Longhouse Media counts 4 full-time and 3 part-time staff, 30 active volunteers, and 8

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ...

members. Among the founding board members is award-winning author, playwright and poet

Sherman Alexie Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is a Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker. His writings draw on his experiences as an Indigenous American with ancestry from several tribes. He grew up ...

, from the

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...

Coeur d'Alene Tribe The Coeur d'Alene Tribe ( ; also Skitswish; ) are a Native American tribe and one of five federally recognized tribes in the state of Idaho. The Coeur d'Alene have sovereign control of their Coeur d'Alene Reservation, which includes a significa ...

Media arts work

Central to Longhouse Media is its commitment to providing youth the skills necessary to tell their own stories through

digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, an ...

. Its youth media program ‘Native Lens’ brings digital media training to

Native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

youth in rural and urban settings and teaches filmmaking to Native youth as a form of inquiry, community development, and cultural pride and preservation. Native Lens was the recipient of the 2007 Seattle Mayor’s Award. In 2009, the monthly television show Native Lens TV was launched. Since 2005 Longhouse Media has worked with a documented 1500 youth and 31 separate tribes. Productions by Longhouse Media include the feature-length documentary ''March Point'' which aired nationally on the award-winning

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrenc ...

and the short film ''UNRESERVED: The Work of Louie Gong'' about Seattle-based artist and activist Louie Gong. Each year Longhouse Media partners with the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...

to organize and host the SuperFly Filmmaking Experience. It also collaborates with the

Northwest Film Forum The Northwest Film Forum (NWFF) is an nonprofit independent art house cinema and film-focused organization in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. that hosts screenings, multiple film festivals, film workshops, and public events. History In la ...

and

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

All Roads Film Project to present a monthly film series showcasing emerging talents in indigenous communities. Longhouse Media also supports and participates in the annual Urban Native art exhibit "First Expressions" to challenge common stereotypes and misconceptions through up and coming

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

Native and indigenous artists. In 2009 Longhouse Media received the National Association for Media Literacy Education Award. As a young non profit organization, Longhouse Media tries to balance the internal and external challenges it faces. Areas of improvement as identified by a Graduate Consultant Team from Seattle University would be the Board’s fundraising strategy, its performance monitoring, and the management of critical events.

Social justice work

In March 2010, a Longhouse Media March Point documentary photo was used in an online extraction ad for Native youth in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The service offered to "round up and remove

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

youth like wild animals, and habitat."Stop the Racist Attacks on Our Children
The Huffington Post, March 2010Ad offering ‘Native Extraction Service’ condemned
CBCnews, March 2010 Among many to respond, author and poet Sherman Alexie also spoke out, saying, "As much as the world has changed for indigenous people in good ways, there are still many violent and hateful folks out there who seek to harm us, and we must condemn them in print and in action, and we must do this together."

References

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External links

Longhouse Media
Native American arts organizations Arts organizations based in Washington (state) Non-profit organizations based in Seattle Arts organizations established in 2005 2005 establishments in Washington (state)