Sandra Osawa
Directing
Biography
Sandra Johnson Osawa (Makah Tribe) (filmmaker and poet) is one of the few American Indian members of the Writers Guild of America and has also published her essays in First Fish, First People: Salmon Tales of the North Pacific Rim and her poetry in Dancing on the Rim of the World, a collection of Northwest poets edited by Andrea Lerner. She is the sole writer behind all documentary scripts and exhibit pieces.
Known For
A Chippewa prophecy foretells a time called the 7th Fire when lost traditions will be recovered. Native American filmmaker Sandra Sunrising Osawa examines how the Chippewa Indians of Northern Wisconsin have struggled to restore the centuries-old tradition of spearfishing — and the heated opposition they have encountered.
Lighting the 7th Fire
Documents the art of stand-up comedy and Indian humor through the experiences of comedian, Charlie Hill. Will Rogers, Steve Allen, Dick Gregory, Floyd Westerman and others are featured.
On and Off the Res' with Charlie Hill
A look at the life of Native American jazz saxophone pioneer Jim Pepper, the first widely recognized musician to fuse Native American music with jazz.
Pepper's Pow Wow
This program was nominated for an ACE award and aired on The Learning Channel and on PBS as part of the Spirit of Place Series. This timeless production captures an intimate portrait of the traumatic consequences of relocation on one Navajo family. Through Katherine Smith’s eyes and words, as a Navajo matriach, the viewer feels the connection to the land on one of the most remote and traditional places in Indian Country – Big Mountain, Arizona.Broadcast on PBS in ’80.
In the Heart of Big Mountain
Kikisoblu, Princess Angeline (title and name given her by a white woman), daughter of Chief Seattle, is seen on many postcards and toward the end of her life, she lived alone, refusing to leave her homeland. What historical events led to her being one of the few Duwamish people left in Seattle by the 1890′s, only 35 years after the Treaty of Point Elliott? This video explores the injustices against the Duwamish people and their continually denied tribal status, partially through the life of Kikisoblu.