Kahnawake - day six
Another day at the Kahnawake Library.
Today it was all about Lorrie's mini-documentary.
Lorrie filmed in the morning in her own community, Kanesatake, another Mohawk reserve about 50 minutes away (driving) from Kahnewake. She captured beautiful footage of the preparation of Black Ash, readying it for basket weaving!
Then Lorrie arrived at Kahawake ready to edit! First she imported all her precious footage and photos (Sheila sent gorgeous examples of her award winning baskets!). Lorrie then concentrated on her audio edit. She has a real knack for learning the editing program but also the intuition of a storyteller. She was really decisive about the bits of the interviews she wanted for her story, which is focused on the traditional basket weaving using Black Ash and the Emerald Ash Borer, a bug that is making this important Black Ash tree almost extinct and threatening Haudenosaunee traditional practices. An important story to tell.
Lorrie reached her goal of an under 10 minute rough assembly! BRAVO. And tomorrow she will tackle her fine edit and add the imagery!
Today we also learned about the namesake of the library: Skawenniio, who was a 13 year old student in 2001 and wanted a library in her own community...so she made it happen herself by writing letters & essays and getting international attention. Then books were suddenly being sent to the reserve, boxes and boxes of donations from around the globe! In 2003 Skawenniio helped open the new library and it has since moved to an even bigger location! The official name of the library: Skawenniio Tsi Iewennahnotahkhwa means: Skawenniio's Place Where One Reads.
