FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[Rolland Nadjiwon]

March 06, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tracy Rector 206.387.2468 or

Valerie Taliman 505.270.3092

Longhouse Media condemns illegal use of "March Point" photo in hate 
crime Native leaders in U.S and Canada demand protections for Native youth

SEATTLE -- Longhouse Media Executive Director Tracy Rector today 
condemned the illegal use of a copyrighted photo of three teenagers from 
the Swinomish, Grand Ronde, and Lummi Tribes in Washington that was used 
in a hate crime against First Nations and Native American youth.

"We are appalled by the use of our image for such hateful and demeaning 
purposes," said Rector, responding to an advertisement that appeared on 
a Canadian online news site. "The photo of the three adolescent boys was 
taken from promotional material for our film March Point, an 
award-winning documentary," said Rector. "The film was made with three 
young filmmakers and tells the story of their coming of age struggles in 
a Native American community in the U.S. That this image would be used 
for such deviant ends is deeply hurtful to these young men and their 
families, and to the Native community as a whole."

The advertisement headlined "Free Native Extraction Service" was placed 
on the UsedWinnipeg.com website. The website is managed by 
Victoria-based company called Black Press. They operate a network of 
websites (47 in total) under the UsedEverywhere.com brand.

Referring to Native youth, it began: "Have you ever had the experience 
of getting home to find those pesky little buggers hanging outside your 
home, in the back alley or on the corner???" It goes on to offer "free 
extraction services to relocate them to their habitat," and continues 
with other offensive remarks.

"We condemn this as a hate crime, and will join with others to see the 
perpetrators are brought to justice," said Rector. "This ad could 
intimidate and incite violence against indigenous youth in North 
America, and we are joining with Manitoba Chiefs to call for an end to 
hate crimes such as these. We must all stand together to protect our youth."

Chairman Brian Cladoosby of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community said, 
"We are saddened by the fact that some people still harbor extreme 
hatred toward Native people as this advertisement demonstrates. But we 
are also encouraged that many more people recognize this as a racist 
attack on a generation of Native American youth who for the most part 
are law-abiding citizens striving to overcome generations of poverty and 
oppression, and live productive lives. We hope that calmer heads prevail 
and that the individuals responsible for posting this ad are prosecuted 
to the full extent of the law."

While not an act of physical violence, it is one of intimidation and 
threat. According to the Criminal Code of Canada, "a hate crime is 
committed to intimidate, harm or terrify not only a person, but an 
entire group of people to which the victim belongs. The victims are 
targeted for who they are, not because of anything they have done. Hate 
crimes involve intimidation, harassment, physical force or threat of 
physical force against a person, a family or a property." Section 
319(1): Public Incitement of Hatred, Criminal Code of Canada

-more-

Author and poet Sherman Alexie, a founding board member of Longhouse 
Media from the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene Tribes 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."

###

Reporters, for more information please contact:

Tracy Rector: tr_nativelens at mac.com <mailto:tr_nativelens%40mac.com> 
206.387.2468

Valerie Taliman valerietaliman at gmail.com 
<mailto:valerietaliman%40gmail.com> 505.270.3092

Link to Longhouse Media website:

www.longhousemedia.org <http://www.longhousemedia.org/>

Link to story about advertisement:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/03/04/man-aboriginal-websiteadvertisement.html#socialcomments#ixzz0hGVlPIyi 


link to Manitoba Chief video

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Aboriginal-group-objects-to-website-adpromoting-racism-86427167.html 


March Point link:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/marchpoint/

March Point trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80nfzX7wzlQ

-------
wahjeh
rolland nadjiwon

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