Category Archives: Raven views

“As Long As The Rivers Run” — Film and panel discussion

By Steve Robinson

The South Sound Environmental Clearinghouse (SPEECH) will proudly conduct a special film and panel discussion event on Wednesday, December 1,at Traditions Café, 300 5th Ave SW, Olympia, beginning at 6:30 p.m. In honor of our Native American neighbors, the event will feature a showing of the historic movie, “As Long As The Rivers Run,” produced by filmmaker Carol Burns, and a panel of individuals, emceed by Steve Robinson, commenting about the significance of this film to the South Sound area and beyond.

“As Long As The Rivers Run” was filmed during the tumultuous 1960s and 70s, when Native Americans were fighting for their rights, as guaranteed in the treaties in which they relinquished millions of acres of land, enabling Washington to become a state. It is a part of the history of this region that brought national and international attention, and created changes that affected relationships forever.

About the Panel

Carol Burns was born in Olympia and graduated from Olympia High School in 1956; she studied documentary film at Stanford University, achieving her MA in Communications in 1969. She produced 16mm informational films for clients and began learning video in 1980. Burns was a founding member of Thurston Community Television and became one of its first employees as Production Manager, in 1986. Over the intervening years she has continued making informational videos, mostly in collaboration with non-profit organizations or government agencies. She will discuss the making of the film.

Charlene Krise is a Squaxin Island Council member, and the Director of the Squaxin Island Research Center and Museum. Robert Satiacum, Jr. is a Puyallup Tribal Member. He was a young man during the fish-in’s, and is the son of one of the most famous leaders of the activists of the time, and former Chair of the Tribe. He is a radio host at KLAY, 1180 AM, and leader of many causes himself, including the recent protest of the shooting of John Williams, a carver. Krise and Satiacum will discuss “The Boldt Era: Memories.”

Georgianna Kautz has been the Natural Resource Manager for the Nisqually Tribe since 1991. She is a graduate of The Evergreen State College in Native American Studies, and is a Commissioner to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC), and is a former Tribal Chair and Council member. Jim Peters is with the NWIFC and the Squaxin Island Tribe, and both of them will discuss memories and Co-Management from the Tribal/NWIFC perspectives.

Brian Frisina is an archivist for the state Department of Labor & Industries. Also known as Raven Redbone, Frisina hosts a show called “Make No Bones About It” on KAOS radio 89.3 FM in Olympia. The show highlights Native issues and showcases elders who remind us to seek out the wisdom of indigenous cultures. Frisina says he is here to contribute and give another voice to the “The First Peoples” and serve all our ancestors. He lives by the ancestral ways: respecting each other, loving each other and our Mother Earth. He will address the issues around the question: “Why Remember?”

Steve Robinson is the owner/President of SR PRODUCTIONS and a SPEECH board member.