Film: Trudell / Performance: Annie Humphrey & Long-Hairz Collective November 10, 2005

Annie Humphrey, Ojibwe singer/songwriter, and The Long Hairz Collective, a Detroit based Native American/African America spoken word trio, will give bookend performances at a screening of ?Trudell,? a documentary film about the life of Native American Santee activist and poet John Trudell, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10, in Carleton College?s Severance Great Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Filmmaker Heather Rae created the film to inspire and educated those unfamiliar with the political and cultural impact that Trudell had on the expansion of Native American consciousness and on the psyche of wider America. Rae spent almost 12 years chronicling Trudell's travels, spoken word and politics. The film combines archival, concert and interview footage with abstract imagery and premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

Guided by Trudell?s voice, the film follows his life as he goes from spokesperson for the 1968 Indians of All Tribes occupation of Alcatraz Island to spokesperson for the American Indian Movement in the turbulent 1970s to becoming an internationally recognized poet, recording artist and actor in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2001, Humphrey received the Female Artist of the Year Award, and her first album, titled ?The Heron Smiled,? was voted Best Folk Recording of the Year at the Native American Music Awards. In addition to her music career, Humphrey supports efforts to control logging in the Chippewa National Forest and is co-founder, along her mother Anne Dunn, of the Sister BraveHeart Lodge a nonprofit coop founded by Anishanabe women to assist women and their children in their efforts to provide for themselves.

News from Indian Country has called the Long-Hairz Collective ?An acoustic mix of folk, blues and hip-hop influences, with lyrics that are spirited, compassionate and life-affirming.? Founded in 2001, the trio includes singer, songwriter Joe Reilly, poet Brian Babb and emcee William Copeland, combining styles of hip-hop, folk, blues and the spoken word. Their compact disc, titled ?Dreadlocks and Ponytails,? was released in 2002.

The Carleton religion department is sponsoring the event, with assistance from the campus activities office, the office of multicultural affairs and the American Studies department. For more information and disability accommodations, call the Carleton religion department at (507) 646-4232.