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FREC Award Highlights LTEM Work

11/17/2014

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by Houston R. Cypress,
Coordination Circle, Love The Everglades Movement

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The Film, Recording & Entertainment Council (link) is one of South Florida’s most important economic development organizations serving the Entertainment Industry and over the weekend FREC held its 11th Annual Star Gala recognition ceremony at the Magic City Casino.

The Star Gala (link) recognizes industry professionals and organizations whose careers and bodies of work establish South Florida as a significant region for developing a career in this commercial sector.  There is a thriving community of people here in South Florida and it is important to note just who they are and what they have done.

The nature of entertainment necessarily highlights those on stage, or in front of the camera, or in the spotlight, and so the unique work of the Star Gala is to highlight the talent and expertise of those behind-the-scenes.  The types of categories that this event notes include the work of choreographers, lawyers, recording executives, producers, directors, make-up artists, casting directors, recording studios, up-and-coming talent, and so many more.

Love The Everglades Movement, like FREC, is a member-driven organization.  Our work is concerned with offering opportunities for people to connect with the Everglades and thereby inspiring positive change in the broader society so that we can achieve goals such as improved water quality in the Florida Everglades.  Many of us are artists, and so the methods that we’ve been using reflect our skills.  We understand how our artistic projects communicate complex messages across multiple dimensions, so we’ve been eager to invite influential people to participate in our excursions and events.  Our understanding of the influential embraces people such as teachers, event planners, spiritual leaders, political organizers, etc.

We also strive to cultivate a community of people concerned with Everglades matters using an approach that is respectful of local mores – which we are discovering is not an easy task.  This work has required us to learn new languages, to go outside of our comfort zones, and to confront obstacles of all types.

LTEM began with a vision that Jean Sarmiento (link) was blessed with as a result of his dedication to his spiritual and ceremonial work.  Since the fall of 2012, our work has evolved:  from Everglades excursions, to art exhibitions, inter-faith prayer rituals, benefit concerts, short films, interviews with print/radio/television/internet media, and an eclectic symposium.

Our Summer Symposium 2014 (link) was the culmination of all of the projects and community networking that we’ve been involved in since our efforts began.  Our program and attendance reflected that.  It was also an event that was free to attend so that there would be no barriers preventing people from getting engaged in Everglades advocacy – FREC took note.

At the Star Gala, event hosts such as Trina Robinson of NBC 6 and world-renowned artist Laurence Gartel took time to highlight my achievements in film, television and art, as well as my community work with the Love The Everglades Movement as a prime reason for the honor.

So, I would like to share this honor with everyone who has been involved with LTEM in one way or another since our work began, including all those who’ve been on our Everglades excursions, everyone who has prayed for the water, all the friends we’ve made in all the different communities that we’ve visited, our benefactors and sponsors, and all the members of the Coordination Circle (link).  Nuff Respect!

Another honoree that was noted for Best Film Festival was Filmgate Interactive (link).  Filmgate is an event that showcases and develops transmedia projects – projects that are expressed across multiple media platforms.  Diliana Alexander, Executive Director for Filmgate, invited LTEM to collaborate on their filmmaking workshop.  Diliana wanted to use her resources to express an environmental and humanitarian concern for the Everglades and the Miccosukee community while providing artists from around the world with an opportunity to hone their skills using cutting-edge technologies.  You can see the result of this collaboration by clicking THIS LINK.

The Star Gala was a blast!  Some of us from the Coordination Circle who attended had an opportunity to rub shoulders with the professionals of the South Florida entertainment industry.  And I had a great time, with Dudley Alexis of Epyllion Films (link), in putting together the tribute video honoring Irene Marie of modeling agency fame for her Lifetime Achievement Award.  Love The Everglades Movement was in great company.
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Moksha Lecture Series:  Indigenous Ecologies & the Everglades

10/13/2014

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by Dr. Dennis Wiedman & Houston R. Cypress

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THE MOKSHA LECTURE SERIES PT. 4:
"INDIGENOUS ECOLOGIES AND THE EVERGLADES" 

A Dialog with Miccosukee Houston R. Cypress and Anthropologist Dennis Wiedman

Indigenous peoples around the world continue to express their views that natural and physical environments are being harmed by humans whose philosophies of life do not respect the Earth. The 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples confirmed their rights to traditional lands, resources, language, medicines, religions, media and culture. Anthropologist, Dr. Dennis Wiedman reflects upon the political and environmental changes occurring over the past centuries that disenfranchised Native Americans from their lands, their resources and their sacred places. Houston Cypress, member of the Miccosukee Otter Clan, brings an Indigenous world view to the public through his videos, words and actions. For the past several decades there has been a renaissance of Indigenous arts, music, and religions here in the US and throughout the world. The Indigenous voice is now being heard in films, music, the internet and in the courts.

Contemporary Native American scholars, artists and film makers are bringing to the public their ways of knowing about life, the Earth and human relationships with the Earth. Many of these express the Indigenous Peoples’ perspectives as caretakers of the Earth, as compared to those who view the Earth and resources as objects to be exploited, controlled, bought and sold. With environments being modified, polluted, and spoiled, this dialog and discussion of these differing world views may lead to reconciliation and a better understanding of how public policies can respect the Earth.

Here in South Florida where the natural Everglades, rivers, and wetlands were drained, canaled, controlled, filled-in and polluted, Indigenous Peoples continue to express their concerns about the quality of water and how it affects all human and biological life in the Everglades. In this evening of information sharing, dialog and discussion, Houston and Dennis compare and contrast these contested world views about the environment and nature facilitating a better understanding of the restoration of the Everglades and the need for public policies that respect the earth affecting the future quality of life for generations of South Floridians.

Dr. Dennis Wiedman is an anthropologist whose life long work on Native American health extends from the Miccosukee of South Florida, to the Delaware, Apache and Cherokee Tribes of Oklahoma, and the Inupiat of Northern Alaska. His research has ranged from traditional healing to contemporary health problems, from Peyotism as a health care delivery system, to the causes of Native American diabetes and the global increase of diabetes with modernity. Since receiving his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Oklahoma, he has taught for many years at Florida International University where he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies. His latest work is published in the American Indian Culture and Research Journal, and the American Indian Quarterly.

Houston Cypress, an Otter Clan member of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. Houston grew up in the swamps of the Florida Everglades, blazing trails through the bush. The endangered beauty of the natural environment made such an impression on him during his childhood – being a refuge for his ancestors and the source of traditional plant medicines – that he grew to find ways to articulate strategies for preserving this World Heritage Site. Art, communications and spirituality are some of the modalities and techniques that he employs through his collaborations with the following organizations Miccosukee Magazine TV; Film, Recording & Entertainment Council, FREC Star Gala, Medicine Signs Spiritual Center, Camposition, Inc. and the Love The Everglades Movement. Houston is committed to supporting his society of clans by assisting in cultural preservation, environmental protection, community outreach, business development, media & event production and strengthening sovereignty. He resides on the Miccosukee Reservation located west of Miami, Florida and he maintains a number of traditional villages located on tree islands scattered throughout Water Conservation Area 3A -- the area known as the historic River of Grass, and called by his community: Kaahayatle, which can be translated as "Shimmering Waters".

In consideration of the upcoming election on Tuesday, November 4, Amendment 1 which is about the environmental protection will be discussed. To learn more about the ballot initiative, check out www.FloridaWaterLandLegacy.org and www.VoteYesOn1FL.org - for more information.

*MOKSHA ART GALLERY EXHIBITION*

~JAKE CORDERO~ 

Stay later for musical entertainment with
~DJ CARE~ http://djcare.com/

Tuesday, October 28, 2014:
Doors open at 7:00pm
Lecture begins at 7:30pm (sharp) -10:00 pm

$10 donation pre-sale 
$15 donation at door
Pre-sale tickets available here:
http://mokshalecture10-28.bpt.me/

Share this event, thank you!

Come early for refreshments and snacks from Plaiedean Lounge.

7th Circuit Productions, 228 NE 59th St. Miami, FL 33137www.mokshafamily.org/ for info #305-757-7277
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Knowing the Past to Understand the Present

8/1/2014

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by Matt Schwartz,
Executive Director, South Florida Wildlands Association (Link).

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Dr. Carl Sagan (and many others) said - “You have to know the past to understand the present.”  If you want to understand what's ailing the Everglades - and why every rainy season polluted fresh water gets sent into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Estuaries west and east of Lake Okeechobee - these two images are a great place to start.

Photo on the left is not real - it's a simulation of the historic "pre-drainage" Everglades.  What a satellite would have seen in the 19th century before the first major drainage canals were dug - if a satellite had existed.  The Everglades is one massive interconnected system - slowly flowing - both above ground and below - from just south of Orlando to Lake Okeechobee and then south over the soggy shoreline of the lake to the River of Grass and Florida Bay.  Photo on the right is what we actually see today.  Drainage canals have allowed about 6 million of us - and many more tourists - to settle on Florida's lower east coast - while millions of acres of natural wetlands surrounding Lake Okeechobee in all directions have been drained for agriculture (sugar, citrus, and other crops) and cattle ranching.  The water is laden with cattle waste, fertilizers, pesticides, urban runoff, and septic discharges.

A restored Everglades will be a system that looks - as much as now possible - like the photo on left.  The more natural wetlands we bring back - the less load we will be putting on the system and the more mother nature can do what she's always done in South Florida.  Want to really stop (or at least significantly diminish) the polluted discharges coming from Lake Okeechobee?  Clean up the water before it gets to the Lake and bring back the wetlands that can receive that water like they did before.  More to come.

For more information on Matt Schwartz and the South Florida Wildlands Association, please visit their website:  http://southfloridawild.org/.
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SS14:  EcoArt South Florida

8/1/2014

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by Dr. Mary Jo Aagerstoun,
Founder, EcoArt South Florida (Link).

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Still WAY UP THERE after a hugely encouraging two days at the Love the Everglades Movement's First Annual Summer Symposium 2014 where I was so honored to present this discussion of EcoArt as slow activism and the need for aesthetically powerful and tactically deft Activist Art for our ecologies.

Please feel free to use any of this if you find it useful.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3vv0rlhomkddqb5/EcoArtActivismnotes.pdf

and for larger images of the slides:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oacdllii34v1ynx/EcoArtActivismEcoArt.pdf

For more information on EcoArt South Florida, please visit their website:  http://ecoartsofla.org/.
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