ᎤᏕᏲᏅ

It is important to us that this film included the perspectives of western and eastern Giduwa (Cherokee) people. Although our communities are separated by distance, our collaboration on this film offers a balanced perspective of what reciprocity means to our people and how it’s actualized in our lives. This film was brought to life by a team of all Giduwa people, in front of and behind the camera, and was shot on lands that have shaped us.

Today’s Cherokees are organized into three federally-recognized tribes: Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. As with most of the films in this series, language is conveyed as an integral part of how Indigenous peoples interact with the land through culture and their distinct worldviews to enact reciprocity. Tom Belt demonstrates how embedded in the Cherokee language are worldviews for which concepts often do not have easy translations into English. For instance, the fact that there is no word for art, and that the idea of creating something with its source in the natural world means that the artist is not creating something new, but simply remaking that material into something else. “Art” is thus both a medium for creative cultural expression and that which connects humans to the natural world through the transformation of natural materials into what we call art.

Tom also shares another key perspective, that the world does not belong to humans. He tells us the ownership of the world belongs to those who came before humans, making humans merely guests who have “to be as careful and responsible as we can be.”

This film further exposes how gratitude and gifting are intertwined as necessary ingredients of reciprocity. Did you notice in the beginning of the film the offering of tobacco as the tree was taken so the masks could be made? In American Indian cultures the offering of tobacco is an almost universal element of thanksgiving. Other things could be given as an offering as well. By assuming responsibility and respect for what is being taken, the offering constitutes an act of reciprocity and gratitude.

• What did you learn about the Cherokee perspectives and values you saw in this film?
• What do you think is the meaning of the following statements made by the film’s narrator?
  • You are making it into a thing, you are not making a thing
  • Real human beings don’t do that
  • We are here as guests
• According to the film’s narrator, what do human beings need to be reminded of with every cycle of the moon?
• What response did you have to the masks that appeared at the beginning and end of the film? What questions do you have about Cherokee masks?
• What is the difference between the way tobacco is used in this film and the way tobacco is commonly used by non-Native people?

• Hear filmmaker, activist, and director of ᎤᏕᏲᏅ
  (What They’ve Been Taught) Brit Hensel (Cherokee Nation) talk about the concept of reciprocity in the Seedcast episode: ᏙᎯ (Tohi)
• For information about the three federally-recognized Cherokee tribes
  • https://www.cherokee.org/
  • https://www.ukb-nsn.gov/
  • https://ebci.com/
• Epidemics and Cherokee Resiliency (OsiyoTV) (beginning at 1:46)
• Patterns of Health and Wellbeing: Prayer and the Spiritual in Health Ways (seminar by Tom Belt)
• To learn more about Cherokee Booger masks, see Booger mask history:
  • https://www.wcu.edu/library/digitalcollections/cherokeetraditions/people/Carvers_AllenLong.html
  • https://www.cherokeephoenix.org/culture/cochran-shares-booger-mask-history/article_9f503145-0960-5ec9-9888-d255cc78179b.html
  • https://visitcherokeenc.com/blog/entry/many-faces-a-cherokee-mask-exhibit/
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKjyqDyeLKw (Presented by UKB artist and mask maker, Roger Cain).
  • Cherokee Nation CCO Cultural Presentation Booger Masks with UKB mask maker, Roger Cain:
  • INFINITY OF NATIONS: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian
    • https://americanindian.si.edu/static/exhibitions/infinityofnations/woodlands/237839.html
    • https://theonefeather.com/2020/06/08/many-faces-mask-exhibit-opens-at-museum-of-the-cherokee-indian/
  • Cherokee Dance and Drama, Frank Gouldsmith Speck

Learning Materials & Poster

• LA Times Today: Behind the documentary short “ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught)” Los Angeles Times, Dec. 2, 2022
• 38th IDA Documentary Awards Nominees & Winners
  December 21, 2022 - IDA International Documentary Association
• Documentary filmed in NC receives international recognition
  December 6, 2022 - FOX Carolina
• The Envelope Live Presents L.A. Times Short Docs FYC Showcase at Lumiere Cinema on Dec. 8
  December 5, 2022 - Los Angeles Times
• Tulsans of the Year: Cherokee filmmaker Brit Hensel makes history at Sundance Film Festival
  December 4, 2022 - Tulsa World
• LA Times Today: Behind the documentary short “ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught)”
  December 2, 2022 - Los Angeles Times
• Short doc shares Cherokee tradition of reciprocity
  December 1, 2022 - LA Times Today
• On Cherokee reciprocity: A Q&A with filmmaker Brit Hensel
  November 30, 2022 - Tulsa People
• Festival interviews award-winning writer Brit Hensel from Oklahoma
  November 29, 2022 - The Corsair - Santa Monica College News
• Reciprocity Project Highlights Indigenous Storytelling and Values
  November 25, 2022 - South Seattle Emerald
• Reciprocity Project to Focus on Seven Indigenous Tribes
  November 24, 2022 - KGGF News Radio
• Oklahoma sisters excelling with documentaries focused on Indigenous heritage
  November 24, 2022 - KFOR Oklahoma News 4
• Tulsan's film part of Reciprocity Project's first global screening
  November 16, 2022 - Tulsa World
• Five Full Frame Alums Receive IDA Award Nominations
  November 16, 2022 - Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
• ‘All That Breathes’ and ‘Fire of Love’ Lead 2022 IDA Nominations
  November 11, 2022 - IndieWire
• IDA Documentary Awards: ‘Fire of Love’ Leads 2022 Nominees
  November 11, 2022 - The Hollywood Reporter
• Documentaries About Remembrance and Cultural Celebration in the 2022 BlackStar Film Festival
  August 3, 2022 - HYPERALLERGIC
• Cherokee Museum film festival celebrates 'Reservation Dogs' and self-representation
  July 21, 2022 - Blue Ridge Public Radio
• Oklahoma City’s deadCenter Film Festival to feature Cherokee film
  June 2, 2022 - Tahlequah Daily Press
• Bentonville Film Fest announces lineup; ‘Boycott,’ doc on Arkansas Times refusal to sign anti-boycott law, doesn’t make cut
  June 1, 2022 - Arkansas Times
• Cherokee filmmaker brings Sundance-selected short film home to Oklahoma's deadCenter fest
  May 6, 2022 - The Oklahoman
• ‘Udeyonv' (What They’ve Been Taught) selected by Sundance Film Festival
  April 15, 2022 - Cherokee Phoenix
• Shorts (and a capsule review) | Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2022
  April 8, 2022 - The Arts STL
• Aspen Shortsfest announces program for in-person festival
  March 3, 2022 - The Aspen Times
• L.A. Times Short Docs Launches with Five Films
  February 15, 2022 - LA Times
• Sundance 2022: Eight short films emphasize excellent range of options featuring the best of international filmmaking
  January 29, 2022 - The Utah Review
• Sundance puts spotlight on Indigenous films
  January 19, 2022 - Indian Country Today
• Cherokee filmmaker Brit Hensel secures place in Sundance Film Festival history
  January 19, 2022 - Tulsa World
• Lawrence plays host to select 2022 Sundance Film Festival entries this month
  January 6, 2022 - The Pitch
• YOUR GUIDE TO ALL INDIGENOUS WORKS AT THE 2022 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
  December 29, 2021 - Sundance
• Collaborative Cherokee film project to premier at Sundance
  December 14, 2021 - The Journal Record
• New Film ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They've Been Taught) to Make World Premiere at 2022 Sundance Film Festival
  December 10, 2021 - Cision
• Meet the Artist: Brit Hensel on "ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught)"
  December 16, 2021 - Sundance Institute (YouTube)
• SEEDCAST: RECIPROCITY
  December 16, 2021 - South Seatle Emerald