Shinnecock Indian Nation

Local Filmmaker Gives Shinnecock A Voice

July 28, 2004

By Carey London

It has been more than seven years since documentary filmmaker Karola Ritter first started her project on the Shinnecock Indian Nation. Co-Director and Producer Alli Hunter Joseph, a member of the Shinnecock tribe, has helped Ritter to accrue enough material to produce a full-length feature film to be ready for viewing next year.

"I think I was always interested in the faith of Native peoples," said Ritter, who has filmed various aspects of the tribe, from the annual Powwows, to the building of their museum, "from the very first log," to the long tradition of Wampum (or jewelry) making, crafted from the Quahog, or clam shells.

Recently Ritter received a $12,500 grant from the Long Island Unitarian Fund, $2500 of which will be allocated to a challenge grant to Sweeteye Films, Ritter's company. The challenge asks Ritter and staff to find new sources of financial contributions and, for every dollar raised, the LIUU Fund will match that amount, up to $2,500.

Ritter hopes to use the grant to complete her nearly decade-long journey with the Shinnecock. Tentatively titled The Last Piece, the film documents the tribe's struggle to preserve the last remaining, off-reservation, sacred grounds. It looks "at life and culture and history for the Shinnecock being an integral part of the Hamptons," said Joseph, adding that it will give viewers "a wigwam out," that is, "a perspective on the struggles of these people…here's a bird's eye view into what it's like be ‘of the land,' a Native American saying. They believe they come from it, not on it," said Joseph.

And Ritter will soon reap the benefits of dedicating her time to this project.

"There's so much material already available," said Ritter. "It is a wonderful opportunity to put [together] a longer and more in depth version."

The Shinnecock may be better known for their battle to build a casino on the 826-acre tribal land. But Ritter wanted to capture the ingredients that make up these people, their traditions and their faith.

"I do believe that although they make a lot of headlines with the casino, there's so much more that one can find out about these first peoples of Long Island," said Ritter.

Collaboration
"I met Karola about a year ago and we began our friendship and collaboration by working to re-cut a short film that showed at the Hamptons Film Festival," said Joseph, who was director of a program within the festival called Native Focus. The first film showed was Ritter's Native American Neighbors.

In addition to producing over 300 community shows for LTV, Ritter was also the principal photographer on Farmingville, which won an award at the Sundance Film Festival.

"I worked on the Farmingville film and I think the main goal was to open dialogue. I don't mean that I can guarantee that I will succeed in that, but this will be one of the endeavors of this film," said Ritter.

"Karola has a lot of humanity that you don't often find in anybody," said Joseph, later adding that "she's a great one-woman band."

Ritter hopes to eventually pass the torch down to the younger generations of the Southampton nation.

"I would like to take on young Shinnecock prospective filmmakers," she said. "I would like to finish this film [and] pass it on to the trainees."

Although the project is closer than ever before to being completed, Ritter and Joseph are still in search of financial assistance.

"We do need some more financial support to get this finished because of the process of editing and remaining production costs," said Joseph. "We've reached out to a number of organizations and any local people who wish to be supportive of this endeavor."

The Last Piece will not be ready for the 2004 Hamptons International Film Festival, but a 20-minute trailer will be available upon request.