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Missed out on your chance to contribute to Tailings? Don't worry! Visit our website at www.tailingsmovie.com to check on our progress, donate, or learn more about the project.
UPDATE: We're getting close to the end! Tailings is well on the way to our stretch goal of $7000, which will allow us to film in towns affected by hydro projects in Quebec. Chisasibi and other James Bay communities are perhaps the best example of major industry in Canada's north. Quebec's great rivers and northern communities have been fundamentally altered by road access, environmental changes and economic development. Help us get to Quebec to figure out what we can learn from Hydro Quebec and the James Bay Agreement.
UPDATE: With 14 days to spare, we've reached our goal! This gives us an exciting opportunity. Michael Hunt of Pennsylvania's Watershed Visions has joined the team. With his help, we can extend the project's mission to include Northern Quebec and the James Bay hydroelectric projects. We're hoping to raise just under 2000 additional dollars to get us there. Keep up the good work everyone, and keep sharing the project!
I was young when I first visited Neskantaga First Nation, a small community in the Northwoods of Ontario. We stopped by on a six-week canoe trip to the Hudson Bay. We bought some food. The kids made fun of us. We lost a hockey game. We left.
I didn’t think about Neskantaga again until the spring of 2013. By that time I had become aware of the Ring Of Fire, a massive (yet currently speculative) mineral development in the heart of the Hudson Lowlands. I was distraught that anyone could even consider mining such “virgin” territory.
I decided to visit Neskantaga once more, but this time with the goal of researching the quality-of-life impacts that the Ring of Fire would have on the community. I expected the results, and local opinions, to be overwhelmingly negative. I wanted an anti-industry hill to die upon.
But that isn’t what I found. I quickly became aware that Neskantaga was struggling. While some opposed the mine, other community members believed that a healthy relationship with extractive industry could be a much needed economic remedy in a time of crisis, providing community members with access to health care, clean water, and better educational facilities.
Coming away with a debilitating dose of perspective, I decided to investigate: Is it truly possible to have a native community, a mega-mine, and an intact wilderness coexist?
-Atty Phleger
The context
As isolated as they may seem, these communities aren’t making their decisions in a vacuum. There is a valuable contemporary and historical record of Indigenous communities dealing with extractive industry, and that’s what we’re going to explore:
Where have mines helped communities, and where have they driven them into deeper levels of poverty?
How can we ensure that mining doesn’t bankrupt the land, poison the water, and damage local health?
How can we find common ground and compromise between these disparate interests?
Watch Patty Limerick, Director of the Center of the American West, talk about moments of grace, intermediaries, the role of humor in conflict, and how discontent starts with “disco”. (It's all brilliant)
We are creating a feature-length documentary exploring the complex relationship that mining has with native peoples and the environment. With the $5000 that we hope to raise through our campaign, we’ll be traveling to mining operations, native communities and remediation sites throughout North America.
Why film?
Trying to represent native peoples, or any interest group, presents some challenges. People are often skeptical of being portrayed in media, but the film format can help mitigate some of these problems. By using film rather than transcribing audio, we can more faithfully represent our subject’s ideas and values. Film allows our subjects to provide their own physical image, and keeps us accountable by making it clear where we are cutting between images and taking quotations out of context.
In addition, Film is a more enduring medium than online articles. While the stories are compelling in their own right, the event of watching a feature-length movie adds more clout to the message as a whole. We can make rhetorical moves that would just not be possible without the extended format offered by film.
Finally, the landscapes that stage these conflicts are beautiful in a way that articles, which focus primarily on socio-political issues, just can’t capture. We believe that images of Flathead Lake, the North Woods, or southern Colorado will stay in our viewer’s collective imagination for a long time.
Locations
Travel is our primary expense, but mining is common and the industry has bumped heads with indigenous communities throughout the western United States. There are even instances near our home in Colorado, and nearby in Montana. Our filming of US case studies will focus on these two states:
Montana:
Mineral Developments in Montana defy wholesale categorization. They cannot be definitively described as either a restorative successes or ecological disasters, as a boon to local communities or a danger. This dichotomy provides a reflective backdrop for mining across the continent. Our filming in Montana will focus on two examples:
Flathead Reservation: Butte, the Clark Fork, and the repair and restoration of the Jocko River.
Zortman-Landusky Mine: This bankrupt gold mine is a study in reclamation.
Colorado:
By some accounts, the Southern Ute are the most successful tribe in the country. By others, this tribe still has deep-seated problems. Red Willow Production, a tribal-owned mining and drilling company, sits at the center of the conversation. Red Willow production has attracted intense scrutiny, controversy, and economic prosperity. We intend to examine ways in which this new-found wealth has affected Southern Ute culture and daily life.
Additionally, we’d like to return to Ontario, and focus on lessons learned from the current mines in the North Woods. These mines provide the nearest examples to what we are likely to see in the Ring of Fire, both in terms of ecology and social influence.
Musselwhite Mine: Environmental impacts of gold mining, local employment
Victor Diamond Mine:Blockade of the Ice Road, Attawapiskat Crises.
If we exceed our goals, we’ll add the Hydro developments in Quebec. While not hard-rock mining, the James Bay Agreement and associated compensation is of deep political, social and environmental relevance.
We intend to provide a non-partisan, optimistic perspective on the history of Indigenous Communities and Extractive Industry. We want the Ring Of Fire to do the most good for the most people, while still considering the integrity of the land. With an eye on the historical context, Tailings will hopefully provide a vehicle for understanding and compromise.
Who We Are
ATTY
Atty Phleger is a Creative Writing major at the University of Colorado. His studies have a strong focus on indigenous issues, and most of his writing deals with Northern Ontario and the wilderness/civilization dialogue. He was lucky enough to encounter the Center of the American West his first year at CU, which changed the way he viewed contentious issues and paths towards resolution, as well as his overall academic direction.
Atty earns his keep guiding for the CU Outdoor Program and Keewaydin Canoe Camp. A wanderer by nature, Atty is constantly attempting to develop himself into a consummate outdoorsman, philosopher, and global citizen.
His favorite bird (currently) is the White-Throated sparrow.
CADY
Cady Watts is a Senior Environmental Studies major at the UC Santa Cruz in California. Cady is an avid environmentalist, photographer, and aspiring filmmaker with a tendency towards spontaneity, scrupulous planning, and embarrassing enthusiasm towards patching up fellow climbing buddies to practice her EMT skills. She is currently working on a conservation research program backpacking in the Patagonian Andes.
KYLE
Kyle Kallman is an expert canoe-tripper, and a Junior at Colorado College. Kyle can network like a pro and construct a narrative like he’s eating Lasagna. Last summer, Kyle worked casting for Pawn Stars where he learned valuable skills like “No nazi memorabilia”.
Lower level donations will get awesome T-shirts, photos from the shoots, and stickers, as well as copies of the final product
Larger donations will receive a trip of your choice with the team. Come climbing, backpacking or canoe tripping with us, or even join us for a week of filming to experience the critical issues firsthand.
(WE ARE SO MUCH FUN)
When doing primary research in Neskantaga, Atty stayed in a tent and brought most of his food, though that took away a potential opportunity to contribute to the local economy.
Most of our budget will be spent on plane tickets and food, with minor costs associated with equipment. But, having learned our lesson in Neskantaga, we’d like to use facilities owned by community members whenever possible. This adds a bit of expense, but it’s a valuable chance to put our money where our mouths are.
Being a group of young, white students definitely presents certain challenges when trying to make a film about indigenous issues. Some of the communities are wary of having a public image, and particularly wary of that image being created by outsiders.
We want to create a film that embraces the variety of opinions within indigenous communities, without undermining their overall sense of unity. This is a difficult problem to avoid, but recognizing that it exists is a major step to mitigating it. Additionally, we want to avoid being seen as a colonization project. This can be avoided by being deliberate about the image we are setting forth. By being receptive rather than pushy, and listening rather than trying to assert ideas or propagate worldviews, we can help establish our goal as one of distributing knowledge of indigenous issues outwards, rather than trying to impart our own values in the communities.
Our film is intended to foster communication between disparate parties. We believe that if we are forthright, honest and receptive to the issues we face, than our final product will be a reflection of that sensitivity and goodwill.
Help send us on our way! (Please.)
Looking for more information?Check the project
FAQ
Get a 20"x30" poster of a photograph of your choice, from the thousands we'll be taking while filming the documentary
Estimated Shipping
July 2014
2 claimed
Zortman-Landusky
$5 USD
In addition to our undying gratitude, you’ll get a postcard from the shoot and access to updates.
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
0 claimed
Anaconda
$25 USD
You get the final product, the epic documentary Tailings!
9 claimed
Swift Gulch
$25 USD
At this level, you'll receive a super nifty T-shirt with the Tailings Logo and a map of the Ring of Fire.
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
8 claimed
Kerr Dam
$50 USD
You get the T-shirt AND the final product! What a steal!
Estimated Shipping
August 2014
8 claimed
Musselwhite
$100 USD
We’ll teach you a skill over the internet! Ever want to know how to start a fire with a bowdrill, or beautify a campsite with that effortless Kyle style? Learn with us through an online video!
(Also receive a T-shirt and copy of the film)
Estimated Shipping
August 2014
4 claimed
Victor Diamond
$200 USD
Come join us for a climbing trip in Colorado, California or Montana! Whether single-pitch cragging or a multi-pitch adventure, we guarantee you’ll have fun and learn something new.
(You'll also receive a T-shirt and copy of the film)
Estimated Shipping
April 2014
0 claimed
Berkeley Pit
$500 USD
Come backpacking with us! From three days to five (or a weekend, if you prefer.) We’re lots of fun in the backcountry-we promise.
(Plus a T-shirt and film.)
Estimated Shipping
May 2014
0 claimed
McFauld's Lake
$1,000 USD
Come join us on the shoot! Experience the issues firsthand, and explore a new socio-political territory. It’s merely coincidence that all our filming locations have gorgeous landscapes.
PLUS Have a producer credit!
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
0 claimed
Black Thor
$1,500 USD
Come canoe tripping with the team in the Ring of Fire region itself. We'll plan a trip from 1-2 weeks based on your preferences. Experience the North Woods up close and personally.