What We Can and Cannot Do
No one person speaks for all Indigenous people but there are political, legal, cultural and other types of national organizations who have issued general statements with the input from many tribal nations or within their own group. Some of these include: The Native American Rights Fund, individual tribal governments, The National Congress of American Indians, The National Indian Education Association, and many others. Sho-Kee makes it a point to be familiar with the many organizations speaking on behalf of Indigenous peoples today.
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• Point out cultural mistakes and weaknesses in your production, direction, script, location, manuscript, etc. (a.k.a. product)
• Draw your attention to myths and fallacies, racist remarks and sayings, tropes and mischaracterizations of Native Americans and other Indigene
• Guide through a process of correction utilizing the correct language, lands, general customs
• Give you recent data and research on various aspects of Indigenous cultures
• Connect you with, or connect on your behalf, the proper entity you need to seek, like a tribal cultural director, the traditional community, etc. relevant to your project
• Instruct you on proper protocols for your connection, make the connections on your behalf, or approach them together
• Give you generalized advice on how to show respect when referencing various pan-Indigenous cultures and cultural attributes such as urban, reservation, Pow Wow, sweat lodge, Island, humor, family, values, spirituality, etc.
• Make suggestions as to how your product might be tweaked in order to show how Indigenous people can have agency and empowerment in your approach
• Show you how to bring Indigenous people’s issues to light without detracting from your story
• Assist you in choosing Indigenous creatives such as writers, directors, and actors
• Draw the line between what we are able to give you and what must be obtained elsewhere, including where to get proper permissions
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• Speak for all Native/Indigenous/Pacific Island people or for any specific group or nation. Only those elected by their governance to speak for them have those permissions
• Tell you something is okay when it is not. We maintain the highest levels of integrity and respect for Indigenous cultures and traditions in our approach
• Accept projects that contain any sacred ceremony to be described, portrayed, or filmed without the proper permissions
Note: We do not handle sacred items without proper permissions