Taaw animation featured on new Naikoon Park webpage

Naikoon Park has built a new interactive webpage full of hidden features. And, they include a link to the Taaw story at the blowhole site. Take a look for yourself and see if you can uncover the Taaw story!

Haida Raid 3 wins Best Music Video at ImagiNATIVE

Happy to report that Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters won Best Aboriginal Music Video at the 2014 ImagiNATIVE Film Festival. We've had a lot of challenges with this production, including working with limited funds, limited time, and dealing with a hard drive crash that lost us a lot of footage. Kudos to director Amanda Strong for pulling together what we had to make a winning video!

Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters premieres at ImagiNATIVE

We premiered Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters yesterday at the ImagiNATIVE Film Festival in Toronto. The animation was screened with a series of documentaries on water. Amanda Strong and I were both in attendance and we did a short Q & A at the end of the session. HR3 was well received and it was a nice contrast to the documentaries. Amanda has a few more small tweaks to do in post production and I expect we'll be uploading the completed animation some time soon. We are also exploring the possibility of having the animation broadcast on television.

I am pleased to announce that we've just released the Nuu (Octopus) story online today (as it happens, the day after Indigenous Peoples Day). Nuu was a real labour of love and I am thankful to my many collaborators for their help in bringing the project to completion. I'd like to say a special Haw'aa to Jaalen and Gwaai Edenshaw, Danny Dee, and Shannon Reynolds for their respective roles in the production. Nuu won an honourable mention at last year's ImagiNATIVE Film Festival. This year, we will be premiering Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters at ImagiNATIVE on Oct. 24th.

In the meantime, please sit down and relax and watch the Nuu (Octopus) story. And, if you are a Haida language learner, you may want to watch the version with Xaad Kil subtitles. Enjoy!

We are pleased to announce that Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters will be premiering at the 2014 ImagiNATIVE Film Festival on Friday Oct. 24th at 12:30 pm in Toronto. We will upload HR3 to the Haidawood YouTube channel shortly after the premiere. Haw'aa for your patience!

It's taken longer than anticipated to bring Haida Raid 3 to closure. The Indiegogo campaign was more work that any of us expected. And, during the first production shoot in June we had a hard drive fail and lost some scenes. In the end, we had to ship many of the sets and puppets from Masset down to Vancouver to complete the shooting. This is our first time working with Metis director Amanda Strong, aka, Spotted Fawn. I have been impressed with her perseverance, in spite of the obstacles the production has faced. I am looking forward to being in Toronto for the big day!

Welcome to Waterloo

After 3.5 years living on Haida Gwaii, I have now moved back to Waterloo Ontario, to be closer to my aging parents. And, I've brought my partner, the lady Shannon, and 2 young boys, Journey and Phoenix, with me.

Today I just registered to attend the 2014 ImagiNATIVE Film Festival in Toronto in October. I am excited to be going. I am interested in using the Haidawood methodology with indigenous communities here in Ontario. And, I am also exploring ways to connect with Waterloo's community of intellectuals and entrepreneurs. 

Haidawood at IACCP meeting in Reims France

I am here in Reims France, where the International Association for Cross Cultural Psychology (IACCP) meeting has just wrapped up. I've been coming to these meetings for years now with my mum, Dr. Josephine Naidoo. My mum is now professor emeritus in cross cultural psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. For the past decade, I've been coming with her to IACCP meetings around the globe, mostly to help her carry her bags and help her walk around (it is getting harder and harder for her to walk around). So far, I've gone with her to IACCP meetings in China, Germany, South Africa, and now France.

The IACCP meeting is truly international, with diverse participants from around the world. This year, I met researchers from Russia, China, Japan, India, USA, Australia, Georgia, Columbia, South Africa, Nigeria, to name just a few of the countries represented.

This year, I presented 2 posters. One on Haidawood, shown here, and one on the Health Enrichment through the Arts (HEARTs) project that I conducted with my sister Dr. Michele Leslie, up on Haida Gwaii. I had a lot of interest in both posters, and I am hoping this might lead to new possibilities to enhance Haidawood and/or apply the Community Animation approach to other indigenous communities worldwide.  

36 Hours Left in HR3:SOW Indiegogo Campaign

There are just 36 hours left in the Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters Indiegogo Campaign. So far, we've raised $10,360 in contributions, which gets us to 67% of our goal of $15,555. Although it looks unlikely that we will meet our target, we have raised a substantial portion of the production budget and we've benefited by the fact that many people have made contributions without requesting a perk in return.

We are currently animating Haida Raid 3. You can see pictures on the Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters Facebook Page. I am delighted to be working with filmmaker Amanda Strong, aka Spotted Fawn, who brings a wide range of directing, animating, and production experience. Combine this with the collaboration with music producer and singer Kinnie Starr and you have the makings of a truly remarkable collaboration. A big Haw'aa to filmmaker Helen Haig-Brown who has facilitated the participation of 3 youth with support from Access to Media Education Society (AMES).

Our plan is to animated Haida Raid 3 over the next 5 days of intense shooting, before Amanda has to return to Vancouver. Wish us luck!

Production of Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters begins

The Haida Raid 3 Indiegogo continues to move along. So far we are at 45% of our goal with 13 more days to go. We've posted pictures of the bronze cast perks and have started to reach out to allied organizations re: possible sponsorship. I've also fine-tuned the Haidawood channel and added a clickable link to Haida Gwaii CoASt website in the Haida Raid 2 YouTube video.

Alida Kinnie Starr has come on board to do the musical production for HR3 featuring her song/anthem "Who Will Save Our Waters?" Haw'aa to Alida for this video endorsement...




If you want to stay posted on the progress of our campaign, then please LIKE and SHARE the Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters Facebook Page. 

The Haidawood studio is set-up in Masset, and I expect we'll start making sets once we finalize the storyboard this weekend. Come and join us at the studio if you are interested in making sets and pushing puppets! We'll be there until the end of May.

HR3 Update: 1 week into Indiegogo campaign

We are just over one week into the "Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters" Indiegogo campaign. So far, we've raised $3,355 from 43 different contributors. I am happy to announce that veteran hip hop star and Mohawk activist Alida Kinnie Starr has officially joined the project. Her song "Water" will be featured in HR3, and she will be doing the musical production for the animation. There's also a write-up in this week's QCI Observer. You can read the article here. Please help us get the word out about this project, make a donation, and help us make "Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters" a reality!

Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters

Today we launched our Indiegogo campaign to raise $15,555 to make Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters. It took a lot of work and coordination to pull the campaign together, and it will be running until May 15th. Please do take a look, donate, and share. We've come up with lots of great perks to make it fun and rewarding to contribute. Please check out our campaign page!

Haidawood featured in Langscape

I am delighted to report that Haidawood is featured in the latest issue of Langscape, Terralingua's biocultural diversity magazine (issue 13 volume 2). The article includes a full videography of the Haidawood animations, including links to short trailers for the new Taaw and Nuu animations. You can download a free pdf of the magazine online.

ImgaiNATIVE and more

Haidawood's Nuu story was featured in the 2013 ImagiNATIVE Youth Shorts Program. Haaw'a to everyone who attended the screening. As a result, we've just gotten an invitation to show Nuu and other Haidawood stories at the REELKids Film Festival in Peterborough.

In other news, Taaw (the Tow Hill story) was shown at Montreal's 2013 First People's Film Festival. And the Nuu story is also being featured in the Pushing Boundaries exhibit at the CityScape Community Art Space in North Vancouver.

I am on Salt Spring Island right now with JJ and Shannon. I've arranged to screen the new Haidawood animations at the Salt Spring Island Public Library. If you are on Salt Spring, then please come and learn what Haidawood is all about!

Heading to Vancouver and Victoria

Dr. Ken and his family will be heading down from Haida Gwaii to Vancouver and Victoria at the end of June. If you want to connect with him, buy a Haidawood DVD, or learn more about the project, please to contact him at dr.ken@makeyourownfun.org.

Thanks but No Tanks now open!

I was at the opening of Thanks but No Tanks art exhibit on Friday night. The show is playing at the Haida Heritage Centre all summer, and it includes Haida Raid 2, as well as a display of the puppets and set and the Stephen Harper puppet head. If you are in Skidegate, then be sure and check it out!

On my way to White River Indie Films

I'm just in New York City right now, visiting my sister, who lives in Harlem in NYC. Tomorrow I'll be taking the train up to White River Junction Vermont for the US premiere of the Nuu (Octopus) story at White River Indie Films. I am looking forward to seeing my old friends in the Upper Valley, and sharing my latest animation with them. It'll be good to get their perspective on Haidawood.

Haida Raid 2 in Thanks but No Tanks

Puppets from Haida Raid 2, including the giant Stephen Harper head, will be featured in the upcoming "Thanks but No Tanks" exhibit this summer at the Haida Gwaii Museum in Skidegate. If you are on-island, then be sure and come and check it out!

Haidawood Screening in Prince Rupert

Plans are underway to screen the latest Haidawood movies in Prince Rupert, at the NWCC campus there. We are coordinating with Prof. Judy Thompson who teaches FSNT 120: First Nations Language Revitalization. Please come to the Multi-purpose room at the NWCC on Tuesday March 26th, to see the latest movies and also learn about a diversity of approaches to First Nations language revitalization!

Haidawood DVD: Our Stories Animated

This past weekend we premiered the new Haidawood movies, including Haida Raid 2, and the Nuu (Octopus) story as told by the recently passed Sk'ad'ada Leeyga, Tsinni Stephen Brown; and Taaw, the Tow Hill Story. The movies were well received in both Old Massett and Skidegate this past weekend. Haaw'a to all the festival crew, filmmakers, and audience who helped make the festival a success.

I've also received our first batch of Haidawood DVDs, entitled "Haidawood: Out Stories Animated." They are available for sale, at a retail price of $20 each. Contact me if you want a copy or if you would like to order some wholesale.