The people of the Suquamish Tribe see themselves as people of the water, dependent on the Puget Sound and the animals that thrive in it, but the sound now has one of the highest acidity rates in the nation. Ocean acidification is threatening the lives of the fish and the way of life of the Suquamish people.

Longhouse Media, a Washington State non-profit organization, was launched in January 2005. Our vision was to start an indigenous media arts organization that would nurture the expression and development of Native artists, drawing from traditional and modern forms of storytelling, cultural identity, teaching and inquiry, based in the technologies of today.

Central to Longhouse Media is the belief that young people are the next generation of storytellers and educators and we focus much of our efforts on our nationally acclaimed youth media program ‘Native Lens.’ * Native Lens teaches filmmaking to Native youth as a form of self-expression, inquiry, community development, and cultural pride and preservation. In the last four years the Native Lens program has grown and flourished due to an outpouring of support, and interest from Native youth, community members and tribal leaders. Youth produced work created through Native Lens has not only yielded strong and positive new media, but also increased participants‘ self esteem, worked as a catalyst for community interaction and dialog, and supported youth in the development of life skills and academic success in school. In only almost 7 dynamic years we have worked with more than 1500 Native youth in the Pacific Northwest through partnerships with regional tribes, funding agencies and established non-profits.

For more about Longhouse Media go to: http://www.longhousemedia.org/

Posted by: Matt Remle