Sandra Osawa
Sandra "Sandy" Sunrising Osawa is a Makah filmmaker and poet. She is best known for her films Lighting the Seventh Fire (1995) and On and Off the Res with Charlie Hill (1999).
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Early life and education
Osawa is a member of the Makah nation of Washington state.[1][2] She grew up in a family of eight on a Makah Reservation; her father was a commercial fisherman.[3] She studied at Lewis & Clark College where she got her B.A. in both Political Science and English in 1964. She studied with the poets William Stafford and Vern Rutsala while at Lewis & Clark.[2] After she graduated, she worked on the Makah Housing authority as well as establishing a Head Start and Community Action Program for her tribe. In 1972, she moved to Los Angeles to work with the Los Angeles Indian Center as a part of their public information department. She was also an editor of Talking Leaf, the organization's newsletter.[3] She attended film school at UCLA.[4]
TV work
Osawa directed, wrote, and produced the Native American Series for NBC in 1974. The series focused on Native American issues[5] and featured both Native guests, like Buffy Sainte-Marie, and non-Native guests who were concerned with Native issues, like Marlon Brando.[6] By 1975, series became very popular and aired before the Today Show.[5] Despite the fact that the series would air at 6:30 AM, it still had a following; Osawa would receive letters asking that the program be played at a "decent hour"[6] She was the first Native American to produce a TV series for NBC. She also was the first Native filmmaker to produce a POV program with PBS.[7]
Film career
In 1980, she formed Upstream productions with her husband, Yasu Osawa.[7] She met Osawa while at UCLA.[2] Her first documentary, In the Heart of Big Mountain focuses on Kathrine Smith, a Navajo matriarch and the relocation of her tribe. She worked on The Eight Fire for NBC which examined treaty rights in three different parts of the U.S. She then, worked on her film Lighting the Seventh Fire, a film about Chippewa spearfishing rights in Wisconsin.[8] The film's title refers to the Chippewa Seven fires prophecy.[9] In 1995, she released Pepper's Pow Wow, a documentary that focused on the life of Kaw-Muscogee jazz saxophonist Jim Pepper. The first part of her film Usual and Accustomed Places aired at Sundance in 1997.[10] In 1999, she made the documentary On and Off the Res with Charlie Hill about Oneida comedian Charlie Hill.[11] Her 2007 film, Maria Tallchief, examined the life of the first Native American ballerina Maria Tallchief.[8]
Awards
Osawa has received many awards for her work including best documentary in 1994 for Lighting the Seventh Fire at the American Indian Film Festival and the Taos American Indian Filmmaker of the Year in 1996.[7]
Selected filmography
- Goin' Back (1975, released in 1995[10])
- In the Heart of Big Mountain (1988)
- Lighting the Seventh Fire (1995)
- Pepper's Pow Wow (1996)
- On and Off the Res with Charlie Hill (1999)
- Usual and Accustomed Places (Part 1 1997,[10] 2000)
- Maria Tallchief (2007)
- Princess Angeline (2010)
References
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External links
- Sandra Osawa at the Internet Movie Database
- Works by or about Sandra Osawa in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Osawa's production company, Upstream Productions
- Osawa's film, Lighting the Seventh Fire
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