In this interview, conducted at the Hemispheric Institute's 5th Encuentro, Singer talks about her documentary work as a search for the practices and values that have survived through all the changes in indigenous life and are still in place keeping them connected to one another in a community. She also researches and documents the coping mechanisms that are being put in place by indigenous people to find their place in the world.

Biography

Beverly Singer is a Native American of Tewa and Navajo heritage from Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. She is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose video productions explore the subject of cultural revitalizing in Native American communities. She is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Native American Studies and former director of the Alfonso Ortiz Center for Intercultural Studies at the University of New Mexico. She has previously worked in New York City as public programs specialist with the Museum of the American Indian Film and Video Center, and taught at Parsons School of Design and at California Polytechnic State University. She received her Ph.D. in American studies from the University of New Mexico; M.A. in Administration from University of Chicago; B.A. in Social Welfare/Psychology from the College of Santa Fe; and film training at the Anthropology Film Center in Santa Fe. She is a founding member of the Native American Producers Alliance and author of a book on Native American independent filmmaking, 'Wiping the War Paint Off the Lens: Native American Film and Video'.