BIOGRAPHY

Tiana LaPointe, an Indigenous Documentary Filmmaker and Teaching Artist. She is Sicangu Lakota and was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. In her formative years, Tiana grew up in Puget Sound, Washington State and the San Francisco Bay Area. Her passion for indigenous media arts at an early age In high school led her to name and co-develop, “Through the Eagles Eye” video curriculum. She’s a recipient of the Sundance Institute Knight Fellowship and the Jerome Foundation Travel and Study grant. She is a Co-convener for Mni Ki Wakan: Decade of Water Summit.

Tiana's work is critical to telling a comprehensive story on indigenous water governance. Her documentary short, “Mni Ki Wakan: Water is Sacred” is still a work in progress. It was screened October 2019 in San Fransisco’s American Indian Movement International Film Festival. Her film was also screened Spring 2019 at The Tank in New York City to Indigenous delegations who attended the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She connects story and technology to the powerful images of Mother Earth. She is a American Indian Movement West Delegate.

Alongside her family, Tiana advocates for indigenous human rights through a series of initiatives and at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She has worked with over 500 Indigenous and non indigenous youth creating video shorts on social justice issues, cultural stories, community, and family histories. She has consulted with numerous indigenous people, artists, programs, organizations and foundations such as the Tiwahe Foundation, Migizi Communications, ArtStart, In Progress, American Indian Cancer Foundation, Barbara Schneider Foundation, East Side Arts Council, Mni Ki Wakan and more. As part of the global indigenous community, Tiana is increasingly developing upon media projects with the Innu tribe from the sub-arctic, and Maori relatives from New Zealand.

Artist Statement

My artistic philosophy is tied intrinsically to this history.  I base much of my work in how I prepare and craft an interview.  I spend time to learn about and connect to the people I am representing, and I listen.  I use images of land, and the life connected to that land, as it relates to the story being told.  I work in partnership with the people that are at the center of the story and through this process I have committed myself to interpreting their sacred stories.  I am an artist that strives to show the beauty of our people, the power of our histories, and the injustices faced because of outside interests.

Qualifications

• documentary video production

• oral historian

• public speaking

• K12 school residency work

• workshop instruction K12

• teaching artist

curriculum samples

• The Art of Digital Storytelling - Virtual Lesson

• Digital Storytelling, Activism and Culture - Virtual Lesson

• Through The Eagle’s Eye - Media Arts Curriculum Guide

CONTACT

Email: lapointetiana@gmail.com