Sandra Sunrising Osawa is a

Makah The Makah (; Klallam: ''màq̓áʔa'')Renker, Ann M., and Gunther, Erna (1990). "Makah". In "Northwest Coast", ed. Wayne Suttles. Vol. 7 of '' Handbook of North American Indians'', ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Instit ...

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).

Early life and education

Osawa is a member of the Makah nation of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

state. She grew up in a family of six on the Makah Reservation in summers and Port Angeles, Wa., during the school years. Her father was a commercial fisherman. She studied at

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & C ...

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. After she graduated, she worked on the Makah Reservation as Community Action Director and created her tribe's first Head Start Program. In 1971, she edited The Talking Leaf for the Los Angeles Indian Center as a part of their public information department. She attended film school at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

. And just prior to film school she worked on UCLA's high potential program as an English instructor.

TV work

Osawa directed, wrote, and produced the ''Native American Series'' for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in 1974. The series focused on Native American issues and featured both Native guests, like

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American ( Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these ...

, and non-Native guests who were concerned with Native issues, like Marlon Brando. By 1975, series became very popular and aired before the ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...

''. 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" 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 The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. Osawa also worked with her husband for the Seattle-based KSTW-11 public affairs program, Native Vision. Under a grant from the Washington State Commission for the Humanities, she created the documentary, ''Eagles Caged''. ''Eagles Caged'' focused on the female Native American inmates incarcerated in the women's prison in Purdy, Washington.

Film career

In 1980, she formed Upstream productions with her husband, Yasu Osawa. She met Osawa while at UCLA. 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 Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The film's title refers to the Chippewa

Seven fires prophecy Seven fires prophecy is an Anishinaabe prophecy that marks phases, or epochs, in the life of the people on Turtle Island (North America), Turtle Island, the original name given by the indigenous peoples of the now North American continent. The seve ...

. In 1995, she released ''Pepper's Pow Wow'', a documentary that focused on the life of

Kaw Kaw or KAW may refer to: Mythology * Kaw (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology * Johnny Kaw, mythical settler of Kansas, US * Kaw (character), in ''The Chronicles of Prydain'' People * Kaw people, a Native American tribe Places * Kaw, Fr ...

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsJim Pepper Jim Gilbert Pepper II (June 18, 1941 – February 10, 1992) was a jazz saxophonist, composer and singer of Kaw and Muscogee Creek Native American heritage. He moved to New York City in 1964, where he came to prominence in the late 1960s as a mem ...

. The first part of her film ''Usual and Accustomed Places'' aired at Sundance in 1997. In 1999, she made the documentary ''On and Off the Res with Charlie Hill'' about Oneida comedian

Charlie Hill Charles Allan Hill (July 6, 1951 – December 30, 2013) was one of the first Native Americans in the United States, Native American Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedians, to appear on major television shows such as the Richard Pryor Show, The Ton ...

. Her 2007 film, ''Maria Tallchief'', examined the life of the first Native American ballerina

Maria Tallchief Elizabeth Marie Tallchief ( Osage family name: , Osage script: ; January 24, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American ballerina. She was considered America's first major prima ballerina. She was the first Native American (Osage Nation) to ...

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.

Selected filmography

*''Goin' Back'' (1975, released in 1995) *''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, 2000) *''Maria Tallchief'' (2007) *''Princess Angeline'' (2010)

References

External links

*
Osawa's production company, Upstream ProductionsOsawa's film, Lighting the Seventh Fire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osawa, Sandra Living people First Nations filmmakers Native American filmmakers Native American women writers Native American poets Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native Americans 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American poets American women poets American women documentary filmmakers American documentary filmmakers Makah