Join Mohawk filmmaker and potter Katsitsionni Fox in a public screening of her most recent work Kanenon:we - Original Seeds. The documentary features three Haudenosaunee women who are stepping back into their sacred responsibility as seed keepers, honoring the work of our ancestors by regenerating and rematriating sacred seeds for future generations, and offering a glimpse into the challenges facing the world related to food security.
With a runtime of 27 minutes, Kanenon:we - Original Seeds carries viewers into the grassroots Indigenous seed sovereignty movement led by Haudenosaunee women. Prior to European contact there was a rich and vibrant diversity of foods, with women primarily responsible for caretaking of the seeds. Genocidal practices including, boarding schools, land theft, forced relocation, imposed religion and even food warfare contributed to a disconnection from our traditional foods and seeds. Indigenous seed keepers are vigilantly protecting the biodiversity of seeds under threat of Agro-Chemical Giants that currently control over sixty percent of seeds worldwide. As these Haudenosaunee women step back into their sacred responsibility as seed keepers they offer a powerful view of what is possible in Indigenous communities working towards food sovereignty.
→ Katsittionni Fox is visiting Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to take part in a series of workshops organised by artist and ceramicist Carla Ruka.
About Katsitsionni Fox
Katsitsionni Fox is Bear Clan from the Mohawk Nation Territory of Akwesasne. She is a practicing artist, educator and filmmaker whose work draws inspiration from Haudenosaunee culture and current realities. Fox received an Associate in Fine Arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM (1989). She received a BA in Studio Arts from SUNY Potsdam (1995) and an MFA in Visual Art from Vermont College at Norwich University in Montpelier, Vermont (2000). Katsitsionni’s work has been exhibited across turtle island for the past 20 years. She is part of a movement to revitalize traditional Haudenosaunee pottery, which was not practiced for centuries. Each piece she creates comes into form with great intention and continued connection to all living things including the clay that comes from our Mother Earth. Her recent pottery work fuses traditional Haudenosaunee pottery techniques with contemporary themes and mixed media.