MINNEAPOLIS — "You have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable."
That's one of the things filmmaker Rita Davern said she learned as she worked on her documentary Stories I Didn't Know. The film delves into her family's history of settling on land that belonged to the Dakota people.
Davern's documentary was one of six productions featured in the MNmicro Film Festival in St. Louis Park on Sunday. Hosted by Twin Cities Film Fest, the free event took place in honor of Native American Heritage Month.
"Pike Island has a really amazing Indigenous history that I didn't know," Davern said ahead of her documentary's screening. "And I knew I had no right to tell that story."
That's why Stories I Didn't Know features Ramona Kitto Stately and her son Reuben, who share their family's history in the film.
"We have 12,000 years of living human history of the Dakota right here in the Twin Cities area, and I do tours for people in places of power within the Twin Cities," Stately explained. "Meeting Rita and being able to bring those two things together was really powerful because she comes from a place where people are connected to the land, and the Dakota come from a place where we're connected to the land. So as different as our stories are, they're very similar."
Stately emphasized the importance of accurate historical representation: "We lack a true narrative of American history. When we think about the Indigenous history, the history of civilization, every other country knows that, but not in America. So I really hope that people will say, 'You know what? That's right. We're missing some history that's beforehand. Is that important, and why is that important for people to know?'"
Stately's son Reuben, an artist who was also featured in the film, said it was an honor being a part of the film with his mother. "The generational learning and telling our story as a family is our tradition," he added. "And then storytelling as Dakota people is tradition as well."
The other featured films include The Jingle Dress, The Electric Indian, Without Arrows and The Coyote Way | We Come From The Stars.
The next MNmicro Film Festival is planned for February in honor of Black History Month.
