Lost Nation: The Ioway

Poster Completed for Ioway Documentary

The poster art for "Lost Nation: The Ioway" is complete and will soon be printed!  Copies are now available for sale and will be shipped within the next two weeks.

These 18" x 24" posters feature Ioway leaders Great Walker (left) and White Cloud as painted by Charles Bird King.  Both wanted their people to survive the great changes that were coming upon them, but they disagreed on how best to achieve that goal.

The posters are $8.00 each including shipping.  Write to us at IowayFilm@aol.com if you want to order more than one.  We will combine shipping.  Proceeds will assist in the completion of the documentary and in costs related to the creation of the DVD version of the film.

Send payment to: Fourth Wall Films, 5202 38th Avenue, Suite 3, PMB #273, Moline, IL 61265

To order via PayPal, CLICK HERE.

Your feedback on the poster, as in all things related to the film, is welcome.

Confessions of a Non-Indian Filmmaker

I enjoyed reading this post by Tim Giago regarding his take on the HBO special "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee."  He speaks to the problem of non-Indian people making films about Indians.  Perhaps more than that, he criticizes the need Hollywood has to fall back on formulas rather than to embrace a fresh approach to story-telling.

We are accutely aware that we are not Native Americans.  However, that does not mean that we are incapable of understanding and communicating the story to a documentary-viewing audience.  As independent filmmakers, we answer only to ourselves during the creative process.  There are no number-crunching studio production executives dictating story changes based on focus groups and demographic targets.  Our films are not created by committee.  Instead, they are created by collaboration with our subjects and with others with expertise in filmmaking, history, anthropology, and other related fields.  There is great freedom in our situation, but also great responsibility.

It's important to remember that we do not regard our film as the end-all account of the Ioway people.  Just one account that can be used as part of a more comprehensive exploration of this topic.  There will still be room for a historical documentary by an Ioway tribal member that expresses a unique Native American viewpoint on the story.  In the meantime, we toil intently toward the completion of "Lost Nation: The Ioway" and hope that most who see our film will enjoy this dramatic and unique Native American story.

Luther College will Feature "Ioway" Documentary

Another showing of "Lost Nation: The Ioway" has been added to our fall schedule.  The film will screen at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa on the afternoon of October 27, 2007 following an open house in the Anthropology department.  Oneota artifacts will be on display.  More details regarding this event will follow soon, and I am working on a master schedule to post on this site that will always contain the latest event information.  Commentary by Luther College's own Colin Betts and Lori Stanley is featured in the new Native American historical documentary.  The showing will be sponsored by the Office of the State Archaeologist (Iowa) as part of their 2007 Archaeology Month schedule in October.