Telluride's five-star Library presents "Navajo Boy," 1/10/2011

07 Jan Telluride's five-star Library presents "Navajo Boy," 1/10/2011

[click “Play”, Susan speaks with producer and director, Jeff Spitz]

kicker: “Like a finely made rug, The Return of Navajo Boy contains multiple layers of color, construction, and meaning…. A must-see.” Native Peoples Magazine

On December 6,  Dr. Doug Brugge, a guest of the Advocacy Coalition of Telluride, the Town of Telluride, the Pinhead Institute and the Telluride School District, spoke to an audience at The Palm about the environmental and health consequences of mining, milling and processing of uranium ore.

Dr Brugge, a Harvard PhD, grew up on the Navajo reservation. His wide-ranging expertise in public heath includes the subject of the of uranium mining and processing on Native Americans. In 2007, Brugge testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on uranium contamination in the Navajo Nation, whose chairman, Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) became an advocate for the tribe because of one powerful documentary and its powerful new epilogue produced one year later in 2008: “The Return of Navajo Boy.”

“The Return of Navajo Boy” is the featured presentation January 10, 6 p.m., Program Room, the Wilkinson Public Library. Producer/director Jeff Spitz is on hand for the screening.

“The Return of Navajo Boy,” an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival and PBS, chronicles the extraordinary saga of how the rediscovered 1950s silent film reel leads to the return of a long-lost brother to his Navajo family, the Clys. Since the 1930s, the Clys appeared as subjects in countless photographs, postcards, and Hollywood westerns, a home movie by legendary director John Ford, even a propaganda film by a uranium mining company. They are also first-hand witnesses to the injurious effects of uranium mining on their health and culture.

To learn more, click the “play” button and listen to what Jeff Spitz has to say about “The Return of Navajo Boy” and the work of his Groundswell Educational Films.