We met a lot of Native people and we learned about their culture and how they aren’t that much different than other people.  They’re just more in tune with their history and ancestry. They even had their own museum!

I fell in love with the native music and how the kids seemed to know all of the songs and dances to go along with them. I learned that they don’t really call themselves “Indians” but Native, which I think, sounds more proper seeing as they aren’t actual Indians in the first place. 

The best part was working with my team and getting to know them in 36 hours. We had a director, co-director (me), camera operator (me),actors, and our awesome mentors who told us everything we needed to know to make our video as amazing as it was.

We made a music video called “Self-Discovery.” We used native hip hop and tribal music as well, which we shot all day and edited until6am…there was a LOT of coffee involved in our road to “self discovery” most of which did not help us stay up at all. Some of us fell asleep on the floor,on the stairs, and one of my teammates had fallen asleep in the bathroom!

All in all, I had a great time in Seattle on the Squaxin Island Reservation and I hope we get to go back next year!

I was so happy that I was able to go to the Seattle International Film Festival. When I was there, I had many expectations that were honestly stereotypical. Since it was an Indian reservation, I expected tepees, feathers and bond fires, but it was so much different. I learned how the Native Americans keep their culture regardless of time and regardless of where they are born. They stick together and don't forget where they come from. The filming aspect of it was great. I had the opportunity to work with an awesome crew. My crew sat down and first came up with the group name. Then we read through the script and picked roles. As we picked roles we discovered our talents. We had a director, editor, sound engineer (me), and everything else needed to create an awesome film. We had a great shoot and were the only ones able to actually use the canoe to to travel to the island. The editing was cool since we stayed up until 6 AM to edit and we all laughed a lot and got delirious, but in the end the work was right and the product was finished. It was a hard but very great 36 hour experience and I enjoyed every bit of it. I didn't even mention the flights yet. This was my first plane riding experience as well so it was scary but I enjoyed all of it, minus getting struck by lightning on the way to Utah!

-Douglas Moffatt, Jr., MVP Youth Producer