This Is My Grandmother
The city of Rochester, and surrounding suburbs in Monroe County have all been settled on the seized ancestral lands of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (“People of the long house”) made up of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Tuscarora and Seneca Nations. Each nation maintains its own council with Chiefs chosen by the Clan Mother and deals with its own internal affairs but allows the Grand Council to deal with issues affecting the nations within the confederacy. Often described as the oldest, participatory democracy on Earth, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s constitution is believed to be a model for the American Constitution.
Among the Haudenosaunee are groups of people who come together as families called clan. As a matrilineal society, each clan is linked by a common female ancestor with women possessing a leadership role within the clan.*
Moved by the passionate desire to elevate and make visible the people, voices, and stories of our Indigenous communities and inspired by the matrilineal society of the Haudenosaunee, through our project, This is My Grandmother, Our Voices Project creates space to honor Indigenous people, their ancestors, culture, and heritage through intergenerational stories and truth telling and celebrating the resiliency of Indigenous communities, past, present, and future.
This is My Grandmother chronicles the stories of two Indigenous families, one of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and one of the Tuscarora Nation. These stories, told across three generations, cover growing up both on and outside of the reservation; traditions and cultural norms; and the lack of Indigenous history in classrooms.
Want to host a screening?
Fill out the form and we will respond to you to set up a time to discuss your desired screening date, what's included in our screening package, and investment. Please note that the screening is for a portion of our film featuring interviews between the grandmothers and their grandsons (pictured left). We're currently raising money finish the anticipated feature film.
Bring This is My Grandmother: Carol & Bev to a school/university, Boardroom, library, place of worship, community center, and/or theater near you!
Related Panels
Following our screening of This is My Grandmother at Henrietta Public Library in May 2024, our Outreach Facilitator and Co-Producer, Courtney Shouse, interviews 3 local Indigenous women - Trish Corcoran, Angelina Hilton, and Ronnie Pollack, to talk about their relationships with their grandmothers and mothers as well as many of the issues facing Indigenous nations and how both past and present are intertwined.
We had the pleasure of screening “This Is My Grandmother: Bev & Carol,” with Cornell University's American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program. Our talkback focused on the parallels in the history of genocide of Indigenous Peoples on Turtle Island and Palestine featuring Trish Corcoran, Tonawanda Onödowága, Bear Clan, and Muna Taha, first generation Palestinian social justice activist.
PRODUCER
Courtney Shouse
DIRECTOR
Jackie McGriff
STARRING
Carol Cathy
Jonnie Cathy
Karen Cathy
Catherine Shutt
Chris Shutt
Beverly Skinner
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Deborah Alvarez
EDITORS
Deborah Alvarez
Jackie McGriff
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Catherine Shutt
Kevin Cathy
Shot on location in Irondequoit, NY