Don’t miss this film showcase celebrating Shelley Niro. The Shelley Niro Film Retrospective will screen three films directed by the Six Nations Kanyen’kehá:ka [Mohawk] artist. In addition, the artist will join the audience for conversation. All taking place at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York City on Saturday, October 7.

All screenings are free; the full schedule is available at americanindian.si.edu/calendar.

The exhibition Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian is the artist’s first major retrospective in the US. It confronts the challenges of being Indigenous and female in the United States and Canada.

Program Schedule

  • 11am | Honey Moccasin (Canada, 1998, 49 min.)
    Tantoo Cardinal (Métis) stars as a ballad-singing sleuth who traces the rivalry between two reservation bars.
  • 1pm | Kissed by Lightning (Canada, 2009, 89 min.)
    Inspired by an ancient Iroquois tale, this story follows a Six Nations Mohawk artist who grieves for her lost husband. In an effort to extinguish haunting memories, she immerses herself in painting. Unexpectedly, an upcoming art exhibition forces her to consider the possibilities of the here and now.
  • 3pm | The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw (Canada, 2019, 96 min.)
    As Mitzi Bearclaw turns 25 years old, she is faced with a tragic decision — stay in the big city to pursue her dream of designing hats or leave her boyfriend and return home to her isolated reserve to help care for her sick mother. Loyal to her family, Mitzi reluctantly returns to Owl Island to find that not much has changed. Her confidence and modern style clash with the sleepy, slow-paced island but is surprised to find comfort in being home and starts to question her destiny.

For more information, visit americanindian.si.edu.

Organized and circulated by the Art Gallery of Hamilton with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and with curatorial support from the National Gallery of Canada. Major support for the project is provided by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Terra Foundation for American Art, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool. This program is funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool.