Native Spirit Foundation was founded by Mapuche leader Freddy Trequil in 2005 to bring knowledge and awareness of Indigenous cultures and longer-term community educational projects supporting Escuela Nueva (New School)

“All the [activists] have come to the conclusion that one objective of making video, radio and television is for the other culture to know us. It is necessary to create a bridge to share our culture in an educational form, without losing our identity.” — Freddy Treuqil

Native Spirit Festival

In 2007 Native Spirit Festival was established to promote Native Filmmakers, talks and performances in UK and Spain (2009-10). In 2018 Native Spirit Taiwan was created. In 2020 Native Spirit established #microIndigenous (films 5mins & under); and started an initiative to celebrate Native American Heritage Month in UK, in collaboration with American Museum & Gardens.

We aim to inspire new possibilities for understanding life, by celebrating the strength and potential of the human spirit.

Strategic Advisors

TERRY J JONES is an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians, located about 50 miles south of Niagara Falls. Terry has a passion for sharing his Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) history and culture through his film works. He strives to find a balance between entertaining and educating his audiences.

Terry’s short films, many co-directed with Indian filmmaker Govind Deecee, have found success on the film festival circuit worldwide. Standouts include “Soup For My Brother” being awarded Best Documentary at the 2016 Liverpool International Film Festival in the United Kingdom as well as “Give and Take” (co-directed with Deecee) winning Emerging Filmmaker at the 2015 LA Skins Fest in Los Angeles. “Scarlett,” a short experimental film (co-directed with Govind Deecee and Akshay Raheja), was produced while studying 35mm film production at the FAMU film school in the Czech Republic, was awarded a Special Mention at the 2016 Arte Non Stop Film Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Jones’ short films have found distribution at the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC) in Toronto; which includes “Soup For My Brother,” “Empire State,” “[untitled & unlabeled],” “Ode to the Nine” and “Gik:skwod.”

Jones’ short films continue to screen at film festivals including the Tampere Film Festival in Finland (2021), Aesthetica Short Film Festival in York, UK (2020) as well Asinabka Film & Media Arts Festival in Ottawa, ON (2020). Terry recently completed the Open Immersion II – Creative Doc VR Lab which was produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and in partnership with the Canadian Film Centre and imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, supported by the Ford Foundation. Previously, Terry served as Vice Chairman/Secretary at American Indian Community House in New York City, as well a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts and he also served as an official selector at the 2011 Native American Film + Video Festival – National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institute) in New York City. http://tornjerseymedia.com

STEPHANIE LAND was born and adopted in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is an Indigiqueer of mixed Inupiaq and White heritage with family originally from Nome and Wales, Alaska. Stephanie is a Musculoskeletal Specialist Physiotherapist for the NHS. She is an active member of her trade union – The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (The CSP) with a passion for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, she is the current chair of the CSP LGBTQIA+ Network. She has also worked in collaboration with the ‘Exeter Chiefs for Change’ which was a campaign against the cultural appropriation of Native American Imagery and Culture. Additionally, in 2021 she attended COP26 in Glasgow as part of the delegation for the Inuit Circumpolar Council. A keen sportswoman who has previously represented Scotland in fencing, Stephanie has recently turned her drive to running and has in the past ran in events to raise awareness and funds for MMIW and Residential School Survivors. She has an interest in Cinema and in particular Indigenous Films. In 2022, she moderated a panel discussion for an Inuit Filmmakers event for Native Spirit Film Festival to celebrate International Inuit Day. In 2024 she was a panellist at Erica Trembley’s Fancy Dance London preview with Native Spirit Festival and Reclaim The Frame.

DREMEDREMAN CURIMUDJUQ Paiwan – Director, Native Spirit Taiwan

SAMWEL NANGIRIA

Maasai – Tanzania
Director NGO-Net and Oltoilo le Maa. Living Cultures Museum initiative

MARCELO ZAIDUNI
Aymará – Bolivia
Traditional Doctor, Yatiri Chamakani. Former Vice Minister of Traditional Medicine & Interculturality. Social communicator and member of the Indigenous chair of the UII of FILAC, Council of Elders

Support Us — Donate now

Please consider making a donation via paypal.me/NativeSpiritUK to help us in promoting Indigenous filmmakers, Media and Artists.

Join Our Team

Native Spirit is the only Independent annual UK festival dedicated to Indigenous Film, Media and Arts with international reach. We’d like more Indigenous Peoples on board, and people experienced in any of the following: development, fundraising, film festival digital marketing (Mailchimp; FB; Instagram; Twitter), tech, admin (gdocs spreadsheets, Excel, Word), webpage development (WordPress, SEO), research, graphic design (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign), video editing (Premiere, Final Cut Pro); Webinars (Zoom/Streamyard/Twitch); a channel manager for our new #microIndigenous showcase (Vimeo), Film Archivist, and Volunteer manager. Strong App skills, File management, Anti-colonial mindset and attention to detail essential.

Contact [email protected] with the subject line: Volunteer