Sandra Osawa

'''Sandra Sunrising Osawa''' is a Makah filmmaker and poet. She is best known for her films ''Lighting the Seventh Fire'' (1995) and ''On and Off the Res with Charlie Hill'' (1999).

==Early life and education== Osawa is a member of the Makah nation of Washington state.<ref name="voice">{{cite book|last1=Seelye|first1=James E.|last2=Littleton|first2=Steven A.|title=Voices of the American Indian Experience, Volume 1|date=2013|publisher=Greenwood|location=Santa Barbara, CA|isbn=978-0313381164|page=599|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fh5GIAo2FJ8C&pg=PA599|accessdate=12 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="landc">{{cite web|title=Upstream Productions: Real Native American Stories|url=http://legacy.lclark.edu/dept/chron/upstreams08.html|website=Lewis and Clark College|accessdate=12 February 2016}}</ref> She grew up in a family of six on the Makah Reservation in summers and Port Angeles, Wa., during the school years. Her father was a commercial fisherman.<ref name="rose">{{cite book|last1=Rosenthal|first1=Nicholas|title=Reimagining Indian country : native American migration & identity in twentieth-century Los Angeles|date=2012|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill|isbn=9780807869994|page=98}}</ref> She studied at Lewis & Clark College where she got her B.A. in both Political Science and English in 1964. She studied with the poets William Stafford and Vern Rutsala while at Lewis & Clark.<ref name=landc /> After she graduated, she worked on the Makah Reservation as Community Action Director and created her tribe's first Head Start Program. In 1971, she edited The Talking Leaf for the Los Angeles Indian Center as a part of their public information department. She attended film school at University of California, Los Angeles. And just prior to film school she worked on UCLA's high potential program as an English instructor.

==TV work== Osawa directed, wrote, and produced the ''Native American Series'' for NBC in 1974. The series focused on Native American issues<ref name="tv">{{cite book|last1=Tahmahkera|first1=Dustin|title=Tribal Television: Viewing Native People in Sitcoms|date=2014|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill|isbn=9781469618692|page=86|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ewuSBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA86|accessdate=12 February 2016}}</ref> and featured both Native guests, like Buffy Sainte-Marie, and non-Native guests who were concerned with Native issues, like Marlon Brando.<ref name="singer1">{{cite book|last1=Singer|first1=Beverly|title=Wiping the War Paint Off the Lens|url=https://archive.org/details/wipingwarpaintof00sing|url-access=limited|date=2001|publisher=University of Minnesota|location=Minneapolis|isbn=9780816631605|pages=[https://archive.org/details/wipingwarpaintof00sing/page/n52 36]–38}}</ref> By 1975, series became popular and aired before the ''Today Show''.<ref name=tv /> Despite the fact that the series would air at 6:30 AM, it still had a following; Osawa would receive letters asking that the program be played at a "decent hour"<ref name=singer1 /> She was the first Native American to produce a TV series for NBC. She also was the first Native filmmaker to produce a ''POV'' program with PBS.<ref name="pop">{{cite book|last1=Hoffman|first1=Elizabeth|title=American Indians and Popular Culture: Media, sports, and politics|date=2012|publisher=Praeger|location=Santa Barbara, CA|isbn=9780313379901|pages=90–92|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v_9w4eXZNg4C&pg=PA90|accessdate=12 February 2016}}</ref> Osawa also worked with her husband for the Seattle-based KSTW-11 public affairs program, Native Vision. Under a grant from the Washington State Commission for the Humanities, she created the documentary, ''Eagles Caged''. ''Eagles Caged'' focused on the female Native American inmates incarcerated in the women's prison in Purdy, Washington.

==Film career== In 1980, she formed Upstream productions with her husband, Yasu Osawa.<ref name=pop /> She met Osawa while at UCLA.<ref name=landc /> Her first documentary, ''In the Heart of Big Mountain'' focuses on Kathrine Smith, a Navajo matriarch and the relocation of her tribe. She worked on ''The Eight Fire'' for NBC which examined treaty rights in three different parts of the U.S. She then, worked on her film ''Lighting the Seventh Fire'', a film about Chippewa spearfishing rights in Wisconsin.<ref name="up">{{cite book|last1=Osawa|first1=Saza |editor1-last=Buffalohead|editor1-first=Eric|editor2-last=Marubbio|editor2-first=M Elise|title=Native Americans on Film|date=2012|publisher=University of Kentucky|location=Lexington, KY|isbn=9780813136813|pages=303–321|chapter=An Upstream Journey: An Interview with Sandra Osawa}}</ref> The film's title refers to the Chippewa Seven fires prophecy.<ref name="singer2">{{cite book|last1=Singer|first1=Beverly|title=Wiping the War Paint Off the Lens|url=https://archive.org/details/wipingwarpaintof00sing|url-access=limited|date=2001|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|location=Minneapolis|isbn=9780816631605|page=[https://archive.org/details/wipingwarpaintof00sing/page/n83 67]}}</ref> In 1995, she released ''Pepper's Pow Wow'', a documentary that focused on the life of Kaw-Muscogee jazz saxophonist Jim Pepper. The first part of her film ''Usual and Accustomed Places'' aired at Sundance in 1997.<ref name="abbott">{{cite journal|last1=Abbott|first1=Lawrence|title=Interview: Sandy Osawa|journal=American Indian Quarterly|date=1998|volume=22|issue=1/2|pages=104–115 |jstor=1185111}}</ref> In 1999, she made the documentary ''On and Off the Res with Charlie Hill'' about Oneida comedian Charlie Hill.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web|last1=Blair|first1=Elizabeth|title=Native American Comic Living The 'Indigenous Dream'|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/06/21/155116734/native-american-comic-living-the-indigenous-dream|website=NPR|accessdate=13 February 2016}}</ref> Her 2007 film, ''Maria Tallchief'', examined the life of the first Native American ballerina Maria Tallchief.<ref name=up />

==Awards== Osawa has received many awards for her work including best documentary in 1994 for ''Lighting the Seventh Fire'' at the American Indian Film Festival and the Taos American Indian Filmmaker of the Year in 1996.<ref name=pop />

==Selected filmography== *''Goin' Back'' (1975, released in 1995<ref name= abbott />) *''In the Heart of Big Mountain'' (1988) *''Lighting the Seventh Fire'' (1995) *''Pepper's Pow Wow'' (1996) *''On and Off the Res with Charlie Hill'' (1999) *''Usual and Accustomed Places'' (Part 1 1997,<ref name=abbott /> 2000) *''Maria Tallchief'' (2007) *''Princess Angeline'' (2010)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=nm0651531}} *[http://upstreamvideos.com/ Osawa's production company, Upstream Productions] *[https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/lightingthe7thfire/ Osawa's film, Lighting the Seventh Fire]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osawa, Sandra}} Category:Living people Category:First Nations filmmakers Category:Native American filmmakers Category:20th-century Native American women writers Category:20th-century Native American writers Category:Native American poets Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:20th-century American artists Category:20th-century American women artists Category:20th-century Native American artists Category:21st-century Native American women writers Category:21st-century American writers Category:21st-century Native American writers Category:21st-century American poets Category:American women documentary filmmakers Category:American documentary filmmakers Category:Makah Category:21st-century American women poets