by Rachel Hill
Daily Lobo
In 2006, 26 Hopi runners journeyed 2,000 miles from northern Arizona to Mexico City to address world leaders at the World Water Forum.
UNM's Department of Native American Studies is screening "Paatuwaqatsi H2Opi Run to Mexico" at 7:30 p.m. in Anthropology Lecture Hall 163.
The film documents the Hopi runners and the statement they journeyed thousands of miles to make: "Water is life," and Hopi ancestral ties to Mexico are
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important.
The film was directed, shot and edited by Hopi filmmaker and photographer Victor Masayesva Jr. It was produced by a nonprofit organization.
Black Mesa Trust, a nonprofit, produced the film.
It was founded by traditional Hopi farmers and elders to save their aquifer for future generations of Hopi and Navajo children, said Beverly Singer, associate professor of anthropology and master of ceremonies for the screening.
The organization has accomplished its mission but continues to work to protect the aquifer,
Singer said.
The runners' demonstration and the film's screening intends to increase awareness of American Indian culture and environment and the issues and challenges they face, said UNM professor Tiffany Lee, who teaches in the Native American Studies Department.
"It is important for the whole UNM community to go to an event like this because no one knows much about Native American culture beyond tourism promotions," Lee said.
The screening will offer attendees the opportunity to talk with the film's director and two of the runners, Eldon Kalemsa and Ivan Gamble, who will drive down from the Hopi Reservation to share their memories of the experience following the film, Singer said.
"Water is life, and if we don't think about it more often by honoring water as an earth-bearing phenomenon, we will not survive as humankind," she said. "There are two water-related course offerings this semester at UNM, which also tells us something about the significance and importance of water."
