“Bad River” Screening & Panel

“Bad River,” narrated by Quannah ChasingHorse and Academy-Award nominee Edward Norton; written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Mary Mazzio; and produced by Grant Hill (Owner of the Atlanta Hawks) and Allison Abner (writer for “Narcos,” “West Wing” and descendant of the Stockbridge Munsee Band), is a new documentary film which chronicles the Wisconsin-based Bad River Band and its ongoing fight for sovereignty, a story which unfolds in a groundbreaking way through a series of shocking revelations, devastating losses, and a powerful legacy of defiance and resilience which includes a David vs. Goliath battle to save Lake Superior, the largest freshwater resource in America. As Eldred Corbine, a Bad River Tribal Elder declares: “We gotta protect it… die for it, if we have to.”

Called “a powerful chronicle” by Bill McKibben (writer for The New Yorker), profoundly moving” by film critic Liz Braun, “a 10 out of 10” by film critic Vincent Schilling, and “brilliant” by David Corn of Mother Jones, “Bad River” has already had remarkable impact, launched with a theatrical run in 25 major markets across the country lasting about two months (nearly unheard of for an independent documentary film). “We haven’t seen lines out the door like this since Barbie,” said the manager of the Ashland Bay Cinema in Wisconsin, who also reported that “Bad River” outperformed “Dune,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “Ghostbusters: and “Godzilla” on successive weekends. People also made great effort to see the film on the big screen, flying to nearby states where the film was showing, and driving upwards of six hours to the closest movie theater, all of which speaks to the power of this project. Leonardo DiCaprio posted the film’s trailer, as did Edward Norton, Mark Ruffalo, Jason Momoa, and Channing Tatum.

The film is executive produced by Mato Wayuhi (“Reservation Dogs”), Taylor Hensel (“Reservation Dogs,” “Reciprocity Project”), Victor Lopez-Carmen (former co-chair of the UN’s Indigenous Youth Caucus), Tracy Rector (“Reciprocity Project”), and Alec Sokolow (“Toy Story”), along with Arthur M. Blank, Tamia Hill, MC McCall, Bill Hudson, Bryan White, Chris White, Bill McNabb, Katie McNabb, Bruce Herring, Tricia Herring, Sue Wagner, and Jay Ruderman.

The film is currently streaming on Xfinity and on November 1, 2024, the film will debut on Peacock.

Michelle Johnson-Jennings (Choctaw)

Professor | Director, Environmentally Based Health & Land-based Healing, IWRI

Dr. Johnson-Jennings, a Choctaw tribal member and clinical health psychologist, is a full professor at the University of Washington in the Schools of Social Work and Public Health, and currently serves as the co-Executive Director of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI), as well as the founding director of IWRI’s Indigenous Environmental Health and Land-based Healing Division. She further leads the International arm of the Covid Variant Rapid Response-Networks/ COVARRNET’s l Indigenous Engagement, Development, and Research/CIEDAR Pillar. She has dedicated decades to culturally appropriate behavioral interventions addressing harm and risk reduction, HIV/AIDS prevention, chronic disease prevention, and addictions. Dr. Johnson-Jennings has further developed several, culturally specific frameworks and measures ranging from patient-provider and pain care to Indigenous specific frameworks. In particular, over the past decade, she has pioneered innovative land-based healing interventions, considering the impacts of historical trauma, discrimination, and the environment on healing. Her collaborative research, grounded in community-based participatory methods, has mostly focused on Indigenous women and youth and has partnered with Indigenous communities, tribes, and or organizations in the US, Canada, and New Zealand. While serving as a principal investigator or co-investigator, she has secured over $26 million in funding from major health institutes worldwide. Prior to the UW, Dr. Johnson-Jennings serves as a founding Scientific Director in the US for the RICH Center and in Canada for the Wuniska HIV/AIDS Center and Land-based Healing Center. Throughout her career, she has been recognized as a health leader in gaining prestigious fellowships and awards such as from the National Institute of Health, Harvard Leadership in Higher Education, and Health Equity Leaders Initiative, and US Fulbright Program. She has also mentored and trained Indigenous mentees worldwide. And most importantly, she is a mother to four amazing children.

Clarita Lefthand-Begay, ’08, ’14 (Navajo)

Assistant Professor, Information School; Director, Tribal Water Security Project; Adjunct Assistant Professor, American Indian Studies

Clarita Lefthand-Begay, ’08, ’14, is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and an assistant professor at the University of Washington’s Information School (iSchool). She has a Ph.D. in environmental and occupational health sciences from the University of Washington’s School of Public Health. At the iSchool, her interdisciplinary research focuses on protection of Indigenous knowledge in the United States, tribal water security, climate health and resiliency. Indigenous knowledge systems are foundational to each of her projects. She is currently the director of the Tribal Water Security Project that examines the water insecurity challenges faced by tribes in the United States and around the globe. As a researcher and tribal community member, Clarita supports efforts to strengthen tribal wellbeing while respecting and honoring self-determination and cultural revitalization.

Paul Ward, ’91, ’96, ’11 (Yakama)

Federal Government Relations Director, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

Paul Ward (Yakama) joins CRITFC after spending 22 years working for Yakama Nation Fisheries. Paul attended the University of Washington earning a BA in history, a JD from UW Law School and an Executive Masters of Public Administration from the UW Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. Paul is enrolled Yakama and also a Cherokee descendent. Having grown up on the Yakama Reservation from a young age he is an active hunter for the families and churches of the reservation. Paul has three adult children and his grandson Luke.

Currently Paul participates on two boards, the National Forest Foundation PNW Advisory Board and the Ruckelshaus Center Advisory Board.

Mary Mazzio

Award-winning documentary film director, Olympic athlete

Mary Mazzio, an award-winning documentary film director, Olympic athlete, and former law firm partner, is founder and CEO of 50 Eggs, Inc., an independent film production company dedicated to making socially impactful films. Mazzio’s newest documentary film, “A Most Beautiful Thing,” narrated by Academy Award-winning artist Common, and produced with NBA stars Grant Hill and Dwyane Wade, received a 2021 Gracie Award, was nominated by the NAACP for an Image Award, nominated by the Critics’ Choice Association (for Best Sports Documentary, nominated by the International Press Academy (for Best Documentary), and named one of the best films of 2020 by Esquire. The film was featured on “the Today Show,” and called “amazing” by Richard Roeper of The Chicago Sun-Times; “evocative” by The Los Angeles Times; “poignant” by The New York Times, “an absolute must watch” by Deadspin, and “one of the most important documentaries of this decade” by ChicagoNow. Other press includes The Saturday Evening Post (“The best documentaries lull you into thinking they’re taking you for a nice float on a lazy stream — then abruptly suck you into a chasm of Class 5 rapids that have you holding on for dear life. That’s the kind of ride we get in director Mary Mazzio’s new film…”) and a two-page spread in Sports Illustrated.  A scripted series adapted from “A Most Beautiful Thing” is now in development with Amazon Studios.

Cecilia Gobin, ’11 (Tulalip), Panel Moderator

Conservation Policy Analyst, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

Cecilia Gobin is a Conservation Policy Analyst with the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC). She brings strong expertise in tribal programs, habitat initiatives, tribal treaty rights, and in federal Indian law and policy. Her work focuses on the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Act, Puget Sound salmon recovery and recovery planning, and habitat protection issues that focus on, Salmon, Southern Resident Killer Whales, and other treaty resources and the protection of tribal treaty rights.

Cecilia earned her bachelor’s degrees in American Indian Studies, with a focus on Federal Indian Law and Policy, and a Degree in Anthropology from the University of Washington. She is also a Tulalip Tribal Member and a commercial fisher.