Press

For Immediate Release

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
303-903-2103

dvasicek@earthlink.net

Project

“Ethnic Studies Library, U. C. Berkley and First Nations University of Canada to Catalog Award-Winning Donald L. Vasicek’s Sand Creek Massacre Film”

Centennial, CO – July 15, 2011 – “The Sand Creek Massacre”, an award-winning documentary film, is to be catalogued in the Ethnic Studies Library, U. C. Berkley and First Nations University of Canada. Already catalogued in Smithsonian Institute Libraries, the Heard Museum in Phoenix, The Billy Baguley Museum in Phoenix, the American Indian Genocide Museum in Houston, and 28 U. S. and Canada Tribal Libraries, the film is an oral history of murder, rape and mutilation of over 400 Cheyennes by the Colorado 1st and 3rd Cavalries on November 29, 1864.

The film was named Best Native American Film at The American Indian Film Festival in Houston. It won the prestigious Golden Drover Award at the Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan, Oklahoma and was named best short film in Cleveland at The Indie Gathering Film Festival. The story of the Sand Creek Massacre is told on camera by Cheyenne and Arapaho people whose ancestors were at Sand Creek during the massacre. Donald L. Vasicek, award-winning writer/filmmaker, who wrote, directed and produced the film via his film company, Olympus Films+, LLC, said, “This film has an educational value that is unparalleled with respect to films of this nature. To hear firsthand what took place at Sand Creek is chilling, riveting, and compelling. It informs and inspires others to learn more about America’s indigenous cultures in order to pave the way for more peaceful relationships.”

The film has been screened at colleges and universities throughout the United States in addition to various Native American organizations and groups. It has also been aired in Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix and screened in over 100 venues in the United States, Europe, Thailand, and Sweden. It is being distributed in North America and Asia by Films Media Group.

Olympus Films+, LLC was founded by Donald L. Vasicek in 1993. It has produced such films as “Faces”, a documentary film about who gays and lesbians really are, and “Oh, The Places You Can Go…”, a documentary film about kids with special needs in transition.

# # #
Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
The Zen of Writing
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103

-“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
-Albert Einstein

For Immediate Release

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
303-903-2103

dvasicek@earthlink.net

Project

“25 U. S. Tribal Libraries To Catalog Award-Winning Donald L. Vasicek’s Sand Creek Massacre Film”

Centennial, CO – June 25, 2011 – “The Sand Creek Massacre”, an award-winning documentary film written, directed and produced by award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek, is being catalogued into 25 U. S. Tribal Libraries.

“The Sand Creek Massacre” won Best Native American Film at The American Indian Film Festival in Houston and the Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan, Oklahoma along with the prestigious Golden Drover Award and best short film in Cleveland at The Indie Gathering Film Festival. The story of the Sand Creek Massacre is told on camera by Cheyenne and Arapaho people whose ancestors were at Sand Creek during the massacre, which resulted in the murder, rapes, and mutilations of over 400 Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the 1st and 3rd Colorado Cavalries on November 29, 1864.

Donald L. Vasicek, award-winning writer/filmmaker, who wrote, directed and produced the film via his film company, Olympus Films+, LLC, said, “This film is vital to inform, to educate, and to create awareness, for not only the Cheyenne and Arapaho people, but for all of the indigenous people in America. By archiving it into tribal libraries, it will expand a badly needed accessibility to all American Indian Tribes in order to neutralize racism and give American youth, at the least, an opportunity to interact with other cultures with open minds. Without that, certain American cultures will continue to erode and eventually die.”

The film has been screened at colleges and universities throughout the United States in addition to various Native American organizations and groups. It has also been aired in Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix and screened in over 100 venues in the United States, Europe, Thailand, and Sweden. It is being distributed in North America and Asia by Films Media Group.

Olympus Films+, LLC was founded by Donald L. Vasicek in 1993. It has produced such films as “Faces”, a documentary film about who gays and lesbians really are, and “Oh, The Places You Can Go…”, a documentary film about kids in transition with special needs.

# # #
Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
The Zen of Writing
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103

For Immediate Release

Smithsonian Institute Libraries

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
303-903-2103

dvasicek@earthlink.net

Project

“Smithsonian Institution Libraries Catalogue Award-Winning Donald L. Vasicek’s Sand Creek Massacre Film”

Centennial, CO – June 10, 2011 2011 – “The Sand Creek Massacre”, an award-winning documentary film written, directed and produced by award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek, has been catalogued into Smithsonian Institution Libraries.

“The Sand Creek Massacre”, an award-winning documentary film, has been catalogued into Smithsonian Institution Libraries. You can find the record if you go to http://www.sil.si.edu/. In the search box type, sand creek massacre. It is on page 3 in the catalog. The film won Best Native American Film at The American Indian Film Festival in Houston and the Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan, Oklahoma and best short film in Cleveland at The Indie Gathering Film Festival. The story of the Sand Creek Massacre is told on camera by Cheyenne and Arapaho people whose ancestors were at Sand Creek during the massacre. Donald L. Vasicek, award-winning writer/filmmaker, who wrote, directed and produced the film via his film company, Olympus Films+, LLC, said, “This film is vital to inform, to educate, and to create awareness, for not only the Cheyenne and Arapaho people, but for all of the indigenous people in America. It helps neutralize ignorance and fear of cultures without the exposure to which most Americans have grown accustomed. It is indeed an honor to have the film in Smithsonian Institution Libraries.”

The film has been screened at colleges and universities throughout the United States in addition to various Native American organizations and groups. It has also been aired in Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix and screened in over 100 venues in the United States, Europe, Thailand, and Sweden. It is being distributed in North America and Asia by Films Media Group.

Olympus Films+, LLC was founded by Donald L. Vasicek in 1993. It has produced such films as “Faces”, a documentary film about who gays and lesbians really are, and “Oh, The Places You Can Go…”, a documentary film about kids with special needs in transition.

# # #
Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
The Zen of Writing
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103


1888PressRelease

“Award-Winning Sand Creek Massacre film to be Screened at Tribal College Librarians Institute”

Centennial, CO – May, May 24, 2011 2011 – “The Sand Creek Massacre\”, an award-winning documentary film written, directed and produced by award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek, will be screened at Montana State University.

“The Sand Creek Massacre”, an award-winning documentary film, will be screened at the Tribal College Librarians Institute on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman, June 6-10, 2011. The film won Best Native American Film at The American Indian Film Festival in Houston and the Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan, Oklahoma and best short film in Cleveland at The Indie Film Festival. The story of the Sand Creek Massacre is told on camera by Cheyenne and Arapaho people whose ancestors were at Sand Creek during the massacre. Donald L. Vasicek, award-winning writer/filmmaker, who wrote, directed and produced the film via his film company, Olympus Films+, LLC, said, “This film is vital to inform, to educate, and to create awareness, for not only the Cheyenne and Arapaho people, but for all of the indigenous people in America. It helps neutralize ignorance and fear of cultures without the exposure to which most Americans have grown accustomed.”

The film has been screened at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in Europe in addition to various Native American and minority rights organizations and groups. It has also been aired in Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. It is being distributed in North America and Asia by Films Media Group.

Olympus Films+, LLC was founded by Donald L. Vasicek in 1993. It has produced such films as “Faces”, a documentary film about who gays and lesbians really are, and “Oh, The Places You Can Go…”, a documentary film about kids with special needs in transition.

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Dance With Life Magazine Underscores Sand Creek Massacre Film”

February 6, 2009 – Centennial, CO – “Dance With Life” magazine, an e-zine that highlights people who have joined the dance with life, highlighted the Sand Creek Massacre and award-winning writer/filmmaker/consultant, Donald L. Vasicek’s award-winning documentary short, “The Sand Creek Massacre”. Tomaca Govan, publisher, says, “It is with great sadness that we post this video. The Sand Creek Massacre was just one incident from the centuries-long genocide of the native peoples in America. And, it continues to this day. We commend Don Vasicek for his work in accurately documenting this historical event and for his work to bring attention to the atrocities that have and continue to face this entire race of people in America.”

Vasicek says, “Ms. Govan and “Dance With Life Magazine” have joined our journey to inform, to educate, and to create awareness for America’s indigenous people. It is with deep gratitude that I thank them.”

Govan, singer, songwriter, entertainer and host to several Internet e-zines including “Dance With Life” magazine, with a production company and music label, says, “We highlight people who have joined the dance with life. They are living and growing. They respect and appreciate the impact their lives have on others. And, there’s somewhat of an understanding of their purpose. We are all vehicles and conduits for something greater than ourselves.”

Vasicek added, “There are those who have confronted me about ‘dragging down’ the Cheyenne and Arapaho people by focusing on what happened to them at Sand Creek. The profundity of perceiving ourselves as vehicles, conduits, or as I say, channels, to help each other out, helps strengthen the link all of us have to each other, a collective consciousness that powers our world. Sit and interview Cheyenne and Arapaho people, go with them to their activities. You will discover that giving them a channel with which to tell their stories is giving them an outlet for the heartbreak they continue to experience over what happened to their ancestors at Sand Creek. After one on camera interview, I gave a Cheyenne man a bag of tobacco and a serape, something the Chief told me I should do, as an expression of gratitude. The man was over six feet tall. He wore a white Stetson. He had a booming voice. He folded the serape and placed it on the floor in front of my feet. He sat the tobacco on the serape. He got down on his knees facing me. He began bowing and singing in Cheyenne. The fine point of this is that he was grateful for the opportunity to relieve himself of his grief by giving us his truth. How do you feel if you are able to tell someone about your grief? This, to me, is helping Cheyenne and Arapaho move forward because it is giving them an opportunity to tell their truth about genocide, a first hand account of genocide, something that they have held back for nearly 145 years. If that’s dragging them down, then so be it. I see the light in each Cheyenne and Arapaho person I have interviewed. That is solace enough for me.”

“Dance With Life” magazine is at http://dancewithlifemagazine.com, Ms. Govan at http://TGovan.com.

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
“Commitment to Professionalism”
Writing/Filmmaking/Consulting
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Award-Winning Writer/Filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek Lauds President Obama”

January 23, 2009 – Centennial, CO – Award-winning writer/filmmaker,
Donald L. Vasicek says, “For the first time since I began
voting for United States presidents, the first being John F. Kennedy,
I have heard a U. S. President regularly mention Native Americans
when he talks about United States minority people”

Vasicek, writer, director, and producer of the award-winning “The
Sand Creek Massacre” and present writer, director, and producer
of “Ghosts of Sand Creek”, a feature documentary film, has been
an advocate of Native American rights for several years. He is
a board member of the American Indian Genocide Museum in
Houston.

Vasicek added, “President Obama’s sensitivity for community
is even more evident when he mentions Native Americans,
a race virtually ignored by former U. S. Presidents. I commend
President Obama for his perception and insight. Many native
reservations in the United States are like Third
World countries, or, is it “developing nations” these days?
Development on U. S. native reservations I have visited
amounts to others continuing their centuries long assault
on native land for its resources. I am giving my total support
to President Obama’s efforts to help dissolve Native
American anonymity in America and bring them to the
forefront for change so that they will be looked upon as
America’s heritage, America’s roots, and America’s proud
people. Anything less is and will globally be an abomination.”

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103

“Award-Winning Writer/Filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek Aligns With ‘Digital Cinema Report’”

November 13, 2008 – Centennial, CO – Award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek has agreed with “Digital Cinema Report” to write a bi-monthly column.
Vasicek, writer, director and producer of “The Sand Creek Massacre”, winner of the prestigious Golden Drover Award and three other best film film festival awards as well as numerous writing awards including the Rocky Mountain Writer’s Guild Writing Award, will focus on writing about writing and filmmaking.

Vasicek said, “It’s an honor to be associated with ‘Digital Cinema Report’. ‘Digital Cinema Report’ is a dynamic and forward-informing publication that keeps everyone involved in the film business from artists to distributors and beyond with
current news that is informative and educational, cutting edge for today’s media technology.”

“Digital Cinema Report” is an online source available 24/7 that provides an in-depth and informed global perspective on all of the incredible business and technology changes that are currently taking place in every phase of the entire moviemaking and exhibition process.

Editor & Publisher Nick Dager of “Digital Cinema Report” is an award-winning journalist who has reported on film and television production for more than twenty years. He was senior editor at “Millimeter” magazine where he chronicled the gradual shift in professional production from film cameras to video cameras, the founding editor of “Post” magazine where he detailed the early days of the transition from linear to non-linear editing, and as the editor of “AV Video Multimedia Producer” magazine, he reported on the increasing importance of dynamic media in the global communications strategies of Fortune 500 companies.

Dager says, “Every phase of the way that movies are made and shown is undergoing a total transformation from analog to digital. We believe that there are no islands in the digital world. It is essential that professionals working in moviemaking have an understanding of and an appreciation for all aspects of the process from acquisition to display.”

More than 30,000 unique visitors read “Digital Cinema Report” every month. They include producers, directors, cinematographers, color correction artists, editors, distribution executives and exhibitors. They are the key industry decision-makers in more than 100 countries around the world. In short they are the people who are leading this historic global transition.

“Digital Cinema Report” is at http://digitalcinemareport.com/.

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
###

Press Release: “Award-Winning Writer/Filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek Launches ‘Ghosts of Sand Creek’

“Award-Winning Sand Creek Massacre Film Archived”

August 27, 2008 — CENTENNIAL, CO — Golden Drover Award
winner for Best Native American Film in the Trail Dance Film
Festival, “The Sand Creek Massacre”, has been archived in
The Billie Jean Baguley Library and in the Heard Museum in
Phoenix.

Award-winning Writer/Filmmaker/Consultant, Donald L. Vasicek,
said, “By having the film archived in these prestigious institutions,
my goal of informing, educating and creating awareness for the
Cheyenne and Arapaho people via their oral histories in the film,
helps all American native people. The Cheyenne and Arapaho
people, vowed, after the Sand Creek Massacre, that they would live
on this earth forever. The film keeps their dream alive regardless
of the genocide that has stalked all American native people from
the inception of European people’s arrival on their lands to the present.
The film is a permanent recording of their ancestors and who they are as
a people.”

Vasicek continues his efforts to record the Cheyenne and Arapaho
history. He has placed, “Ghosts of Sand Creek”, a two-hour, six
episode series, into development. Vasicek said, “Ghosts of Sand
Creek” will dimensionalize the Cheyenne and Arapaho people’s
story. It will show the white man’s continuing invasion of their human
rights.

“I read recently where actor Brad Pitt raised $500,000 for
people in Darfur. He should now raise money for American native
people so that they can also eat. Walk down the main street
in Lame Deer, Montana, on the Northern Cheyenne’s reservation.
Cruise the Northern Arapaho Wind River Reservation in Wyoming.
American natives on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota
need groceries, socks, underwear, shirts, shoes, trousers, fuel to
keep warm, etc. And they have to go across the border into
Nebraska to buy liquor. You will experience, as I have, many times
over, the abject poverty American natives experience. This is
genocide at its finest in all centuries.”

Vasicek said, “America’s native people need America’s help. Be part
of ‘Ghosts of Sand Creek’.” Go to donvasicek.com for details.

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net


Award-Winning Writer/Filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek Launches New Sand Creek Massacre Website

USA (SANEPR.com) May 22, 2008 — Award-winning filmmaker, Donald L. Vasicek, has launched a new Sand Creek Massacre website. Titled, “The Sand Creek Massacre”, the site contains in depth witness accounts of the massacre, the award-winning Sand Creek Massacre trailer for viewing, the award-winning Sand Creek Massacre documentary short for viewing, the story of the Sand Creek Massacre, and a Shop to purchase Sand Creek Massacre DVD’s and lesson plans including the award-winning documentary film/educational DVD.

Vasicek, a board member of The American Indian Genocide Museum (www.aigenom.com)in Houston, Texas, said, “The website was launched to inform, to educate, and to provide educators, historians, students and all others the accessibility to the Sand Creek Massacre story.”

The link/URL to the website is sandcreekmassacre.net.
###

Contact:
Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net


“Sand Creek Massacre film to be used in SAIGE presentation”

USA (SANEPR.com) May 14, 2008 — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 14, 2008 – Centennial, CO – Dr. C. Smiley-Marquez & Co., Ltd., a bilingual (Spanish-English) & Multicultural Services Company, will present a program,
“Historic Trauma: Conflict Intervention & Native Americans”, for the SAIGE
(Society of American Indian Government Employees) on June 4, 2008. The
program will take place at the Grand Traverse Resort in Acme, Michigan. Dr.
Marquez will use the award-winning documentary film, “The Sand Creek
Massacre” in her presentation.

Award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek, the writer/director/producer
of the film, commends Dr. Smiley-Marquez for her work. “Education is a key ingredient for successful application in dealing with traumatic events such as the Sand Creek
Massacre which happened on November 29, 1864 in the Colorado Territory. It is
a remarkable example of how human beings carry the trauma of their ancestors with
them.”

Dr. Smiley-Marquez’s educational program, “It’s All In Your Head! Care and Feeding of Your Brain”, engages participants in assessing their own brain health and provides practical tools for improving, healing and keeping the brain healthy for life. Dr. Smiley-Marquez also provides professional services nationwide and has a psychotherapeutic practice in Boulder County, Colorado. Her web site link is http://www.smileyandcompany.com/allinyourhead.html.

####

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103


“Sand Creek Massacre film aimed to screen at Jackson Hole Film Festival”

USA (SANEPR.com) May 5, 2008 —

“The Sand Creek Massacre”, an award-winning film
as told from the perspective of the Cheyenne and Arapaho people, has been accepted
as an entry in the MovieHatch.com online competition. The top selection will be put into
production of up to $5,000,000 for a film, and a $1,000,000 production budget
for a tv show. There will also be screenings at the Jackson Hole Film Festival for the final
film production June 5-9, 2008.

Award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek, the producer of “The Sand Creek
Massacre”, says this is a wonderful opportunity to help create awareness for all
native people and to share in an educational journey for everyone.”

One simply needs to go to http://moviehatch.com/jackson/, view the film, click on
vote and click on the number of stars you want to give it. That’s all there is to it
and it gives you an opportunity to participate in this compelling film project.

Vasicek added, “If ‘The Sand Creek Massacre’ wins, I will put a feature film
about the Sand Creek Massacre into production and also a mini-series
about the Sand Creek Massacre. Get out there and vote folks and pass
the word along to all others including your kids.”

Sandcreekmassacre.net provides detailed information about the Sand Creek Massacre
including the award-winning six-minute Sand Creek Massacre short film and
a variety of still images, witness accounts, video and commentary about the Sand Creek Massacre.

Olympus Films+, LLC is dedicated to writing and producing quality products that serve
to educate others about the human condition.

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
The Writer/Filmmaker Whisperer
Olympus Films+, LLC
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103
###


“Sand Creek Massacre Film Harvests Another Best Film Award”

USA
(SANEPR.com) January 17, 2008 —
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 16, 2008 — CENTENNIAL, CO — “The Sand Creek Massacre” was awarded
a Golden Drover Award (like an Oscar only a Drover) for Best Native American Film
in the Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan, Oklahoma on the Chisholm Trail on January
13, 2008. The documentary film, also awarded Best Film in The Indie Film Festival and
The American Indian Film Festival, portrays the horrific event from the Cheyenne and
Arapahos’ perspective when more than 400 women, children, mentally- and physically-
challenged people, and elderly were slaughtered by military troops in the southeastern
Colorado Territory in 1864.

Cecil Brewer, a film festival volunteer, said he and his wife really liked “The Sand
Creek Massacre”. He said, “I never heard about this event before.” Although he
enjoyed watching the movie, he said it appeared to him that there was no motive
for the massacre, just cold-blooded murder.”

“The Sand Creek Massacre” was only one of approximately two dozen documentaries
shown over the course of the weekend-long event at the Simmons Center and Chisholm
Trail Heritage Center.

Award-winning writer/filmmaker, Donald L. Vasicek, the director and producer of the film,
said, “As I mentioned to Bill Kurtis (producer of more than 300 hundred documentary
films, many of which have been aired on A&E including “Investigating History”, “Cold
Case Files”, and “American Justice”) during breakfast one morning, I entered the film
in the Trail Dance Film Festival for exposure. I define this kind of exposure to be
exposure of the Sand Creek Massacre and to educate others in order to create a greater
awareness about the Cheyenne and Arapaho people.”

Vasicek, via his film company, Olympus Films+, LLC, is dedicated to writing and producing
quality products that serve to educate others about the human condition.

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
7078 South Fairfax Street
Centennial, CO 80122
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103
###

“Sand Creek Massacre Film Released on Lulu.com”

USA. (SANEPR.com) October 14, 2007 — Centennial, CO (FPRC) October 12, 2007 — Award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek and Olympus Films+, LLC has released their award-winning documentary film completely on Lulu.com, the online marketplace for digital content.

Mr. Vasicek seized the opportunity to utilize the past seven years to write, direct and produce the award-winning documentary short, “The Sand Creek Massacre.”

Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War, comments: “Our group was so impressed with your film that we are now planning a showing of just your film alone-featuring it with a discussion of the event and the powerful impact it has had on the politics of our country-whether we realize it or not.”

Vasicek said, “This film was made to show viewers what happened at Sand Creek and how the Cheyenne and Arapaho people, the victims at Sand Creek, feel about what occurred there. It is not an easy experience for them, even 144 years later, and that should be noted by all Americans. We have some work to do for our native people. Even though we live in a troubled world, how can we be helpful to other countries when we are allowing our native people to suffer as they have been ever since they were decimated in 1849 by the cholera epidemic introduced by migrant Euro-Americans .”

Although the film is titled, “The Sand Creek Massacre”, it is actually about the Cheyenne and Arapaho people, who recite their oral histories regarding the Sand Creek Massacre.
###

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.showbizdata.com/credits/85218/DonVasicek
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103

Lulu.com: Lulu.com is the premier marketplace for digital content on the
Internet, with over 300,000 recently published titles, and more than 4,000 new
titles added each week, created by people in 80 different countries. Lulu is
changing the world of publishing by enabling the creators of books, video,
periodicals, multimedia and other content to publish their work themselves with
complete editorial and copyright control. With Lulu offices in the US, Canada the
UK and Europe, Lulu customers can reach the globe.


Sand Creek Massacre Film To Be Used For Federal Training

Centennial, Colorado, USA. (SANEPR.com) July 6, 2007 — “Sand Creek Massacre Film To Be Used For Federal Training”

Dr. C-Smiley Marquez of Smiley & Co.,
Ltd. a bilingual (Spanish/English) & Multicultural Services company
in Hygiene, Colorado, will present a six-hour training session,
“Historic Trauma: Conflict Intervention & Native Americans”, at the
22nd Annual Federal Dispute Resolution Conference (FDR). Being held
at the Marriott in downtown San Francisco, July 20-August
2, the conference is programmed to provide training for all
professionals working in human resources, labor and employee
relations, EEO/Diversity and legal fields, including supervisors and
executives of the federal government. The FDR crosses disciplines
and proves all the awareness, knowledge and skills necessary to every
facet of employee management.

Dr. Smiley-Marquez will use the award-winning Sand Creek Massacre
documentary written, directed, and produced by Donald L. Vasicek for
her training session. Dr. Marquez, with 22 years experience in
dispute resolution, coaching and counseling, and specializing in
service when diversity issues or discrimination may be factors, said,
“(‘The Sand Creek Massacre’ film)is exactly what I need to illustrate
the topic of Historic Trauma for Native peoples. Dr. Smily-Marquez
has served on the faculty of the American Association for Affirmative
Action Training Center and at the University of Colorado and Northern
Colorado University where she provided courses in early resolution
and Native American contemporary issues and is listed with the Native
Network of the Environmental Conflict Resolution/Morris K. Udall
Foundation Center and teaches conflict resolution skills for federal
managers and supervisors at the Western Management Development Center.

Vasicek said, “To have the film utilized for conflict intervention
training, particularly with respect to Native Americans, helps me
realize part of my goal in producing the film, to create more native
awareness and to show peaceful conflict resolution. So, I am
particularly pleased that Dr. Smiley-Marquez is able to utilize the
film for one of its purposes.”

Dr. Smiley-Marquez’s company, Smiley & Co., Ltd., is 8(a) SDB and MBE/
DBE certified and is listed on the Central Contractor Registration
(ccr.gov) and ORCA. You can see additional information at http://
www.smileyandcompany.com.

A minute and one-half clip of “The Sand Creek Massacre” can be viewed
at http://www.fullduck.com/node/53.

Vasicek’s web site, http://www.donvasicek.com, provides detailed
information about the Sand Creek Massacre including various still
images particularly on the Sand Creek Massacre home page and on the
proposal page.

Olympus Films+, LLC is dedicated to writing and producing quality
products that serve to educate others about the human condition.

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
7078 South Fairfax Street
Centennial, CO 80122
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103

###


“Sand Creek documentary going to Stuttgart, Germany film festival by invitation”

USA(SANEPR.com) June 12, 2007 —

June 10, 2007 — Centennial, CO — “Sand Creek documentary going to Stuttgart, Germany film festival by invitation”

Donald L. Vasicek’s award-winning documentary film, “The Sand Creek Massacre”, has been requested for screening in the INDIANER INUIT: North American Native Film Festival.

Gunter Lange, Artistic Director of INDIANER INUIT: The North American Native Film Festival in Europe located in Stuttgart, Germany, said, “I have heard about your documentary film ‘Sand Creek Massacre’. We’re looking for good and interesting films. Can you send us a copy? ”

Vasicek said, “It’s exciting to experience a dream that occurred over six years, that of giving a voice to our native people. It exhibits the power of the mind and heart. To get this kind of exposure for America’s native people in Europe is more than I could ever had imagined this to be.”

The film has been aired on television in Houston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. It also has been screened at numerous schools, colleges, and universities in addition to several different film forums including New York, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Europe.

Contact information for the film festival is: Phone: 01149-7531-57794 (from the US and Canada). Email: gunterlange@gmx.de. www.mace25.com www.nordamerika-filmfestival.com.

Contact:

Pax
Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103
###

“Sand Creek Massacre film to be screened in Thailand”
23rd May 2007

CENTENNIAL, CO (SANEPR.com) May 23, 2007 — “The Sand Creek Massacre”, a documentary film driven by Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho people’s oral histories, is going to be screened at Kasetsart University in rural Thailand in August 2007.

Award-winning writer/filmmaker, Donald L. Vasicek, the producer of the film, said, Steve Smith, an Australian man, and the teacher of “Advanced Reading” at the university, said he was “with [you”> in terms of the significance of the tragedy.” Vasicek said the film was donated to the class after Smith told him that the best he can do is show the class a scene from “Soldier Blue”, the 1970 movie about a cavalry group that is massacred by the Cheyenne, starring Candice Bergen and Peter Strauss, to supplement a chapter on the Sand Creek Massacre and couldn’t afford to buy the film.

Smith told Vasicek that he is going to assign his students in two classes, third and fourth year English majors, about 150 students, to write emails regarding the experience of the film and promised that “the English isn’t tortured.”

Chief Eugene Blackbear, Sr., Cheyenne, who starred as Chief Black Kettle in “The Last of the Dogmen” also starring Tom Berenger and Barbara Hershey and “Dr. Colorado”, Tom Noel, University of Colorado history professor, are featured in “The Sand Creek Massacre.

Vasicek’s web site, http://www.donvasicek.com, provides detailed information about the Sand Creek Massacre including various still images particularly on the Sand Creek Massacre home page and on the proposal page.

Olympus Films+, LLC is dedicated to writing and producing quality products that serve to educate others about the human condition.

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
7078 South Fairfax Street
Centennial, CO 80122
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103

“Sand Creek Massacre lesson plans hammer home native awareness and peaceful conflict resolution”
21st May 2007

CENTENNIAL, CO (SANEPR.com) May 21, 2007 — Olympus Films+, LLC, a Centennial, Colorado based global writing/film/DVD company, has launched Sand Creek Massacre lesson plans for the public. Aimed at schools and to create native awareness in the United States and globally, the lesson plans include a curriculum and study guide.

Donald L. Vasicek, award-winning writer/filmmaker, and owner of Olympus Films+, LLC, said, “I was assisted with writing the lesson plans and curriculum by Loyce Hopkins, a Dallas educator. They are juxtaposed with our award-winning “The Sand Creek Massacre” film in that they trace Cheyenne and Arapaho history with Cheyenne and Arapaho oral histories recorded in the film. Our goal is to inform and to educate others, particularly students, about native awareness and peaceful conflict resolution.”

A clip of the film can be viewed at http://www.fullduck.com/node/53.

The lesson plans, curriculum and study guide can be purchased at donvasicek.com. Click on Sand Creek Massacre when you get there, then on Shop.

Olympus Films+, LLC is dedicated to writing and producing quality products that serve to educate others about the human condition.

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
7078 South Fairfax Street
Centennial, CO 80122
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103

“Broomfield Independent Film Series to screen Sand Creek Massacre film”
10th May 2007

May 9, 2007 — CENTENNIAL, CO — A documentary film, “The Sand Creek Massacre”, and driven by Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho people’s oral histories telling what happened at Sand Creek, is going to be screened at the Broomfield Auditorium, 3 Community Park Road, Broomfield, Colorado on May 16, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. Donald L. Vasicek, the director and producer, will attend the screening and be available for a questions after the screening.

Conducting monthly screenings, Todd Bradley of the Broomfield Independent Film Series (http://www.broomfieldfilm.org/), a non-profit project of the Broomfield Arts Council on the Arts and Humanities, says, “Our April show …was very well received. Feedback from the audience was extremely positive, so I’m looking forward to the next one.”

Directions to the screening can be found at http://www.broomfield.org/culturalaffairs/Auditoriumdirections.shtml.

Vasicek said, “To have “The Sand Creek Massacre” screened on behalf of the Broomfield Independent Film Series is an honor. This film has been screened and aired throughout the country, in all major cities in Europe, and in a host of other places, but never locally. So, I am pleased that people will be able to see a story about Colorado that should been seen by everyone who has any interest at all in conflict resolution by peaceful means, native awareness, and native and Colorado history.”

Chief Eugene Blackbear, Sr., Cheyenne, who starred as Chief Black Kettle in “The Last of the Dogmen”, also starring Tom Berenger and Barbara Hershey, and “Dr. Colorado”, Tom Noel, University of Colorado history professor, are featured in “The Sand Creek Massacre” film.

A clip of the film can be viewed at http://www.fullduck.com/node/53.

Olympus Films+, LLC is dedicated to writing and producing quality products that serve to educate others about the human condition.

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
7078 South Fairfax Street
Centennial, CO 80122
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103


“Native people cheer and applaud numbers killed at the Sand Creek Massacre”

2nd May 2007
May 1, 2007 — CENTENNIAL, CO — Loud applause and cheers erupted during the Sand Creek Massacre Site Dedication Ceremony on April 28, 2007. They were for the 200 to 500 Cheyenne and Arapaho people massacred there on November 29, 1864. A Northern Cheyenne tribal speaker mention of the total massacred at Sand Creek, anywhere from 150 to 500 Cheyenne and Arapaho babies, children, persons with disabilities, elders and women, on November 29, 2007 outnumbered the thirty-two victims massacred at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia on April 16, 2007, ignited the eruption.

Subsequent to the Virgina Tech Massacre, Lakota Sioux tribe member, Joan Redfern, said in a “Gilroy Dispatch” article by Kat Teraji, “To say the Virginia shooting is the worst in all of U. S. history is to pour salt on old wounds-it means erasing and forgetting all of our ancestors who were killed in the past,” Redfern said.

“The use of hyperbole and lack of historical perspective seems all too ubiquitous in much of the current mainstream media…My intention is not to downplay the horror of what has happened …at Virginia Tech in any way. But we have a 500-year history of mass shootings on American soil, and let’s not forget it.”

To this writer, who was at the Sand Creek Massacre Dedication Ceremony, nausea nibbled at me as I heard the cheers and applause. Former Colorado governor Roy Romer, present Colorado governor Bill Ritter, Colorado Lt. Governor Barbara O’Brien, U. S. Rep Marilyn Musgrave, Kansas U. S. Senator Sam Brownback, Department of the Interior, National Park Service Director, Mary Bomar, former Colorado U. S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, and several others quietly observed this outpouring of emotion.

I wondered, “To where have we evolved as human beings and as Americans?”

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
7078 South Fairfax Street
Centennial, CO 80122
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103

“Dallas kids compare Sand Creek Massacre to Holocaust”
CENTENNIAL, CO(SANEPR.com) April 26, 2007 —

— A documentary film, “The Sand Creek Massacre”, and driven by Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho people who tell their version about what happened during the Sand Creek Massacre based on their oral histories, was screened in a ninth grade Dallas classroom during the week of April 16, 2007.

Their teacher described their reaction after viewing the film: “Two children compared it to the Holocaust…they grimaced a few times during the film of what had occurred and the pain that the Natives went through…When I asked who were the Savages and stated that the Natives were called Savages for defending their land, many said the US soldiers seemed like the Savages…”

Donald L. Vasicek, the award-winning writer/filmmaker of the film, said, “If we can teach our children peaceful means to conflict resolution, then it is possible that we can circumvent massacres. It certainly hasn’t happened yet. Need I cite the Sand Creek Massacre, Washita, Wounded Knee, Mai Lai, Oklahoma City, Waco, Columbine, Iraq, Virginia Tech, etc.? The Sand Creek Massacre film is a launch pad as a means to attack ignorance and fear and replace it with intelligence and confidence. Everyone should see the film, we owe that much to the victims of each massacre.”

Olympus Films+, LLC is dedicated to writing and producing quality products that serve to educate others about the human condition.

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
7078 South Fairfax Street
Centennial, CO 80122
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103
###


“Cheyenne/Arapaho accounts of genocide to air in Houston”

CENTENNIAL, CO (SANEPR.com) April 16, 2007 — — “The Sand Creek Massacre”, a documentary film by award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek, is going to air on HCCTV/Time Warner, TV Max, Channel 95, Phonoscope, and Channel 77 on Sundays April 15 & 22 at 5 a.m., Mondays April 16 & 23 at 11 p.m. and Saturdays April 21 & 28 at 4:30 p.m. The film, driven by Cheyenne/Arapaho oral histories, focuses on genocidal intent and how the Cheyenne/Arapaho people continue to overcome it, nearly 143 years after the Sand Creek Massacre.

“The film is a powerful educational tool for all,” says Vasicek. “A sage people who transcend hate via non-violence shows how ignorance can be changed to wisdom, and subsequent solutions to problems each of us, particularly our children and grandchildren, face in our world today.

Vasicek’s web site, http://www.donvasicek.com, provides detailed information about the Sand Creek Massacre including various still images particularly on the Sand Creek Massacre home page and on the proposal page.

Olympus Films+, LLC is dedicated to writing and producing quality products that serve to educate others about the human condition.

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
7078 South Fairfax Street
Centennial, CO 80122
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103


Native film challenging Bush’s brilliance to utilize violence as a way to solve problems headed for California schools and native people

CENTENNIAL, CO (SANEPR.com) March 26, 2007 — — A documentary film based on an award-winning documentary short film, “The Sand Creek Massacre”, and driven by Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho people who tell their version about what happened during the Sand Creek Massacre via their oral histories, is going to California. It is going to be screened at the San Bernadino/Riverside Counties Native American Community Council on April 19, 2007 and the California Center for Native Americans, date to be announced. The availability of the film will be made to local school districts.

“We must learn how to communicate better. We must learn how to get along,” Lucian Marvin Twins, Southern Cheyenne, Sand Creek Massacre descendant, said.

“This statement summarizes my commitment to helping others learn an alternative to violence to solve problems,” said award-winning writer/filmmaker Don Vasicek. The Cheyenne/Arapaho people in my “The Sand Creek Massacre” film directly addresses it. Ignorance is the source of fear. Fear blinds one to their intellect. Fear is the source of killing others to solve problems. I believe that we are more intelligent than that. We simply need to utilize it at the appropriate times. One only needs to see.”

Chief Eugene Blackbear, Sr., Cheyenne, who starred as Chief Black Kettle in “The Last of the Dogmen” also starring Tom Berenger and Barbara Hershey, and “Dr. Colorado”, Tom Noel, University of Colorado history professor, are featured.

A clip can be viewed and the film can be ordered for $24.95 plus $4.95 for shipping and handling at http://www.fullduck.com/node/53. Accompanying lesson plans/curriculum are also available.

Vasicek’s web site, http://www.donvasicek.com, provides detailed information about the Sand Creek Massacre including various still images particularly on the Sand Creek Massacre home page and on the proposal page. This project is a powerful educational tool!

Olympus Films+, LLC is dedicated to writing and producing quality products that serve to educate others about the human condition.
###

“Cheyenne/Arapaho accounts of genocide to air in Philadelphia”

USA. (SANEPR.com) March 22, 2007 — “The Sand Creek Massacre”, a documentary film by award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek, is going to air on DUTV in Philadelphia the weeks of May 1, May 29 and June 26 on Tuesdays at 9:45 p.m., Fridays at 10:45 p.m. and repeating over the weekends at 5:45 p.m. and 12:45 a.m. The film, driven by Cheyenne/Arapaho oral histories, focuses on genocidal intent and how the Cheyenne/Arapaho people continue to overcome it, nearly 143 years after the Sand Creek Massacre.

“The film is a lesson for all,” says Vasicek. “A sage people who transcend hate via non-violence shows how ignorance can be changed to wisdom, and subsequent solutions to problems we face in our world today. President Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Karl Rove, Henry Kissinger, Condalleza Rice and a volume of the Bush Administration must view this film if they are to displace ignorance with wisdom to stop the bleeding in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will be the most intellectual activity regarding terrorism they have participated in since 9/11.”

A clip can be viewed and the film can be ordered for $24.95 plus $4.95 for shipping and handling at http://www.fullduck.com/node/53. Accompanying lesson plans/curriculum are also available.

Vasicek’s web site, http://www.donvasicek.com, provides detailed information about the Sand Creek Massacre including various still images particularly on the Sand Creek Massacre home page and on the proposal page.

Olympus Films+, LLC is dedicated to writing and producing quality products that serve to educate others about the human condition.

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
7078 South Fairfax Street
Centennial, CO 80122
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103
###

“Cheyenne/Arapaho Sand Creek Massacre accounts of U. S. soldiers”

19th March 2007
“The Sand Creek Massacre” documentary film will be screened at George Mason University on March 28, 2007 at 4:30 p.m.

CENTENNIAL, CO — (SANEPR.com) March 19, 2007 — A new documentary film based on an award-winning documentary short film, “The Sand Creek Massacre”, and driven by Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho people who tell their version about what happened during the Sand Creek Massacre via their oral histories, is going to be screened at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia on March 28, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. Donald L. Vasicek, the director and producer, will attend the screening and conduct a discussion about filmmaking and native studies in relation to the Sand Creek Massacre after the screening.

“I watched your Sand Creek Massacre film this morning–it literally had me in tears—especially the part about Broken Shoulder’s son and the parts about the mutilation of the women–very moving–then it made me angry” said Mary Wickenkamp, attorney-at-law. She added, “The Sand Creek Massacre is plenty intriguing on its own–but prior to seeing your film, I had no idea of the savagery of the American soldiers–it made me ashamed.”

Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War, said, “Our group was so impressed with your film that we are now planning a showing of just your film alone–featuring it with a discussion of the event and the powerful impact it has had on the politics of our country–whether we realize it or not.” She went on to say, “We feel that your film illustrates the true nature of the rulers of this country from its very inception. And that the oppression still exists just as the body parts of these great ancestors are still in the Smithsonian.”

Loyce Hopkins, 9th grade Dallas school teacher said, “I viewed your Sand Creek Massacre film and it is excellent. After we get thru the first 6 wks. of school , I will show it to my students and talk to them about the Massacre and give them parts of the
Lesson Plans…I’m interested in THEIR Perceptions/Misconceptions of this event…”

“A passive approach in making of the film was incorporated in order to reach people of all ages, but yet show what really happened at Sand Creek, said Vasicek, an award-winning writer/filmmaker. “A fourth grade class that viewed the film with parents and faculty were glued to the screen. After the screening, the kids asked me several questions. One fourth grade girl asked me, “Why do people hate Indians?”

I responded, “Because they haven’t taken time to learn about them.”

Chief Eugene Blackbear, Sr., Cheyenne, who starred as Chief Black Kettle in “The Last of the Dogmen” also starring Tom Berenger and Barbara Hershey and “Dr. Colorado”, Tom Noel, University of Colorado history professor, are featured.

A clip can be viewed and the film can be ordered for $24.95 plus $4.95 for shipping and handling at http://www.fullduck.com/node/53. Accompanying lesson plans/curriculum are also available.

Vasicek’s web site, http://www.donvasicek.com, provides detailed information about the Sand Creek Massacre including various still images particularly on the Sand Creek Massacre home page and on the proposal page.

Olympus Films+, LLC is dedicated to writing and producing quality products that serve to educate others about the human condition.

“Cheyenne and Arapaho oral histories hammer history”
8th March 2007

“The Sand Creek Massacre”, a documentary film with lesson plans/curriculum, based on the award-winning documentary short, and driven by Cheyenne and Arapaho oral histories, has been released by Olympus Films+, LLC (donvasicek.com)

CENTENNIAL, CO (SANEPR.com) March 8, 2007 — “Cheyenne and Arapaho oral histories hammer history’s account of the Sand Creek Massacre”

A new documentary film based on an award-winning documentary short film, “The Sand Creek Massacre”, and driven by Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho people who tell their version about what happened during the Sand Creek Massacre via their oral histories, has been released by Olympus Films+, LLC, a Centennial, Colorado film company.

“You have done an extraordinary job” said Margie Small, Tobient Entertainment, ” on the Colorado PBS episode, the library videos for public schools and libraries, the trailer, etc…and getting the story told and giving honor to those ancestors who had to witness this tragic and brutal attack…film is one of the best ways.”

“The images shown in the film were selected for native awareness value” said Donald L. Vasicek, award-winning writer/filmmaker, “we also focused on preserving American history on film because tribal elders are dying and taking their oral histories with them. The film shows a non-violent solution to problem-solving and 19th century Colorado history, so it’s multi-dimensional in that sense. ”

Chief Eugene Blackbear, Sr., Cheyenne, who starred as Chief Black Kettle in “The Last of the Dogmen” also starring Tom Berenger and Barbara Hershey and “Dr. Colorado”, Tom Noel, University of Colorado history professor, are featured.

The trailer can be viewed and the film can be ordered for $24.95 plus $4.95 for shipping and handling at http://www.fullduck.com/node/53.

Vasicek’s web site, http://www.donvasicek.com, provides detailed information about the Sand Creek Massacre including various still images particularly on the Sand Creek Massacre home page and on the proposal page.

Olympus Films+, LLC is dedicated to writing and producing quality products that serve to educate others about the human condition.

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
7078 South Fairfax Street
Centennial, CO 80122
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Sand Creek Massacre story hits air waves “

May 8, 2007 — CENTENNIAL, CO — Award-winning filmmaker, Donald L.
Vasicek’s interview about his award-winning film, “The Sand Creek
Massacre”, will be aired in two parts on CFWEradio.ca in in Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada. The CFWE.ca website broadcasts on a five second
delay from the main feed.

Part 1 will air on:

May 13 at 10:45 a.m.
May 14 at 1:45 p.m.,
May 15 at 2:00 p.m.

Part 2 will air on:

May 20 at 10:45 a.m.
May 21 at 1:45 p.m.
May 22 at 2:00 p.m.

The interview gives a detailed view into the Sand Creek Massacre
from the filmmaker’s point of view. It also sears President Bush about
“his ignorance”.

“To utilize killing as a means for solving cultural differences is genocide,
and killing is murder, not a solution,” Vasicek says.

Vasicek’s SandCreekMassacre.net provides detailed information about the Sand
Creek Massacre including witness accounts, still images, videos, etc.

###

Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
From: Don Vasicek <dvasicek@earthlink.net>
Date: November 8, 2006 3:36:04 PM MST
Subject: Indian Country News Article AIGM Film Festival

“Film tells Sand Creek story from tribes’ eyes”

By Dennis Huspeni, The Gazette

Don Vasicek’s dream is to document a nightmare of many American Indians.

The Centennial filmmaker and writer has worked for the past four years, using his money, to create a documentary on the Sand Creek Massacre.

All that work has yielded a 6½-minute demo of the documentary, which will be shown Friday in Castle Rock.

He’s found support difficult to come by, as Vasicek freely admits the film’s point of view rests squarely with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians.

“This happened 140 years ago,” Vasicek said. “Nevertheless, they carry the grief with them today.”

The grief comes from the event’s particularly brutal history. On Nov. 29, 1864, soldiers from Colorado’s 1st and 3rd Regiments, under the command of Col. John Chivington, attacked a group of Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand Creek, about 145 miles east of Colorado Springs and 35 miles north of Lamar.

“The attack at Sand Creek resulted in the deaths of over 150 Indians, the vast majority being women, children and infants,” according to the National Park Service’s Web site for the Sand Creek historic site. “For the soldiers, losses were much less, with about nine or 10 killed and three dozen wounded.”

“The film portrays tribal elders relating “oral histories of what their descendants experienced at Sand Creek,” Vasicek said.
-“Colorado Springs Gazette”

After filming in Oklahoma this summer, Vasicek said he formed an emotional bond with the Indians.

“I just saw how significant, vital and important this is to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people,” he said. “It’s vital for someone to do something to record those histories.”

Several companies are interested in seeing Vasicek finish the film, he said, including Rocky Mountain PBS and The National Museum of the American Indian-Smithsonian Institution. Cinema Guild International has urged Vasicek to complete a 20-minute version for classroom showings.

“It’s time for the Cheyenne-Arapaho people to tell their truth,” he said. “And hopefully it can be educational for young people to learn something about problem-solving in a nonviolent way.”

Don Huspeni

American Western Magazine:
“Colorado Filmmaker lands SAND CREEK MASACRE film in American Indian Film Festival
” 
Posted Monday, March 14, 2005

Centennial, Colorado Writer/Filmmaker Don Vasicek’s documentary short, THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE — named one of the best films of the year by the Philip S. Miller Library’s Bull Theatre Film Project — will be screened at the American Indian Film Festival at Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas on June 17th and 18th.
Sponsored by the American Indian Genocide Museum (www.aigenom.com), the festival will provide a question and discussion time for Mr. Vasicek after the screening.
THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE is an examination of an open wound in the souls of the Cheyenne and Arapaho people as told from their perspective. On November 29, 1864, Colorado militia savagely slaughtered over 150 peace-seeking Cheyenne and Arapaho men, women, and children under the protection of the 1861 Treaty of Fort Wise. This act became known as the Sand Creek Massacre.
The short is a forerunner for a classroom video and full-length documentary film about the Sand Creek Massacre being produced by Vasicek. It is now available for educators, organizations, and individuals on DVD or VHS.

Rising from Sand Creek
Posted: December 10, 2004
by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today

“Documentary to tell Cheyenne and Arapaho story”

DENVER – When the military slaughtered Cheyenne and Arapaho women and children at Sand Creek,
they shattered the lives of future generations, the descendants of the few children that survived the
massacre 140 years ago.

Don Vasicek, board member of the American Indian Genocide Museum, is producing a new
documentary, ”Sand Creek Massacre, A Lesson from American History”, that he hopes will allow
Cheyenne and Arapaho to dissolve some of the pain.

”They carry their own grieving from Sand Creek. Telling their own stories is their release; they need to
talk about it. They need to know that others will hear and learn of their grief.”

The story of the Massacre of Sand Creek is being told from oral history, the descendants of the 5 and
6-year-olds, the little ones who survived.

”This story will be their truth,” Vasicek said.

Today, the racism and oppression that led to the slaughter at Sand Creek is retained in the language of
the history books.

”Many white people believe that it was a brilliant military strategy,” Vasicek said of the massacre. ”Then
there are the historians and the educators who are always making sure it is accurate.”

The problem, however, remains that 99 percent of the written history of the genocide of American
Indians was recorded by white people and written from their perspective.

Until now.

”The Cheyenne and Arapaho are writing their book, telling their story,” Vasicek said, adding that the
time to record these stories is now.

”Once the descendants die, the stories die with them.” History, too, will die with these descendants if it
is not recorded.

”American Indian people are the fabric of American history,” Vasicek said. Preserving that fabric will
determine how much American history the people will know.

Vasicek, graduate of the Hollywood Film Institute and founder of Olympus films, is shooting a 20-minute
version of the film for classroom use. The Sand Creek Massacre film project includes a book, classroom
materials, interactive media, study guide and lesson plan.

The 20-minute video provides a range of first-hand information never before recorded. It includes the
tracking of a Cheyenne chief’s great grandfather who survived the Sand Creek Massacre, the Battle of
Washita, Palo Duro and confinement in a Florida prison for three years.

With Indian actors such as Wes Studi expressing interest in working on the upcoming full-length
documentary, Vasicek said, ”There is going to be as little interference from white people as possible. I
don’t want that interference.”

The American Indian Genocide Museum is now collecting documents, written proof that the grief
Cheyenne and Arapaho experience today, is based on facts.

”These are an indictment of what took place. The museum is a way of bringing these atrocities out,”
Vasicek said. ”It is my way of taking on the system.”

Speaking of this country’s first people, he said, ”We are their people and they are our people, we need
to get together.” The challenge, he said, is carrying this message to Indian youths and to white people
so the pain can be shared and dissolved.

So far, funding has been an obstacle. The funding has come out of Vasicek’s own pocket. But, he has a
six and one-half minute demonstration video, ”The Sand Creek Massacre”, a mini version of the film
that he is proud of.

And he has no regrets that the film project has not attracted wealthy investors who might want to control
it. Then, he said, the risk would be ”changing the integrity of the story.”

The sponsor of the Sand Creek Massacre film project is one of integrity, the American Indian Genocide
Museum, now being created in Houston, chaired by Paiute elder Steve Melendez.

Among the documents that Vasicek and the American Indian Genocide Museum are exposing are the
letters of Captain Silas S. Soule and Lt. Joseph Cramer.

The Massacre of Sand Creek occurred on Nov. 29, 1864, when about 700 Colorado 1st and 3rd
Regiment troops and troops from New Mexico, slaughtered more than 150 men, women and children in
southeastern Colorado Territory.

Lt. Captain Silas S. Soule wrote a letter dated Dec. 19, 1864 from Ft. Lyon, to Major Ed Wynkoop, his
commanding officer.

Soule wrote what he witnessed at Sand Creek: ”… hundreds of women and children were coming
towards us and getting on their knees for mercy.”

In a letter dated, Dec. 19, 1863, Fort Lyon, Lt. Joseph Cramer wrote to Major Ed Wynkoop, his
commanding officer, a letter about what he witnessed at Sand Creek.

Cramer wrote: ”… Dear Major, This is the first opportunity I have had of writing you since the great
Indian Massacre, and for a start, I will acknowledge I am ashamed to own I was in it with my Co.

”Col. Chivington came here with the gallant third, known as Chivington Brigade, like a thief in the dark
… marched all night up Sand, to the big bend in Sand … and came to Black Kettle’s village of 103
lodges, containing not over 500 all told, 350 of which were women and children … We lost 40 men
wounded, and 10 killed. Not over 250 Indians mostly women and children, and I think not over 200
killed, and not over 75 bucks …”

The letter continued: ”… Black Kettle said when he saw us coming, that he was glad, for it was Major
Wynkoop coming to make peace. Left Hand stood with his hands folded across his breast, until he was
shot saying, ‘Soldiers no hurt me – soldiers my friends.”’

The letters surfaced about 130 years after the Sand Creek Massacre, in the 1990s. Florence Blunt was
going through two stored trunks of a family member, a rancher, who was in the habit of taking supplies
to Fort Lyon before and after the Sand Creek Massacre. She found Captain Silas S. Soule’s and Lt.
Joseph Cramer’s letters. Blunt’s daughter, Linda Rebek of Evergreen retains possession of the letters.

Article Copyrighted by Indian Country Today

“Film tells Sand Creek story from tribes’ eyes”

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs),  Nov 7, 2004  by DENNIS HUSPENI THE GAZETTE
Don Vasicek’s dream is to document a nightmare of many American Indians.
The Centennial filmmaker and writer has worked for the past four years, using his money, to create a documentary on the Sand Creek Massacre.
All that work has yielded a 6 1/2-minute demo of the documentary, which will be shown Friday in Castle Rock.
He’s found support difficult to come by, as Vasicek freely admits the film’s point of view rests squarely with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians.
“This happened 150 years ago,” Vasicek said. “Nevertheless, they carry the grief with them today.”
The grief comes from the event’s particularly brutal history. On Nov. 29, 1864, soldiers from Colorado’s 1st and 3rd Regiments, under the command of Col. John Chivington, attacked a group of Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand Creek, about 145 miles east of Colorado Springs and 35 miles north of Larimer.
“The attack at Sand Creek resulted in the deaths of over 150 Indians, the vast majority being women, children and infants,” according to the National Park Service’s Web site for the Sand Creek historic site. “For the soldiers, losses were much less, with about nine or 10 killed and three dozen wounded.”

The film portrays tribal elders relating “oral histories of what their descendants experienced at Sand Creek,” Vasicek said.
After filming in Oklahoma this summer, Vasicek said he formed an emotional bond with the Indians.
“I just saw how significant, vital and important this is to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people,” he said. “It’s vital for someone to do something to record those histories.”
Several companies are interested in seeing Vasicek finish the film, he said, including Rocky Mountain PBS and The National Museum of the American Indian-Smithsonian Institution. Cinema Guild International has urged Vasicek to complete a 20-minute version for classroom showings.
“It’s time for the Cheyenne-Arapaho people to tell their truth,” he said. “And hopefully it can be educational for young people to learn something about problem-solving in a nonviolent way.”
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0110 or dhuspeni@gazette.com
DETAILS
What: Showing of Don Vasicek’s “The Sand Creek Massacre: A Lesson From American History”
Where: Philip Miller Library, 100 S. Wilcox, Castle Rock
When: 7 p.m. Friday.
For information: Go to Vasicek’s Web site at www.donvasicek.com
Copyright 2004
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

News :: Civil & Human Rights : Peace
Film Attacking Racism Needs Votes
Author
Donald Vasicek
Date Created
29 Sep 2005
Date Edited
29 Sep 2005 01:18:16 PM
Rating
Current rating: 0
See also
http://www.donvasicek.com
License

This work is in the public domain

Non-violent problem solving as a means to deal positively with racism.
Click on image for a larger version

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
7078 South Fairfax Street
Centennial, CO 80122-2562
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek (at) earthlink.net
303-903-2103 (c)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“FILM ATTACKING RACISM NEEDS VOTES”

In seven hours, on November 29, 1864, 700 Colorado 1st & 3rd Regiment troops slaughtered over 160 Cheyenne and Arapaho men, women and children in the southeastern Colorado Territory under the protection of the United States flag and a white flag of truce. This event became known as the Sand Creek Massacre. It changed the course of American history.

The award-winning documentary short film (6:47), “The Sand Creek Massacre”, is in the running for the first prize of $10,000 in the Haydenfilms Film Festival. If it wins, the funds will be used to finish the Sand Creek Massacre educational video that will be distributed
in schools to teach others, particularly young people, about racism and how to solve problems non-violently, as told by the Cheyenne and Arapaho people to preserve their oral histories.

You can go to http://www.haydenfilms.com/view.php to vote.

“Film On Non–Violence Needs Votes!”
Donald L. Vasicek 21 Sep 2005 16:31 GMT
7078 South Fairfax Street Centennial, CO 80122 USA

“The Sand Creek Massacre” is a two-hour long documentary film in progress. On November 29, 1864, 700 Colorado Regiment 1st & 3rd troops slaughtered over 160 Cheyenne and Arapaho children, elderly, disabled, women and men protected under the American flag and a raised white flag of truce. This act became known as the Sand Creek Massacre. Today, tribal elders are dying. Their youth have become colonized. This film is serving as a channel for Cheyenne and Arapaho people to give their oral histories about the Sand Creek Massacre so that they can be put into schools for a teaching tool about how to solve problems non-violently.
“THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE” Documentary Short Film 


My award-winning documentary short film, “The Sand Creek Massacre”, 
is in the running for the first prize of $10,000 in the Haydenfilms 
Film Festival. On November 29, 1864, 700 Colorado 1st & 3rd Regiment troops  
slaughtered over 160 Cheyenne and Arapahpo men, women and children  
under the protection of the United States flag and a white flag of truce.  This  
event became known as the Sand Creek Massacre.   If I win, I can use the  
money to finish the Sand Creek Massacre educational video that will be distributed  
in schools to teach others, particularly, young people, about racism and how to 
solve problems non-violently as told by the Cheyenne and Arapaho people.    I’d  
really appreciate it if you could take time and go to

http://www.haydenfilms.com/view.php 
and vote. 

Also, with due respect to your busy schedule, if you could pass this 
on to all of your, friends, neighbors, relatives, business 
associates, and contacts and ask them to vote and pass it on, I would 
be very appreciative. 

Thank you. 

Donald L. Vasicek 
Olympus Films+, LLC

http://www.donvasicek.com
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
dvasicek@earthlink.net
e-mail:: dvasicek@earthlink.net

American Indian Genocide Museum

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411013

“American Indian Genocide Museum hosts first film festival”

Posted: June 02, 2005
by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today

HOUSTON – The American Indian Genocide Museum in Houston is hosting its first film festival June 17 – 18, featuring panel discussions and a film series including, “The Sand Creek Massacre: A Lesson from History.”

Steve Melendez, Pyramid Lake Paiute and president of the American
Indian Genocide Museum, said the film festival is the first of its kind for Houston and planned as an annual event.

Special guests include Russell Means, remembered for his performances in “Last of the Mohicans,” “Natural Born Killers” and “Black Cloud.” “Black Cloud,” based on the life of a Navajo boxer and filmed on the Navajo Nation, is among the featured films at the festival.

Film director Don Vasicek, who also appeared as an actor in “Die Hard 2,” will be present to share his journey in the making of “The Sand Creek Massacre: A Lesson From History.” Vasicek’s quest for the truth of the Sand Creek Massacre in southeastern Colorado led him to discover little-known accounts of the massacre in written accounts and memories of survivors’descendants.

Joanelle Romero’s documentary, “American Holocaust: When It’s All Over I’ll Still Be Indian,” is also featured at the festival. As an actress, Romero is remembered for her performance in “Pow Wow Highway.”

Romero, director of “American Holocaust,” describes the film as a
hard-hitting documentary that reveals the link between Adolf Hitler’s
treatment of European Jews and the U.S. government’s treatment of
American Indians.

“The film depicts disturbing parallels between these two holocausts and explores the historical, social and religious roots of America’s own ‘ethnic cleansing.’ The film also examines the long-term effects of this on-going destructive process and possible ramifications to the future of American Indian people in the 21st century,” according to the filmmaker’s statement.

“American Holocaust,” released in 2000, was the winner of Best
Documentary Short at 25th Annual American Indian Film Festival.

Melendez said the film festival is the latest exciting development for the emerging museum.

“The American Indian Genocide Museum is Houston’s newest museum and the only museum exclusively focusing on addressing this tragic phase of American history,” Melendez said.

“The mission of the museum is to bring the truth of the historical
tragedy of the annihilation of the American Indian to light through the visual art of sculpture and film.

“Public education programs are designed to create a memorable learning experience that results in life-changing behavior and the ability to live peaceably with others while building relationships that restore healing, hope and history.”

While the search and funding for a permanent building is underway, the American Indian Genocide Museum is open by appointment only. For more information, visit www.aigenom.com or call (713) 928-2440.

Rice University’s Native American Student Association is hosting the
film festival, which will be held June 17 – 18, from 1:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. on both days at Rice Cinema at Rice University, 6100 Main (Entrance No. 8) inHouston.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.aigenom.com or by calling (713)928-2440. All proceeds will benefit the museum and Rice University’s Native American Student Association.

“NATIVE AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL ASKS TO SCREEN ‘THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE’ DOCUMENTARY SHORT” 

The South Dakota Native American Culture Center, The Northern Route to the Black Hills Film Division and Hayze Entertainment Group are hosting the 2nd Annual Native American Film Festival in South Dakota to commemorate Native American month.

Buddie Haze, CEO of the Hayze Entertainment Group in Aberdeen, said, “Our goal is to present and preserve the Native American traditions and depict truthful stories…”  He ask for permission to show “The Sand Creek Massacre” documentary short at the festival this year.

What’s New?
2nd Annual Native American Film Festival Call for Submissions
(posted Sep 25, 2006)
Short films and documentaries sought for Aberdeen’s Native American Film Festival.

ABERDEEN, S.D. — Film enthusiasts are invited to submit their short films or documentaries for the 2nd Annual Native American Film Festival in Aberdeen. Entries should be submitted no later than Oct. 25. The South Dakota Native American Cultural Center, The Northern Route to the Black Hills Film Division and Hayze Entertainment Group are hosting the 2nd Annual Native American Film Festival in South Dakota to commemorate November as Native American month.

“Last year, the festival received more entries than they were able to show, and we would love to have as many entries again this year,” said Buddie Hasty, CEO of the Hayze Entertainment Group in Aberdeen.

The festival is also focusing on “diversity” this year for intermission pieces, so Hasty asks that filmmakers please submit “diversity” projects as well.

“Our goal is to present and preserve the Native American traditions and depict truthful stories. We ask that submissions respect our friends who survived such a fierce struggle,” Hasty added.

Entrants will be notified of acceptance following receipt of submissions. All formats, except VHS, are accepted

Send entries to:

Hayze Entertainment Group, LLC
116 S. Main St. Suite 303B
Aberdeen, SD 57401
(323) 715-0217

or

Hayze Entertainment Group, LLC
11521 N. FM 620 Suite 250-13
Austin, Texas 78726
Contact:
Buddie Hasty
Hayze Entertainment Group, LLC
(323) 715-0217

SCMReleaseROTARY1-18-16

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