January in Tucson is all about teaching the proven principles behind successful Native nation building so that current and future Tribal professionals can better support the efforts of their own Tribes and Native nations to exercise their sovereignty.

In this special screening event, attendees will have the chance to interact with the producers of an award-winning television program that is actively practicing sovereignty. 

As a division of Cherokee Nation Businesses, the team at Cherokee Film is reclaiming the narrative of the Cherokee People by sharing the stories of their Native nation and its citizens though the medium of television.

Join Cherokee Film's Emmy-Award-winning Senior Manager of Film and Video Production Maggie Cunningham (Pawnee) and Producer Kaitlin Mooney (Cherokee Nation) for a screening of a half-hour episode of their award-winning public-access series Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People followed by a Q&A with Cunningham and Mooney.

Since its launch in 2014, Osiyo has won numerous awards including 22 regional Emmy Awards and was recently picked up for national syndication on PBS stations across the United States.

Join us for this free event and learn about how the Cherokee Nation is exercising narrative sovereignty via their edutainment docuseries, Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People.

Program and speaker details below:

Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People is a groundbreaking series inviting you to discover the rich traditions and compelling modern advancements of the Cherokee people told through a documentary lens. The edutainment show features the people, places, history, language and culture of the Cherokee Nation, the largest federally recognized tribe in the US with more than 460,000 citizens. Cherokee culture comes alive through episodes featuring topics like ceremonial turtle shell shakers, buffalo grass dolls and basket weaving. Come along for adventures as we present the exciting lives of Cherokee people, taking you along with a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter pilot, scuba diving with wounded warriors and traversing the wilderness in search of Cherokee Bigfoot. They are Cherokee stories, told by Cherokee people. 

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Maggie Cunningham (Pawnee) is an Emmy®-winning producer and Production Manager for OsiyoTV.

Before joining the OsiyoTV team, Maggie worked in the museum and cultural heritage field. Her previous roles included positions as an archivist and tribal NAGPRA Coordinator. She also spent time as a project manager for several Native-owned consultation and media production firms. She saw firsthand the impact an Indigenous narrative can have on a community during her time researching at Te Papa Tongarewa, the national museum of Aotearoa (New Zealand). She continued to cultivate this focus in her years of cultural heritage work. Her experience working within Native communities here in Oklahoma has only solidified her drive to tell authentic Native-led stories.

Maggie holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in Studio Art and Native American Studies. She earned her Master of Fine Arts in Museum Studies from New York University. Maggie grew up in Oklahoma and Texas and resides in Tulsa with her family.

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Kaitlin Mooney is an award-winning Indigenous news producer and Cherokee Nation citizen.

Kaitlin brings over 5 years of professional experience behind and in front of the camera. As a journalist, she helped develop one of the first indigenous news shows in the United States. Kaitlin has a strong passion for storytelling and uplifting native voices through media.

Kaitlin specializes in broadcast, news production and social media content management. She earned a B.A. in Professional Media at the University of Central Oklahoma with a minor in Public Relations.

Kaitlin was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma and when she is not writing a script or editing video, she spends her time creating her own social media content. She enjoys singing, playing music and spending quality time with her husband and two dogs.