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Springdale, AR: A Documentary

@springdalefilm

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Doc about the Marshallese diaspora in Springdale, AR and the broader United States - their past, present, and future.
Directed by @jackfatheree

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This is a late post, but we were all exhausted after a long shooting week. We ended our interviews on Thursday by speaking with Liton Bease, a master canoe builder who explained the importance of outrigger canoes in Marshallese culture and showed us some of his hand carved models. His family very graciously welcomed us into their home.

We also stopped by KuauTee again to interview Thomas Tulensa, and to give our crew their surprise t-shirts (we’re all “Likatu in Majol” now 😉).

We ended the week with a bit of B-roll shooting around Springdale, including some absolutely necessary skateboard shots by our DP @classypinata, and a dinner at Hugo’s in Fayetteville.

Special thanks to our producer Richard Laraya, who helped organize so many interviews and acted as a translator for several of them. We couldn’t have done it without you Richard, kommol tata!

It was amazing to meet so many people and hear their stories. We’re very excited to start putting the short film together, and I will keep updating this page with the progress.

After being so warmly welcomed by the Marshallese community and learning a lot, we’re all committed to raising funds for a feature documentary that we can put out before the COFA is renegotiated in the next year. Kommol tata to everyone who took the time to speak with us, and we look forward to returning to Springdale soon.
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#marshallislands #rmi #marshallese #iakwe#pacificislands #pacificislander #mei #springdale #springdalear #arkansas #cofa #nuclearweapons #nuclear #environmentaljustice #immigration #climatechange #sealevelrise #colonialism #imperialism #coldwar #history #documentary #justice taken in Springdale, Arkansas by @springdalefilm

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Day 3 was a really fun and special one. We went and visited some previous interviewees, Mina and Reklen Aister, at their home, because they wanted to perform some songs for us on ukelele; they surprised all of us with handmade necklaces 🥲

Next we went to Seventh Day Adventist to speak with Pastor Charles, and later on spoke with Pastor Paul Swington at the Jones Center. Both men do a lot for the Marshallese and the broader community here in Springdale: food pantries, youth programs, cultural events, and of course spiritual leadership for the largely church-going Marshallese population.

There’s one need voiced by every person we’ve interviewed: more awareness of who the Marshallese are, why they are here in the US, and what their rights are under the Compact of Free Association. Education is the first step to enacting policies that will improve their lives here and in the islands, and to achieve some measure of justice for the abuses of the past. We are honored to do our part to try and spread awareness of this history and, hopefully, to improve the future prospects for the Marshallese people.

Kommol tata to everyone who has taken the time to speak with us!
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#marshallislands #rmi #marshallese #pacificislands #pacificislander #mei #springdale #springdalear #arkansas #cofa #nuclearweapons #bikiniatoll #environmentaljustice #immigration #climatechange #sealevelrise #colonialism #imperialism #coldwar #history
#documentary #justice taken in Springdale, Arkansas by @springdalefilm

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Our second day of filming was excellent! We interviewed Dr. Sheldon Riklon (@sheldon_riklon), one of only 2 Marshallese MDs practicing in the United States. We also spoke with Kimberly Muller, a liaison between the Marshallese community and Springdale public schools. Finally, we visited KuauTee, a custom clothing print shop owned and operated by people from the Marshall Islands and other islands in Micronesia; along with their awesome custom tees, they had the coolest pair of custom Jordans!
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#marshallislands #rmi #marshallese #pacificislands #pacificislander #mei #uams #kuautee #springdaleschools #springdale #springdalear #arkansas #cofa #nuclearweapons #bikiniatoll #environmentaljustice #immigration #climatechange #sealevelrise #colonialism #imperialism #coldwar #history
#documentary #justice taken in Springdale, Arkansas by @springdalefilm

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Our first day of filming went great; interviews with Marshallese elders Reklen & Mina Aister and Shine Benkim, as well as @iakwe_mei co-founder and assistant director @benetickmaddison. Thanks to them for sharing their stories with us, and we look forward to putting them out in the final film.
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#marshallislands #rmi #marshallese #kommoltata #pacificislands #pacificislander #mei #springdale #springdalear #arkansas #cofa #nuclearweapons #bikiniatoll #environmentaljustice #immigration #climatechange #sealevelrise #colonialism #imperialism #coldwar #history
#documentary #interviews #justice taken in Marshallese Educational Initiative by @springdalefilm

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You may be wondering: why are so many people from the Marshall Islands moving to a small Arkansas town?

The first answer: US nuclear weapons testing from 1946-1958 rendered several of the atolls uninhabitable. This was done while the islands were under a UN protectorate administered by the US, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

The second image shows bomb damage to Bikini Atoll, with the locations of various weapon detonations noted. People from Bikini were relocated to Rongerik atoll before any bomb tests.

This relocation alone put immense strain on the food resources of Rongerik, and perhaps even more strain on the social cohesion of the Marshallese people. Land use rights are extremely sacred to Marshallese culture, and intertwined with a duty of stewardship for the land under one’s care. Rongerik Atoll was not the US government’s land to give.

This took place before the disastrous Castle Bravo bomb test; image 3 shows the fallout pattern of Bravo, which heavily contaminated the populated atolls of Rongelap and Rongerik with radioactive material. We’ll discuss this event more in a future post, but the Bravo event and US actions afterward were the cause of massive social upheaval in the Marshallese civilization, and the health effects of this nuclear disaster still afflict the Marshall Islands population, and diaspora, today.
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#marshallislands #rmi #marshallese #pacificislands #pacificislander #mei #springdale #springdalear #arkansas #cofa #nuclearweapons #bikiniatoll #environmentaljustice #immigration #climatechange #sealevelrise #colonialism #imperialism #coldwar #history
#documentary #justice taken in Marshall Islands by @springdalefilm

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Hello/Iakwe and welcome to our page. “Springdale, AR” will be a short documentary about the community of Marshallese people living in the small Northwest Arkansas town of the title. Marshallese people are allowed to live and work in the United States due to an agreement (Compact of Free Association) signed upon Marshallese independence in 1986.

This film will be directed by @jackfatheree and produced by staff from @iakwe_mei : Richard Laraya and @benetickmaddison

Follow this page for updates on production, crew introductions, and more about the history of the Marshall Islands starting this week.

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#marshallislands #rmi #mei #pacificislands #pacificislander #springdale #arkansas #cofa #springdalear #nuclearweapons #castlebravo #fallout #climatechange #sealevelrise #colonialism #imperialism #history #coldwar #documentary #justice taken in Springdale, Arkansas by @springdalefilm

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