The Project
During the first phase of his residency, Jacob Pratt (Dakota and Ojibway from Cote First Nation) embarked on a listening tour, meeting with some of the LANAIC’s 15 commissioners and others in the American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) community. Through these conversations, an idea began to take shape: to use film as a medium to raise awareness and celebrate the diversity of the Native American community in LA County.
With the time remaining in Jacob’s residency, he knew he wouldn’t be able to record everyone’s story, especially given that LA County is home to the largest concentration of American Indian and Alaska Native people in the country. Instead, Jacob sought to interview people who could provide three distinct perspectives: as a member of a local Tribe, as someone who had been relocated here during the Indian Relocation Act, and as an AIAN community member who has recently moved to Los Angeles. Jacob filmed interviews with Keith Vielle (Blackfeet Nation), Pamela Villaseñor (Fernandeño Tataviam), and Janae Collins (Dakota and Crow) in a location or setting that was meaningful to them. Through the interview process, a common theme emerged, which Jacob used to weave their stories together: how each person has experienced and overcome erasure and invisibility.
Learn More
Learn more about Jacob's residency and his film, Erasure.
Watch Erasure by Jacob Pratt.
Jacob Pratt is Dakota and Ojibway, and a Los Angeles resident since 2015. As an artist, Jacob is a pow wow and hoop dancer and has trained in contemporary and ballet dance. He is accomplished on the Native American flute; his debut album Eagle Calls won the Aboriginal People's Choice Award for Best Flute Album. He has performed live across the globe and appeared in film and television. In addition to co-hosting the Canadian TV series Wild Archeology, Jacob voiced a character on the animated show Louis Says and appeared in Outlander for Starz. Combining his arts and business education -- he has a Master of Science in social entrepreneurship, USC Marshall School of Business and a bachelor's in business administration, First Nations University of Canada -- Jacob has run multiple companies, earning him the CCAB 2016 National Youth Entrepreneurship of the Year Award. For his production company Skoden Entertainment, Jacob has worked on projects for Disney Channel's Use Your Voice campaign, for which he received a Clio Award, and a mini-series broadcast in Canada and the US. Jacob considers himself a business professional with the heart of an artist. His ultimate goal is to use his skills and experience to increase diversity and inclusion within the entertainment industry.
The Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission (LANAIC) was created through a joint effort by members of the Los Angeles Native American community, the City of Los Angeles, and the County of Los Angeles. LANAIC was officially established by the County of Los Angeles on June 25, 1976. The primary purpose of LANAIC is to improve the health and well-being of the Los Angeles American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) community. It accomplishes its purpose through many strategies, including but not limited to increasing the acquisition of funding resources available to the AIAN community, advocating for policy that will improve the health and well-being of AIAN people, and gathering and disseminating information about AIAN people in Los Angeles County. In performing these functions, the Commission will represent the interests and concerns of AIAN people of all tribal and cultural backgrounds, religious convictions, gender identities, and social circumstances.