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Honoring of Indigenous People & Film Screening of “The Eternal Song”
Panel Discussion, Traditional Native Food Reception, Film Screening & Discussion
Friday, November 21^st, 2025
5:00pm to 9:00pm Pacific Time
Irvine Auditorium
Middlebury Institute of International Studies
499 Pierce Street, Monterey, CA 93940
Free, open to the public, registration required

About the Event

You are warmly invited to this community event honoring local indigenous women leaders and an exclusive screening of “The Eternal Song” to be held at the Irvine Auditorium at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Doors open at 4:30pm.

The event commences at 5pm with a special panel discussion to honor local indigenous women leaders from the Rumsen Ohlone Tribal Community and Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, as part of the Jan Knippers Black Award for contributions to human rights. This session will be followed by a brief intermission with a traditional native food offering from 6-6:30pm.

The film screening of “The Eternal Song” will start at 6:30pm, followed by a Q & A with the filmmakers: Maurizio & Zaya Benazzo and cinematographer, Caroline Campbell. This event is co-sponsored by the Jan Knippers Black Fund for Human Rights Protection, Conflict Transformation Collaborative, and the Big Sur Land Trust. Please click on “Get your Ticket,” so we can anticipate the number of attendees.

About the Film

The Eternal Song is a cinematic journey through timeless lands and their Indigenous cultures. Voices from around the world and across generations call us to witness the deep, ongoing scars of colonization on lands and peoples, and the healing that comes through ancestral wisdom. Entrusted with medicine stories, we grapple with colonial legacies, intergenerational trauma, our own fragmentation and culture of separation.

The film reveals how modernity severs our connection to nature, each other, and the ancestral realm, while feeding us empty promises of salvation, unlimited consumption and economic growth, and individual happiness. As we are drawn into the intricate web of kinship and honoring the living presence of Mother Earth, we awaken a remembrance. A sacred dance comes to life and we begin to hear the eternal song of Life itself, calling us back to belonging.

Event Schedule

4:30pm  Doors Open
5:00pm  Panel Discussion to honor local Indigenous women leaders
6:00pm  Traditional Food Offering/Reception
6:30pm  Film Screening (run time 1 hour 32 min)
8:00pm  Discussion with filmmakers & cinematographer

Panelists, Filmmakers, and Moderator

• , Rumsen Scholar & Elder of the
• Environmental Educator for CA State Parks & Rumsen Ohlone Tribal Community member
• Cari Herthel, Head Woman Elder & Cultural Ambassador to Education and Community Relations of the
• Jana NasonTribal Administrator,  Secretary, & Publications Chair of the
• Professor Marie Butcher, Program Head & Lead Professor, English for Academic and Professional Purposes, moderator and event hostess

Event Location: Irvine Auditorium, McCone Building

The McCone Building is located at 499 Pierce Street, Monterey, CA, 93940, on the campus of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Attendees should enter through the glass doors from Pierce Street, and the Irvine Auditorium is located inside to the left. View the

Registration

This is a free event, open to the public.  . 

Parking

Parking is available in any Middlebury Institute campus lot after 5 p.m., no parking permit required, no fee.  View the   Free parking is also available on the street (time limits on surrounding streets end at 6 p.m.).

Questions

Contact Marie Butcher at mbutcher@miis.edu  or call Rachel Christopherson at the Center for the Blue Economy at (831) 647-4183.

Sponsored by: Kathryn Wasserman Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation; Academic Programs - MIIS