A Community Discussion Guide

A Community Discussion Guide

The Vermont Movie Screening and Discussion Series is presented by The Vermont Humanities Council, The Vermont Department of Libraries and Freedom & Unity: The Vermont Movie. Credits for this booklet: Text written by Gary Miller Booklet created by Louise Michaels Special thanks to John Moody, Alan Berolzheimer and Amy Cunningham 2014 Upper Valley Arts / The Vermont Movie Collaborative

Welcome to Freedom & Unity: The Vermont Movie. Our goal in this discussion guide is to suggest questions and topics that can generate discussions in your community. Our film series is not like a conventional documentary. Several dozen Vermont filmmakers collaborated to make it, so, not unlike a state, our series incorporates many visions and points of view. We took our cameras and sound equipment into the community to talk to farmers and historians, politicians, Abenakis, back-to-the-landers, immigrants, artists, and activists to record their stories and ideas about life in Vermont, past, present, and future. While some of the film is historical and progresses in a chronological order, much of it is thematic. Our view is that history is not linear: some aspects of life in Vermont have not changed, some are going back to older ways, and some are moving forward. Likewise our film moves back and forth in time. We encourage you to think about your own community in this way. How has it changed? How has it remained the same? We showed our film series to audiences all across the state of Vermont. Many fascinating discussions took place after these screenings. Now we want to hear your voices. Sharing your ideas about how the films connect to life in your community and Vermont will help make The Vermont Movie a richer and more rewarding experience for everyone. Let us know what transpires at your screenings. We welcome your thoughts and will post them at www.. Sincerely, Nora Jacobson, Dorothy Tod, and Nat Winthrop Freedom & Unity, The Vermont Movie info@thevermontmovie.com

Table of Contents Part One: A Very New Idea... Page 1 Part Two: Under the Surface... Page 2 Part Three: Refuge, Reinvention, and Revolution... Page 2 Part Four: Doers and Shapers... Page 3 Part Five: Ceres Children... Page 4 Part Six: People s Power... Page 6

1 Part One: A Very New Idea The earliest people in Vermont the Abenaki have been here for thousands of years. Europeans first arrived with French explorer Samuel de Champlain s visit in 1609. 150 years later, the English began carving out homesteads. This blending of cultures, and the impact of early settlement patterns and customs, can still be seen and felt in Vermont today. Vermont became a refuge for some African American settlers, and later for former slaves traveling north via the Underground Railroad. Finally, Vermont s role in the Civil War reminds us that, despite occasional missteps, Freedom & Unity Vermont s state motto continues to chart the state s course today. For Community Dialogue What parts of this segment of the film resonate most with you? Why? Long ago, Abenaki, European and African American people both blended and clashed. Is your own community homogeneous or diverse in life style, economics, class and culture? Do you know how many people in your own community have Native American or African American ancestry? Vermont is still considered one of the whitest states in America. Do you believe that to be true? Do you see evidence of Abenaki culture in your community today? What aspects of native culture and customs are still practiced in your community in terms of hunting, fishing, gathering, trapping, agriculture? How does the notion of dissent as expressed by early Vermonters such as Ethan Allen play a role in your community? How does the state motto, Freedom & Unity, apply to life in 19thcentury Vermont? How does this motto continue to apply today? From the Film At 00:35, Jesse Larocque discusses his multiple identities: Abenaki, Vermonter, French and American. What identities and ethnic groups are reflected in your community? 1

2 Part Two: Under the Surface In the mid-1800s, Vermont experienced its winter : People were leaving Vermont in droves. But new immigrants from Europe were arriving at the same time. Their skills in the stone industry and Vermont s rich granite and marble beds provided the foundations for one of the state s biggest industries. Immigrants from Italy, Ireland, Scotland, and other European nations brought their values and ideas to Vermont with them, making a dramatic impact on labor and politics. Tensions grew between workers and owners; between the state and federal government; between townspeople and hill farmers, rich and poor. Later, another kind of immigrant arrived the urban intellectual who began to reshape the state with a new set of ideals. For Community Dialogue What parts of this segment surprised you? Why? How have peoples from other parts of the world impacted Vermont? How did the rise of Socialism, Anarchism, and union activism in the late 19th century pave the way for Vermont s current political climate? In what ways do rural populations in Vermont continue to struggle? What might your community do to help? What drew urban intellectuals to Vermont? How did they change life here? Why is Vermont a refuge to outsiders? From the Film The segment starting at 50:35 profiles former governor George Aiken. How did Aiken s brand of Republicanism differ from what came before? What were the reasons for this difference? What, if any, is the impact of Aiken on Vermont s current political climate? 3 Part Three: Refuge, Reinvention and Revolution In Vermont, independence and creativity are an ingrained part of the culture. Artists, artisans, and creative thinkers are tolerated and respected. These ideals are reflected in daily life, in agricultural and 2

industrial innovation, and in the political system. For these reasons, Vermont has both attracted and been nourished by independent, even revolutionary citizens whose ideas have had dramatic impact on the broader world. For Community Dialogue How have French Canadians and Franco-Americans impacted Vermont? How have peoples from other places including rest of the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe impacted Vermont? Where can you see evidence of Vermont s tradition of innovation and creativity in your community today? What made the election of Phil Hoff such a pivotal moment in Vermont politics? How has this moment changed our state? What elements of life in Vermont made it a refuge to outsiders? Do you think this is still true today? Would it surprise you to learn that the Abenaki homeland here in the 17th and 18th centuries was a refuge for many other Native, African-American, and other peoples? In what ways were the efforts of back to the landers both traditional and radical? How have their ideas impacted your community? From the Film The segment starting at 18:55 examines the impact of the building of Interstate 89 on life in Vermont. What have been the positive and negative effects of the highway s construction in your community? How does technology play a similar role today? 4 Part Four: Doers and Shapers In communities around Vermont, education its size, shape, configuration, content, and cost is continually evolving. Development and land use issues have served as focal points of community debate, as have civil rights issues such as civil unions and gay marriage. These discussions have been influenced by the contributions of Vermonters past and present, as well as our traditions of participatory democracy. 3

For Community Dialogue Where can you find John Dewey s educational philosophies reflected in your community? Do you think a hands-on education makes sense for Vermont today? Why or why not? What is the balance between preservation and development in your community? In your opinion, is the balance a good one or might it be shifted in one way or another? Why? How does Vermont s conservation ethic differ from that of other states? Do you think Vermont s conservation ethic is unique? How have differing opinions about development and land use affected life in your own community? What makes Vermont a leader in progressive reform from education to health care and civil rights? What have been divisive issues in your community? How has your community resolved them? From the Film At 49:10, a gay couple describes their experience in Vermont from their arrival in the 1970s to today. What do you think created the atmosphere of tolerance toward them in their community? How has their experience differed from that of members of the GLBTQ community in Vermont in the past and present? How did the Civil Union debate impact your community? What were the positives and negatives to emerge from the struggle over civil unions in Vermont? 5 Part Five: Ceres Children Vermont s agricultural traditions extend back to its indigenous roots thousands of years ago. For many years, the dairy industry has served as the public face of agriculture in Vermont. But with traditional family dairy farms on the decline and the negative aspects of our industrial food system increasing in public consciousness, a smaller, more diverse agricultural system has begun to thrive. A new kind of 4

farmer is combining the best of traditional agriculture with the best of modern practices in farming and land use to create a system that is sustainable and responsive to local needs. For Community Dialogue What role does town meeting play in your community? Do you think it serves the need for local government effectively? Why or why not? What positions in your town are on the town s payroll? What positions are filled by volunteers? Where does your drinking water come from? What human activities, if any, pose a risk to your water supply? How can Vermonters minimize risks to their water system? Have farming practices changed in your community? How many farms are there? What part does farming play in your community s economy? Do you think it is possible to restore the waterways, our air, and our land to the unpolluted levels found here before non-native peoples arrived here in the 17th century? Do the schools, stores and restaurants in your area use local food? How important is organic food and buying local to you? Are there farmer s markets in your area? Who shops at them in your community? What does independence mean to you? What does sustainable mean to you? From the Film The segment starting at 37:45 speaks to the challenges of traditional dairy farming in Vermont. What options are available to dairy farmers in Vermont today? Why are some choosing to abandon traditional dairying practices for a smaller-scale, more diversified approach? Why are some increasing the size of their operations instead of diversifying? 5

6 Part Six: People s Power Vermont is not immune to debates and struggles over self-sufficiency and energy. The question of where our energy supply should come from has divided communities and the state as a whole. While Vermont s motto is Freedom and Unity, its residents are not always unified in their approach to identifying problems and developing solutions. While one group of activists struggles to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, another group protests wind turbines in Lowell a debate over scale, aesthetics, and environmental impacts. Finally, the devastating impacts of Hurricane Irene reveal the power not only of nature, but of people and community. For Community Dialogue How important is energy independence to your community? Is the impact of lobbying in Vermont a positive or a negative one? Why do you think so? Why have issues surrounding energy proved so contentious in Vermont and elsewhere? What are the obligations of those of us who live in the present to protect the sacred sites, burial grounds, and traditional subsistence grounds of indigenous peoples who have lived here since ancient times? How was your community affected by Hurricane Irene or other recent storms and floods? From the Film The segment starting at 1:00 shows the impact of Hurricane Irene and Vermont s response to it. How might the resilience of Vermont s communities, connections among our community members, and the town meeting model prepare Vermont for the challenges posed by energy issues and climate change? 6

To sign up for the Screening and Discussion Series, visit: vermonthumanities.org or contact Max Matthews mmatthews@vermonthumanities.org 802-262-1355 Subsidies for the purchase of Public Performance Rights are available to selected public libraries by the Vermont Department of Libraries. For more information, contact Brittney Wilson Executive Assistant to the State Librarian brittney.wilson@state.vt.us 802-828-3266 If you want more information about our film, contact info@thevermontmovie.com 802-649-3242 An in-depth index of all the topics covered in the film is available for download at: www.thevermontmovie.com/pdfs/film_index.pdf

The Vermont Movie Discussion Series is presented with vermonthumanities.org Library subsidies provided by libraries.vermont.gov/