CONSCIENCE POINT IS A NEVER ENDING WAR

Digging graves is a motivator for a long time activist.

The Shinnecock Nation has been residing in the Hamptons area for many generations.  They have been using the land located on the Eastern Seaboard of the New York State as a means to their livelihood, many of them fishermen or farmers which still exists today even though it has been reduced over the years.   That is because the area has been what is called “overdeveloped” is now a high-class getaway for the elite in New York.  In such a short period of time, the wealthy have come to the reserved lands of the Shinnecock Nations and have developed multi-million homes from multi-millionaires if not billionaires.  What was once land for the Shinnecock to strive in for their peoples has now been taken away from them along with their voice right to the term that a lot of us are uncomfortable with that being colonization.

Director Treva Wurmfeld gives you a smooth journalistic but right to the point style of documentary that shows both sides of the coin and why this gentrification is occurring and will continue to reduce the identity and livelihood of Shinnecock Nation.  Conscience Point is an area in the Hamptons where the focus of the film Becky-Hill Genia goes to remind herself of the importance of preserving her culture and sovereignty where they all once settled many generations ago.  The long-time activist of the American Indian Movement has sacrificed her blood, sweat, tears and even her teeth to fight against those who are taking the land right below her nose.

Now that there is so much development in the Hamptons, the environmental issues become apparent as we have seen time and time again with overdevelopment, deforestation and fracking.  Amongst the beauty of millionaire homes comes the nightmare of polluting which comes in the form of pesticide use and the erosion of the groundwater, soil, lakes and beaches through construction and rising population numbers.  Where there was once nests of scallops, mussels and clams now are barely existing in the waters in which the Shinnecock residents used to make their livelihood.  The drinking water has gone downhill in the community which is already vulnerable and becomes more susceptible to disease and cancer.  This nightmare continues for the Shinnecock Nation as they become suppressed into a serving role for the middle and upper-class which means low-paying and unfulfilling jobs.  The thing that infuriates the Shinnecock Nation the most is when land is taken away from them where their ancestors have been buried and where their bones are dug up and thrown into a dumpster.

Becky-Hill Genia is Conscience Point

The Shinnecock Hills Golf Course is an area where much of these burial grounds have been removed for entertainment and luxury.  This golf course has a worldwide appeal as it hosted the 2018 US Open which brought in multi-million dollars into the economy.  Tourists, golf fans and all their entourages all headed down to the Hamptons that year to become part of this yearly spectacle of the American culture.  This is where Becky-Hill Genia had enough as she set up shop for a peaceful protest on the shoulders of the roads leading to the Shinnecock Hills Golf Course with signs that said that the USGA was desecrating her people.  This all looks like a David and Goliath type story but when it comes to millions of dollars and where the velocity of the money is high coming in, it is quite the longshot that Becky-Hill Genia will even be looked at to stake her claim.  Ironically, the tournament made so much money on the merchandising of this US Open that featured a logo of a Shinnecock Indian.  Is this the way to give credit or honour the people who were the first settlers of the land?

Conscience Point has to be one of our favourites here on FERNTV during the Planet in Focus Film Festival for many reasons that shouldn’t be surprising.  Director Treva Wurmfeld sticks to the point and doesn’t waste anytime or footage of bringing the issue to the audience and why there is an issue.  She is really lucky to have found an activist like Becky-Hill Genia who is a well-spoken straight shooter who doesn’t take any shit which leads the film in the right direction.  By focusing on her, the film moves right along to capture all the events and issues between the Shinnecock Nations and the elite.  The unethical act of gravedigging and throwing ancestral burial bones in a dumpster would anger any person and that it is more than a motivator for anyone to seek peace and justice.  Becky-Hill Genia shows that her fight is worth it and that some form of closure must be met.  Director Treva Wurmfeld does that so in her documentary Conscience Point which doesn’t leave the audience hanging even though this is a never-ending war.

https://www.consciencepointfilm.com/