the pathstar blog

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Theater 39, The Embarcadero and Beach Street, San Francisco
Sunday, Feb. 07, 2010, 10:00 AM  - 12:30 PM
Purchase tickets through www.oceanfilmfest.org

FROM THE BADLANDS TO  ALCATRAZ

“This film invites us all to reconsider our limitations as we watch youth and elders make the impossible journey possible.” Lewis MehlMadrona, MD (”Coyote Medicine”)

Special Guest Appearances by Lakota PATHSTAR swimmers

“From the rugged sandstone of the Badlands to the broad blue expanse of San Francisco Bay, the film documents a seemingly impossible journey for young Lakota Sioux, encompassing geographic, cultural, physical, and spiritual challenges. “From the Badlands to Alcatraz” is a beautifully crafted, awe-inspiring journey, spreading hope and enthusiasm from its unlikely Alcatraz swimmers to its viewers who are sure to fall under its spell.” Judy Irving (”The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill”)

Click here learn more about Pine Ridge conditions.

This is one of the most beautiful and inspiring documentaries I have ever seen!”Lynne Cox (”Swimming to Antarctica”)

From the Badlands to Alcatraz weaves the past and present of both Alcatraz and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation into a vivid depiction of the awe-inspiring journey five Lakota youth – Alkapoane White Calf, Lisa and Kelly Water, and Arlo and Philip Iron Cloud – navigate as they arrive in San Francisco from South Dakota and prepare for the extreme challenge of swimming from Alcatraz Island to the San Francisco Shore in September 2005. It follows the group’s first plunge into the San Francisco bay through their personal and collective challenges, disappointments, and triumphs as they strive to conquer both the Alcatraz swim and the dispiritedness connected to conditions on Pine Ridge. Richard Iron Cloud, the first Lakota to do this swim in 2003, and these five, willing to dare themselves into achieving the ‘unachievable,’ are the stars of the film, the deserving recipients of the tribute “You are an inspiration, not only to the Lakotas, but to everyone who wishes to go the ‘extra mile’ in their lives.”

SAVE THE DATE!! Our documentary “From the Badlands to Alcatraz” has been selected for the 34th annual American Indian Film Festival. It will screen Wednesday, November 11, in the noon program at the Embarcadero Center Cinema, One Embarcadero Center, San Francisco.

It’s happened!! Our seventh annual PATHSTAR Alcatraz swim took place October 12. Cheered on by the crowd who were on Alcatraz Island for the Indigenous People’s Day sunrise ceremony, Tamatane I’atala (Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine RIdge, SD), Nakina Mills (Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge, SD), Terry Mills (Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge, SD) and Odin Peter-Raboff (Gwich’in Athabascan from Interior Alaska) jumped from the M/V Dauntless and, with an escort of swimmers, rowboats, kayaks, paddle boards, and power boats, swam the crossing successfully.

The Alcatraz swim was the culmination of our 2009 San Francisco based program which included practice swims in the San Francisco bay, hiking up and down San Francisco hills, walking the Golden Gate Bridge, Pilates, yoga, meditation, kayaking, visits to ER Taylor Elementary School and Presidio Hill Elementary School, nutrition education and food preparation. Always, special thanks to the South End Rowing Club for the enthusiastic community welcome to the PATHSTAR guests. Huge thanks to everyone who donated, coached, taught, piloted, shopped, cooked, shared so generously of time and wisdom and generally cheered us on. Your energy, enthusiasm, and contributions make PATHSTAR a vibrant healthy community.

It’s coming up soon!! Our seventh annual PATHSTAR Pine Ridge/San Francisco program will be taking place October 5-12. The Alcatraz swim will take place on October 12. We will be welcoming some returnees and newcomers from Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, and we will be expanding our horizons this year to include a member of the Athabascan tribe from Fairfanks, Alaksa. The group will participate in a week of events focusing on healthful life style and nutritional habits culminating with the swim from Alcatraz.

Our guests will take back their experiences and ideas to help influence change in their communities. We need your support to help make this our best year yet. Please let us know if you would like to help and in what capacity.

SWIM HELP: Each PATHSTAR swimmer will need a ‘buddy’ swimmer to accompany them each time they enter the water, starting with their first swim October 5 through the Alcatraz swim. No cold water swimming programs exist in South Dakota or inland Alaska, and most of the guests have limited swimming experience. Therefore a calm, reassuring countenance and bay swimming experience are much more important than coaching ability. Please contact Trudy Molina (510-332-9057: tmolina@cwo.com) to volunteer for swim help.

PILOTING: We will need pilots and co-pilots for our October 11 practice swim and the October 12 Alcatraz swim. Please contact Jon Meyer (jonmeyer_sf@yahoo.com: 415-606-5314) to volunteer for pilot help.

BREAKFAST OCTOBER 12: Please contact Tina Lowden (tina@lowdenassoc.com: 510-530-0623) to help with our post-Alcatraz breakfast preparation and cleanup.

GENERAL SUPPORT: As is the case for many organizations, we have had increasing costs and financial challenges this year. Any and all financial donations are hugely appreciated. Please send donations to

PATHSTAR
601 Van Ness Suite E711
San Francisco, CA 94102-3200

And, if you have a way you’d like to volunteer that doesn’t fit the abovecategories, please let us know: info@pathstar.org.

Dear PATHSTAR friends and supporters,

We want to express our appreciation for your continued encouragement and support. Huge thanks to everyone who was able to join us at our fundraiser on May 15 at the Fior D’Italia Restaurant in San Francisco! Your energy, enthusiasm and contributions made the event a vibrant and successful occasion.
Our seventh annual PATHSTAR Pine Ridge/San Francisco program will be taking place October 5-12.

The Alcatraz swim will take place on October 12. We will bring another varied group of Lakota people from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and other communities to participate in a week of events focusing on healthful life style and nutritional habits culminating with the swim from Alcatraz.

Our guests will take back their experiences and ideas to help influence change in their communities. We ask for your contributions and support to help make this year our best yet. We have had various offers of help and encourage any of you who are interested in volunteering for the program this year to get in touch with us. We do not want to leave anyone out so please let us know if you would like to help and in what capacity.

More here.

You don’t want to miss our fund-raising reception, complete with raffle prizes, wine and hors d’oeuvres! Plus! A sneak preview of the new documentary, From the Badlands to Alcatraz, showing Pathstar’s mission in action.

Fior d'Italia

When and where: Friday, May 15, 2009 6:00 PM-8:00 PM, Fior D’Italia Restaurant, 2237 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA 94133 (415-986-1886).

Please RSVP to 415.626.5426  or info@pathstar.org

“It’s a long way from South Dakota to San Francisco. But the distance has grown smaller for Lakota tribal members featured in the film ‘From the Badlands to Alcatraz’. The flim premiered recently in Rapid City, Hot Springs and on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

On today’s Dakota Digest, SDPB’s Jim Kent visits with veterans of the Alcatraz Swim to ask why they did it, and what they learned.”

HOT SPRINGS – From the Badlands to Alcatraz, a film chronicling an intensive swim training program, will be featured at the Red Rock River Resort on Saturday, March 14, at 7 p.m. The film recounts the experiences of five young Lakota during the September 2005 San Francisco Pathstar Pine Ridge Alcatraz swim program.

Dr. Nancy Iverson, a South Dakota native, California pediatrician, and founder of the Pathstar program, has arranged for a panel discussion following the film, which will feature a fair number of former participants.

For more of this story click here.

From the Norman Transcript.

Baker joins elite company with activist efforts

Michael Kinney
The Norman Transcript

Caitlin Baker is once again showing a person can never be too young to make a difference. 

The 14-year old Norman athlete was chosen by the Women’s Sports Foundation to feature in the future Billie Jean King International Women’s Sports Center. 

Baker caught the attention of the Foundation when she started her own non-profit organization called C.A.I.T.L.I.N. B., which stands for Competitive American Indians Turning Lifestyles Into New Beginnings. 

Despite her young age, Baker works to promote swimming, sports participation and healthy lifestyles to Native American youth. She will also be featured on Good Morning America for her work. 

Read the rest here.

The next Alcatraz swim is set for Monday, Oct. 6, with an estimated start time of 7 AM. Read the story in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Read the rest here.

And check out biographies of the swimmers here