Screening of BADUWA’T at Dell’Arte’s 35th Baduwa’t Festival on July 12th

This is a press release from Dell’Arte International:

As part of the 35th Baduwa’t Festival, Dell’Arte International presents a screening of a documentary film close to our heart and important to our home.

BADUWA’T is a project of the Baduwa’t Watershed Council, co-directed and produced by Michelle Hernandez and Dave Feral and co-produced by Lynette Nutter. A discussion with Feral and others will follow the screening. This film tells the powerful story of the Baduwa’t River—its deep importance to our community, its uncertain future, and the urgent need to Restore, Reclaim, and Protect it for generations to come.

Baduwa’t, also known as the Mad River, is one of the most remote watersheds in Northern California. For the Wiyot people, it’s never been Mad, it’s always been Baduwa’t. The Wiyot tribe had managed this watershed sustainably for thousands of years until 1849 when colonizers, seeking to claim a safe harbor for the U.S. Military and the quickest way to transport goods from the North Coast to San Francisco, erroneously named the river Mad – that name was adopted by the United States government, but not the Wiyot tribe.

Since then, Baduwa’t faces threats that could mean the end of a unique watershed. Not only is this river a climate refuge for wildlife and fisheries, it’s also the drinking water for over 90% of Humboldt County’s population.

Reclaiming the name Baduwa’t brings the Wiyot tribe recognition of a watershed occupied and managed traditionally by them and neighboring tribes for thousands of years.

The filmmakers reveal how poor land management practices have impacted the Baduwa’t ecosystem, and how applying tribal traditional ways and improved land practices can shift the balance toward recovery and can significantly impact the ecological balance and the community.

This film shows one night only on Saturday, July 12 at the Carlo Theater, 131 H Street, Blue Lake.  The house will open at 7:00pm for a 7:30pm showing.

Tickets are $15 and available at the door, by phone, and online at dellarte.com.For more information, please visit dellarte.com.

ABOUT THE BADUWA’T FESTIVAL

Formerly known as the Mad River Festival, the Baduwa’t Festival is a beloved summer event celebrating the performing arts, music, and connection. In Soulatluk, the Wiyot language, Baduwa’t is the name for what white settlers later called the Mad River. The festival name change was approved by Wiyot leaders in Spring 2021 and Dell’Arte is honored to support the work of the Wiyot Tribe to revitalize the language by using the original name of the river for the festival name.  Read about the first 25 years of the Festival in the words of Joan Schirle here.

2025 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE:

June 20–22, 27–29, July 5–6  — Love’s the Best Doctor – Dell’Arte Company Mainstage Show

July 12 — Screening:  Baduwa’t Documentary

July 18 & 19 —  Red Light Cabaret 

July 22–26 —  Humboldt Folklife Festival

August 1 — Screening:  Dell’Arte Prison Arts Program Documentary

August 3— Annie & Mary Day Parade 

ABOUT DELL’ARTE INTERNATIONAL

Dell’Arte International is a unique institution in North America. Its training programs attract students from around the world, with more than 1,000 graduates from 41 countries since the formation of the school in 1975. As one of only a handful of professional ensemble-based theaters in the United States, Dell’Arte is internationally recognized for its work to push the boundaries of physical theater, its actor-creator training programs, and for pioneering “theater of place.”

Dell’Arte, Tsawitsguquk Hougawuqul (the work of being comical), is a guest on the unceded ancestral and aboriginal lands of the Wiyot People, which includes the Bear River & Blue Lake Rancheria. Blue Lake is known as Dadiqhoughuk, which means; trail descending & where the trail comes down. We are grateful that the Wiyot People continue to remain in relationship with these lands through ceremony, culture, and stewardship and they are an important part of the history of this area but also in continuing knowledge of this place.