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The University of New Mexico

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Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, 277-1593, michal@unm.edu

October 12, 2007

UNM Screens Film on 2,000 Mile Hopi Run for Water

The University of New Mexico Department of Native American Studies will present a screening of “PAATUWAQATSI H2Opi Run to Mexico,” a film documenting a 2,000 mile trek from the Hopi mesas to Mexico City to carry a message to the 2006 World Water Forum. The film will be shown on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Anthropology Lecture Hall, room 163.

“PAATUWAQATSI” is directed, shot and edited by Victor Masayesva, Jr. and produced by Black Mesa Trust, a nonprofit organization founded by traditional Hopi farmers and elders to save their aquifer for future generations of Hopi and Navajo children. The director and several runners will participate in the UNM screening.

In the documentary the footfalls of a 78-year-old man and a 13-year-old girl resonate with the sound of sea shells as they run the dirt roads that will take them the 2,000 miles from northern Arizona to Mexico City. They were among 26 runners from the Hopi villages who carried a gourd of water gathered from international waters to convey the message “Water is Life” to world leaders.

For more information contact Beverly Singer at 277-3027 or Native American Studies at 277-3917.


The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.

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