Indigenous Roots Productions

The strongest storytelling work is rarely built alone.

In IRP’s process, collaboration matters not only because it makes projects possible, but because it helps keep the work grounded in relationship, context, and mutual respect. That does not mean every step is easy or simple. It means the process is shaped by people, not just by output.

We believe storytelling should be relational.

Agree?







📍San Miguel Tecuiciapan, GRO, MX

Some of the most meaningful work in preservation is not fast.

It begins with attention — to place, to people, to process, and to the responsibility of how stories are carried forward. At IRP, patience is not separate from the work. It is part of the ethic behind it.

Not everything meaningful announces itself immediately. Sometimes it asks to be observed carefully first.

Share this to your story if it resonates.

Photo:

What does it actually take to get the work done?

This field recording day meant hauling cameras, audio gear, stands, cables, power, backups, monitoring equipment, and more into a remote setting — then making sure it all worked well enough to honor the music, the place, and the moment with care.

A lot of this work is not glamorous. It is preparation, problem-solving, patience, and carrying a great deal into places where the story is already waiting.

And still, these are often the days that remind us why the process matters.

Comment if you want more behind-the-scenes from the process.



🎺 Música de Viento del Alto Balsas
(Post music not from band; stay tuned for full live session directly from San Miguel Tecuiciapan)

When people think of history, they often think first of archives, dates, and official records. Those matter. But oral history matters in IRP’s work because memory, language, lived experience, and community knowledge often carry cultural meaning that formal records cannot fully hold.

Memory work in oral history does more than recall events; it helps reveal how people make meaning from past experience. Moreover, oral history is valued in scholarship because it contributes to understanding the nature of memory, interpretation, and historical complexity.

Save this if you believe lived experience belongs in the historical record.



Slide 3:
Other images: 📍 San Miguel Tecuiciapan

One lesson oral history research teaches us about story:

Some of the most important things a community carries are not always found first in formal records. They live in memory, in language, in music, in lived experience, and in what people choose to pass on to one another.

This project reminded us that story is not only something to document. It is also something that helps keep people connected — to family, to identity, to history, and to each other.

That lesson continues to shape how we understand cultural preservation and why oral history matters.

❓Have you ever learned something about your family or culture through a story someone shared?

🎥 Sights and Sounds of the Assyrian Diaspora: Art in Response to Statelessness
✍🏼

(qitawa)

People often first encounter Indigenous Roots Productions through a film still, a short clip, or a project update. But the work has always been broader than any one output.

IRP is built around oral history, cultural preservation, ethical collaboration, sound and music documentation, and education. The visible result may be a film, recording, workshop, or public presentation, but underneath that is a longer process of listening, preparation, relationship, and responsibility.

As we continue sharing more consistently again, this felt like an important place to pause and name the work more clearly.

Save this to share IRP with someone new.

Some of you have been here with Indigenous Roots Productions for years. Some of you may be newer to this page. Either way, we wanted to begin this next stretch with something simple:

We’re still here.

Even when we’ve been quieter online, the work has not stopped. Indigenous-rooted storytelling, relationship-building, editing, reflection, and the long, often unseen labor of doing this work with care have continued.

At the same time, IRP is also being built more intentionally as an organization — not only through research productions, but through the long-term work of strengthening the foundation, capacity, and stability needed to support this mission well.

IRP was never built to move fast just for visibility. It’s being built to move with intention, respect, and responsibility.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll be sharing more of what our work means, what it takes, and where we’re headed as we continue building.

For those who have stayed connected, thank you.

What part of cultural preservation matters most to you: language, story, music, or memory?

Happy Assyrian New Year to the millions of us around the world! As we carry on Indigenous traditions of a nation surviving into our 6776th year, how do we engage with our identity and community?

IRP’s research suggests that actively practicing art forms - from individual works of painting to group settings of singing - proves effective as a concrete response to Statelessness.

By expressing your Assyrian experience in your desired art form you connect with your heritage and ancestors. By sharing that art, you meet and empower other Assyrians around the world.

Through art we overcome Statelessness and our roots dig even deeper 🗺️

Featured Pictured Artists:
Rabel Betshmuel, Esther Elia, Paul Batou, Shibla Betshmuel, and Personal Family Member