David de Rozas

'The Teachings of the Hands' overwrites colonial cartographies and extractivist economies with the cosmological consciousness of indigenous people and the history of their suppression. Observational landscape views, archival footage, ancient imagery, and environmental wounds caused by infrastructural development are punctuated by re-enactments of gestures of colonial occupation. These visually compelling sequences are oriented by a narrative voiceover solely entrusted to Juan Mancias, Chairman of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas. Wielding ownership over the storyline, Mancias brings forth the perspective of indigenous people and asserts how the cosmological value of tribal epistemologies is based on a profound relationship to the environment and knowledge of the elements. The film powerfully denounces the desecration of the land and the continuous struggle of the indigenous people against ongoing forms of erasure and exploitation.