Support indigenous communities sharing their stories through their voices.

Articles

If you go to the Indigenous Roots Productions website, be prepared to learn what a nonprot startup can do if it marries a passion for modern multimedia technology with a commitment to unearthing and preserving Indigenous people's stories of their lives today and long ago.

IRP, an Oral History Association partner organization, is the brainchild of Samuel (Shmuel) Tamo, a former history teacher turned lmmaker and oral historian, who readily credits OHA resources related to research methods and ethical oral history practice to inform his work.

Tamo, who was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, is himself an Indigenous Assyrian, like well over a half-million others in the United States who are part of the larger stateless diaspora of Assyrians living their lives far from the region of ancient Mesopotamia that was their homeland.

Tamo's first foray into preserving Indigenous culture and traditions was documenting the lives of about a dozen Assyrians who live in Chicago and turning the oral history interviews into a 45- minute film, "Sights and Sounds of the Assyrian Diaspora: Art in Response to Statelessness."

The lm features interviews with Assyrians who have immigrated to the United States or who were born here and includes examples of their work as a poet, composer, visual artists and musicians.

His current project, "Watering Seeds in Mexico," for which funding is in process, is a partnership with the Náhuas del Alto Balsas Indigenous community in a dry, mountainous region in southern Mexico. The project is seeking funds to support production of two lms and an immersivvirtual e reality experience with the aim of reconnecting Indigenous Náhuatl people with those who are removed from their native time and place, whether elsewhere in Mexico or abroad.

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IRP Media and Research

Intern Publication

Torchbearers of Tomorrow:

The Realities of Indigenous Identities

Erika Sebastián Aguilar, an Indigenous Nahua woman from Mexico’s San Miguel Tecuiciapan, has borne the brunt of cultural erasure all her life. Her identity has been challenged and misrepresented often, furthering her perseverance. On February 21st, during International Mother Language Day, Aguilar described how local authorities “not only refused to participate, but also did not provide the space or speakers for the event.” In spite of these crushing circumstances, Aguilar’s Indigenous Náhuatl community forged onward through a self-organized celebration of identity.

For Indigenous populations globally, experiences such as Aguilar’s are commonplace. Authentic Indigenous stories are resilient yet seldom receive the recognition their richness deserves.

Modern-day knowledge regarding world history, particularly regarding marginalized communities, has been chronically deficient. Textbook readings implemented in classroom settings allot insufficient space, if any, to inform about global Indigenous populations. Adding to markedly inadequate representation, the world’s native communities are still improperly perceived in colonialist contexts.

The widespread and entrenched misunderstanding of existing Indigenous populations has led to the detriment of communities near and far. Consequently, such injustices are being tackled in light of realizing the irreplaceability of Indigenous identity... (Click to Read)

Little Rock City Lifestyle

Sharing Powerful Stories

Born and raised in Arkansas with Assyrian heritage, educator and filmmaker Shmuel Tamo employs art and a collaborative spirit to partner with Indigenous populations in sharing their powerful stories.

In 2023, Shmuel founded the non-profit Indigenous Roots Productions (IRP), which uses oral history as a research method, capturing firsthand accounts that can be passed down through generations. This approach honors Indigenous traditions while creating a lasting, community-centered record.

By providing Indigenous nations with filmmaking tools and knowledge, IRP fosters self-empowerment, enabling communities to preserve and share their cultures with full informed consent.

“The vision here, since we're using oral history research method, is to build a diverse, Indigenous archive supported by consistent methodology,” Shmuel says. “From there, we can look at local, regional and global patterns affecting Indigenous people around the world.”

IRP’s debut film, Sights and Sounds of the Assyrian Diaspora: Art in Response to Statelessness, features 13 Assyrians reflecting on how art helps them cope with the trauma of war and displacement. But IRP’s work doesn’t end at the Assyrian experience. Shmuel is committed to supporting any Indigenous nation seeking reclamation.

IRP’s current project, Espíritu, focuses on the Náhuatl village San Miguel Tecuiciapan in Mexico’s High Balsas region. The film showcases the community and its centuries-old Día de Muertos traditions, such as planting flowers, baking doll-shaped bread for departed children and making offerings at ancestral altars.

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MockingBird Incubator

Blog Feature

Incubator Member Spotlight: Shmuel Tamo of Indigenous Roots Productions — Mockingbird AnalyticsA conversation with Spring 2025 Mockingbird Incubator Alumni Samuel (Shmuel) Tamo, Founder and Executive Director of Indigenous Roots Productions.

Incubator Member Spotlight: Shmuel Tamo of Indigenous Roots Productions

From our Spring 2025 Nonprofit Incubator Program, we’re shining a spotlight on Samuel (Shmuel) Tamo, Founder & Executive Director of Indigenous Roots Productions. Indigenous Roots Productions (IRP) is a nonprofit organization that amplifies the self-empowerment of Indigenous communities around the world through collaborative oral history, research, filmmaking, and folkloric music production. IRP supports oral history and folkloric music, among the oldest shared cultural traditions, which offer a window into the values and worldviews of our ancestors. Film and music production provide avenues for Indigenous communities to teach others about their way of life while archiving their stories for preservation. IRP partners with Indigenous communities by facilitating the production and distribution of stories told by communities themselves. The research revealing these stories is supported by consistent, appropriate methodology and theory, producing a database of qualitative, diverse samples. Films and music produced by IRP and partner communities can help relieve these cultures from the obscurity that leads to marginalization.

As the grant recipient from Mockingbird Incubator’s Spring 2025 Cohort, we’re thrilled to share resources and further empower IRP to pursue its mission.

Jessica, Mockingbird Incubator Founder and CEO: So, tell me a little bit about everything that's going on since we last chatted this Spring!

Samuel (Shmuel) Tamo, IRP President: Well, it's great to see you, Jessica. Thank you. Been pretty busy with a number of projects, and IRP specifically has been able to grow a lot because of the work that we did in the Incubator. So, obviously, it was a huge milestone and threshold to break for the organization to get the grant.

It’s our first one, so that feels great. The application itself, the strategic plan, has also become the centerpiece for this new investment campaign that I'm working on. And, having been in a place just before I got accepted and joined in the incubator, having been in a place as a nonprofit founder who really believed in the organization, the mission, the vision and I was certain that [by] this point in time we would be taken care of, would be funded and people would realize the importance of IRP...

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