SYDNEY D. BEANE


DMT Filmmaker — Sydney (Syd) D. Beane was born in 1942 on the Mdewakanton Dakota/Flandreau Santee Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. His father was Sydney E. Beane a Nakota/Yankton Sioux Tribal member whose grandfather was Chief Blue Cloud. His mother Lillian M. Beane at 98years is the oldest living member of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe and the granddaughter of John Eastman who along with his father Jacob Many Lightnings Eastman and brother Charles Alexander Eastman were exiled from Minnesota after the 1862 Dakota War. Syd like his Eastman ancestors has been a life long educator, activist and organizer for American Indian concerns locally and nationally. He is generally recognized as one of the leading authorities in the country on the relocation and aftermath of American Indians into the cities from rural reservation communities.

His educational experience includes college and graduate degrees with related teaching positions at a Minnesota high school, Arizona State University, and San Francisco State University. He has administered American Indian Center organizations in Phoenix, AZ and Lincoln, NE while also serving as Assistant to the Executive Director of Intertribal Council of Arizona and Chairman of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribal Holding Company. His work in media began in Phoenix during the 1970’s where he was for 8 years the Co-host of the 21st Century Native Americans TV talk show on a major network. While working in California, Syd became a founder of the Native Media & Technology Network (NMTN) which recruits and trains American Indian youth for employment opportunities in the entertainment industry.

He is serving as the NMTN National Field Coordinator of the Los Angeles based American Indian Summer Institute for Film & TV co-sponsored by NMTN with Fox Entertainment Group. His current media board memberships include; Lincoln, NE based Native American Public Telecommunications (public television and new media production), Oakland, CA based Native Public Media (native radio production), and Minneapolis, MN based Migizi Communications (training native youth in media). Syd most recently was the Co-producer/writer/director of Native Nations: Standing Together for Civil Rights a 1 hour documentary on the American Indian Civil Rights Movement released by ABC, NBC, and the Hallmark Channel for national network broadcast. He is currently producing a documentary film about his great uncle Charles Alexander Eastman currently titled Ohiyesa: The Soul of an Indian. The music score for this film is under development with Composer Brent Michael David and the Mankato Symphony Orchestra. His Ohiyesa Sampler can be viewed on internet through You Tube. Syd and his wife Becky currently reside in Plymouth, Minnesota and he is an adjunct faculty at Minneapolis Community & Technical College.

Syd Beane, Native Public Media