How Did This project begin?

Peripheral Vision PDX is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to celebrating the vision, narratives, and leadership of marginalized people.

In 2020 we released a short film called Grandmother in which Native activist and thought leader Mark Charles told a metaphorical story he composed to express the feeling of being Native American and adjust the posture and heart of dominant culture towards Native peoples. With more than 250,000 views on our Facebook page, the film caught the attention of Sharon Hoffman, who’s late husband was an old friend of Jerry Elliott High Eagle. Sharon believed Jerry’s story should be told and contacted PVPDX founder Sebastian Rogers by direct message.

Sebastian tells it like this…

“When she told me about Jerry’s achievements, like being the first Native American hired at NASA, helping land man on the moon, winning a Presidential Medal of Freedom for helping save the Apollo 13 crew, writing the original legislation for Native American Awareness week, and much more... my first thought was, 'does this guy really exist?!' After some research, my second thought was, 'we have to tell this story!'”

Amazed that Jerry’s story had never been told, Sebastian asked Sharon to facilitate a zoom call with Jerry were the two of them bonded over a mutual deep love of science and God. In December 2020 (armed with a 2-way ventilator mask to protect 79-year-old Jerry from Covid-19), Sebastian headed from Portland, OR to Houston Texas and conducted 10 hours of interviews capturing Jerry’s life story for the benefit of future generations.

for detailed Information about our plans for the film, Use the Arrows to MOVE Through the images below.