Documentary
Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo's Grandfather disappeared mysteriously in 1962. The community searching for him sang songs of encouragement that were passed down for generations. Harjo explores the origins of these songs as well as the violent history of his people.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
The Medicine Game
Our Spirits Don't Speak English
You Are on Indian Land
Johnny Tootall
A Blackfeet Encounter
Chasing Voices: The Story of John Peabody Harrington
Simon and the Spirit Bear
Warrior Women
The Thick Dark Fog
The Seventh Fire
NUKED
Where God Likes to Be
For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska
Tracing Roots
Dig It If You Can
Oka, 30 ans après
Ways of Knowing: A Navajo Nuclear History
Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun
The Great Indian Wars 1840-1890
Dawnland
SIMILAR MOVIES
The Medicine Game
IMDB 0 | Mar , 2014
Two brothers from the Onondaga Nation pursue their dreams of playing lacrosse for national powerhouse Syracuse University. The obstacles in their way are frequent and daunting, but their love for the game, each other, and their family’s unyielding determination, propels these youth towards their dream.Our Spirits Don't Speak English
IMDB 0 | Mar , 2008
Told from the Native American perspective, this documentary will uncover the dark history of the U.S. government and will give a voice to the countless Indian children forced through the system.You Are on Indian Land
IMDB 9 | Mar , 1969
The territory of Akwesasne straddles the Canada-U.S. border. When Canadian authorities prohibited the duty-free cross-border passage of personal purchases - a right established by the Jay Treaty of 1794 - Kanien'kéhaka protesters blocked the international bridge between Ontario and New York State.Johnny Tootall
IMDB 0 | Mar , 2005
Discharged from Bosnian war, Johnny carries the weight of this war on his shoulders. He left the war with a dark and frightening secret, the murder of a young boy that haunts him. But Johnny carries many demons. The death of his father, running from his destiny as Chief of the Band and abandoning the love of his life. Nevertheless, Johnny must return home, the wolf spirit has called. Upon his return, he finds a new war. His estranged brother is leading his people in a revolt to save their sacred land. Johnny faces a dilemma; does he fight to save his people, or does he save himself? His journey will guide him to realizing that they are the same. In a blink, his world changes and in death, his brother guides him on a spirit walk to meet his destiny as leader of his people.A Blackfeet Encounter
IMDB 0 | Jun , 2007
Explores the only deadly clash between Native Americans and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, framed by the Blackfeet history and culture, the aftermath of the expedition’s arrival, and the challenges and triumphs of the Blackfeet people today.Chasing Voices: The Story of John Peabody Harrington
IMDB 0 | Apr , 2021
For 50 years, controversial ethnographer John Peabody Harrington crisscrossed the United States, frantically searching and documenting dying Native American languages. Harrington amassed over a million pages of notes on over 150 different tribal languages. Some of these languages were considered dead until his notes were discovered. Today tribes are accessing the notes, reviving their once dormant languages, and bringing together a new generation of language learners in the hope of saving Native languages.Simon and the Spirit Bear
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2002
While most teens spend their days in a self-absorbed haze, Simon Jackson was out in the world connecting with anyone who could help him save the spirit bear. For this, Simon became one of Time's Heroes of the Planet. It's a remarkable accomplishment for one so young, and an inspiring story for lovers of wilderness of all ages. But his devotion to the cause made him an outcast amongst his peers.Warrior Women
IMDB 7.5 | May , 2018
Through the figure of Lakota activist and community organizer Madonna Thunder Hawk, this inspiring film traces the untold story of countless Native American women struggling for their people's civil rights. Spanning several decades, Christina D. King and Elizabeth A. Castle's documentary charts Thunder Hawk's lifelong commitment, from her early involvement in the American Indian Movement (AIM), to her pivotal role in the founding of Women of All Red Nations, to her heartening presence at Standing Rock alongside thousands protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. She passed her dedication and hunger for change to her daughter Marcy, even if that often meant feeling like comrades-in-arms more than mother and child. Through rare archival material—including amazing footage of AIM's occupation of Wounded Knee—and an Indigenous style of circular storytelling, Warrior Women rekindles the memories and legacy of the Red Power movement's matriarchs.The Thick Dark Fog
IMDB 8 | Nov , 2011
Walter Littlemoon attended a federal Indian boarding school in South Dakota sixty years ago. The mission of many of these schools in 1950, was still to “kill the Indian and save the man.” The children were beaten, humiliated or abused if they spoke their language or expressed their culture or native identity in any way. The trauma led many to alcoholism and violence in adulthood. At age 58, Walter began writing his memoirs as a way to explain his own abusive behaviors to his estranged children, but he could not complete the project without confronting the “thick dark fog” of his past so he could heal.The Seventh Fire
IMDB 6 | Feb , 2015
When gang leader Rob Brown is sentenced to prison for a fifth time, he must confront his role in bringing violent drug culture into his beloved American Indian community in northern Minnesota. As Rob reckons with his past, his seventeen-year-old protégé, Kevin, dreams of the future: becoming the most powerful and feared Native gangster on the reservation.NUKED
IMDB 7.5 | Oct , 2023
The US detonated 67 nuclear weapons over the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands during the Cold War, the consequences of which still reverberate down four generations to today. "NUKED," is a timely new feature documentary focussing on the human victims of the nuclear arms race, tracing the displaced Bikinian's ongoing struggle for justice and survival even as climate change poses a new existential threat. Using carefully restored archival footage to resurrect contemporaneous islanders’ voices and juxtaposing these with the full, awesome fury of the nuclear detonations, NUKED starkly contrasts the official record with the lived experience of the Bikinians themselves, serving as an important counterpoint to this summer’s Oppenheimer.Where God Likes to Be
IMDB 7 | Feb , 2014
Where God Likes to Be focuses on three young protagonists full of hope and promise - Andi Running Wolf, Edward Tailfeathers, and Douglas Fitzgerald - following them over the course of a summer that marks a turning point in all of their lives. Each grapples with whether to leave, pursuing opportunities far from home, or stay behind with friends and family potentially struggling with limited opportunity and marginalization. A picture emerges of the reservation as a cherished home that nurtures identity.For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2009
In 1867, when the United States purchased the Alaska territory, the promise of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights didn't apply to Alaska Natives. Their struggle to win justice is one of the great, untold chapters of the American civil rights movement, culminating at the violent peak of World War II with the passage of one of the nation's first equal rights laws.Tracing Roots
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2014
A new documentary that follows master Haida weaver Delores Churchill on a journey to replicate a spruce root hat discovered with the Long Ago Person Found. The 300-year-old traveler was discovered in British Columbia and DNA testing discovered living descendants in Canada and Alaska. Her search crosses cultures and borders, and involves artists, scholars and scientists. The project raises questions about understanding and interpreting ownership, knowledge and connection.Dig It If You Can
IMDB 0 | Jan , 2016
We get up close and personal with Steven Paul Judd, the dynamic and bold 21st century renaissance man. This self-taught artist’s love for pop culture and Native American art has given him a massive following. This insightful portrait shows how Judd indigenizes the popular everyday to allow our young to see themselves in all aspects of life, while at the same time making his own dreams a reality through his passion and zest for life.Oka, 30 ans après
IMDB 6 | Nov , 2020
Thirty years after the Oka Crisis, a fragile peace remains in place between the Mohawks of Kanesatake and the other residents of the region. Rappers Biz and Samian do a double take on the history of this longstanding territorial conflict.Ways of Knowing: A Navajo Nuclear History
IMDB 0 | Mar , 2025
The American Southwest holds a dark legacy as the place where nuclear weapons were invented and built. Navajo people have long held this place sacred, and continue to fight for a future that transcends historical trauma. This is their story.Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun
IMDB 0 | Feb , 2023
An intimate and thrilling portrait of a young Siksika woman and the deep bonds between her father and family in the golden plains of Blackfoot Territory as she prepares for one of the most dangerous horse races in the world… bareback.The Great Indian Wars 1840-1890
IMDB 6 | Mar , 1991
Documentation of the encroachment of European settlers upon Native American lands and the violent reaction of the Indians in their struggle to survive.Dawnland
IMDB 6 | Jun , 2018
They were forced to assimilate into white society: children ripped away from their families, depriving them of their culture and erasing their identities. Can reconciliation help heal the scars from childhoods lost? "Dawnland" is the untold story of Indigenous child removal in the US through the nation's first-ever government-endorsed truth and reconciliation commission, which investigated the devastating impact of Maine’s child welfare practices on the Wabanaki people.