Native American Film Series

Unless otherwise noted, screenings in this series will take place on the second Monday of each month and are admission free and open to the public. Tickets available at the Ross box office (online ticketing not available for free screenings).

ABOUT VISION MAKER MEDIA

What began as a film archive to conserve and document Native American stories, transformed into the nation’s leader in content by and about Indigenous people for public broadcasting. Vision Maker Media works with Native producers to develop, produce, and distribute programs to educate audiences. More info…

RACING THE REZ (2012)
*MONDAY, JANUARY 6 – 7:10 P.M.

Followed by a Zoom Q&A with director Brian Truglio, moderated by Vision Maker Media’s Alana Stone.
In the rugged canyon lands of Northern Arizona, Navajo and Hopi cross-country runners from two rival high schools put it all on the line for Tribal pride, triumph over adversity and state championship glory. Win or lose, what they learn in the course of their seasons will have a dramatic effect on the rest of their lives. RACING THE REZ moves beyond Native American stereotypes of the past and present by delving deep into the daily grind of these Native teenagers. Over the course of two racing seasons, you’ll witness the boys striving to find their place among their Native people and the American culture surrounding them. (59 minutes) *First Monday in January

SOMETHING INSIDE IS BROKEN (2023)
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10 – TIME TBA

Followed by movie talk with Vision Maker Media’s Alana Stone.
This Native American Musical based on actual historical events, focuses on the untold story of how Natives were slaves under Johann Sutter’s Mexican reign. In 1846, there was a slave revolt inside Sutter’s Fort. All the Native slaves were rescued, including Sutter’s favorite slave girl, My-Koolay. His anger and rage led to threats of genocide. Hence an honorable betrayal by one of Sutter’s Nisenan soldiers, Mosus, pitted one brother against the other to save their tribe from being eliminated.

LADONNA HARRIS: INDIAN 101 (2023)
MONDAY, MARCH 10 – TIME TBA

Followed by a Zoom Q&A with director Julianna Brannum, moderated by Vision Maker Media’s Alana Stone.
LADONNA HARRIS: INDIAN 101 chronicles the life of Comanche activist and national civil rights leader LaDonna Harris and her influences in Native and mainstream American history. Harris’s activism began in Oklahoma, fighting segregation. She continued her work in Washington, D.C., where she helped to introduce landmark programs and legislation that included tribal land claims, improving education and healthcare for Native Americans, ending job discrimination against women, and protecting environmental resources for tribes. Her more recent contemporary work to strengthen and rebuild Indigenous communities and train emerging new Native leaders around the world. (57 minutes)

CRYING EARTH RISE UP (2014)
MONDAY, APRIL 14 – TIME TBA

Followed by a Q&A with Daniel Snow, moderated by Vision Maker Media’s Alana Stone.
“Water is our first home. Water is our first medicine. Without water, there is no life.” -Debra White Plume (Oglala Lakota), Activist | A Lakota mother studying geology seeks the source of the water contamination that may have caused her daughter’s critical health problems. Meanwhile, a Lakota grandmother fights the regional expansion of uranium mining. Crying Earth Rise Up exposes the cost of uranium mining and its impact on Great Plains drinking water.

SKINDIGENOUS: SAMOA, HAWAII, & NEW ZEALAND (2019/2020)
MONDAY, MAY 12 – TIME TBA

Followed by a movie talk with Vision Maker Media’s Alana Stone.
SKINDIGENOUS explores one of the oldest art form and its relationship to Indigenous culture; tattooing. For millennia, humans have been marking their bodies with images and symbols giving visible form to what they hold sacred. Today, Indigenous artists around the world continue to practice this ancient art using their own techniques and traditions. For these artists, tattooing is an essential part of their cultural identity, as well as a vehicle for connecting with nature, the ancestors, and the spiritual world. The May screening will feature three episodes from the Skindigenous series focusing on Samoa, Hawaii, and New Zealand. (1 hour, 18 minutes)

MORONI FOR PRESIDENT (2018)
MONDAY, JUNE 9 – TIME TBA

Followed by a movie talk with Vision Maker Media’s Alana Stone.
Every four years, the Navajo Nation elects its president, whom many consider the most powerful Native American in the country. Frustrated about the lack of progress in the reservation, Moroni Benally, a witty academic with radical ideas, hopes to defeat the incumbent president. MORONI FOR PRESIDENT follows the political newcomer’s grueling, lonely campaign against the “old guard,” and the monumental effort it takes to change the narrative and inspire people to move in new directions. (53 minutes)

‘BUFFALO SPIRIT’ & ‘LINA’
MONDAY, JULY 14 – TIME TBA

More info coming soon!

‘LOVE FOR THE GAME’ & ‘COURAGE’
MONDAY, AUGUST 11 – TIME TBA

More info coming soon!

OHIYESA: THE SOUL OF AN INDIAN (2018)
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 – TIME TBA

Followed by a movie talk with Vision Maker Media’s Alana Stone.
This documentary follows Kate Beane, a young Dakota woman, as she examines the extraordinary life of her celebrated relative, Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa). Biography and journey come together as Kate traces Eastman’s path—from traditional Dakota boyhood, through education at Dartmouth College, and in later roles as physician, author, lecturer, and Native American advocate. (57 minutes)

‘ACROSS THE CREEK’ (2014) & ‘FINDING REFUGE’ (2015)
MONDAY, OCTOBER 13 – TIME TBA

Followed by a movie talk with Vision Maker Media’s Alana Stone.
ACROSS THE CREEK: Broken by the legacy of colonialism, Lakota Tribes struggle for restoration, healing and rebuilding. This film is a conversation between the elder and younger generations about reclaiming their stories and culture. By looking at traditional family structure, spirituality, language and values, they hope to build a vision for the future. (27 minutes)

FINDING REFUGE: A dying woman’s effort to preserve her Native culture doesn’t end when she passes, but prompts a renewal in finding pride in that culture. She confronts the violent event over two centuries ago that began the destruction of her people and the shame that colonialism created. (26 minutes)

WORDS FROM A BEAR (2019)
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10 – TIME TBA

Followed by a movie talk with Vision Maker Media’s Alana Stone.
WORDS FROM A BEAR examines the enigmatic life and mind of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Navarro Scott Momaday, one of Native America’s most celebrated authors of poetry and prose. The film visually captures the essence of Momaday’s writings, relating each written line to his unique American experience representing ancestry, place, and oral history. Cinematically this story takes audiences on a spiritual journey through the expansive landscapes of the West, when Momaday’s Kiowa ancestors roamed the Great Plains with herds of buffalo, to the sand-painted valleys of Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, where his imagination ripened and he showed superior writing skills as a young mission student. (1 hour, 25 minutes)

GROWING NATIVE ALASKA: PEOPLE OF THE NORTH (2018)
MONDAY, DECEMBER 8 – TIME TBA

Followed by a Q&A with director Charles “Boots” Kennedye, moderated by Vision Maker Media’s Alana Stone.
All across Alaska, Native cultures have depended on the abundant natural resources found there to support their families, cultures and way of life. Now these resources are growing scarce, and the people who have relied on them for centuries have to find new ways to adapt. GROWING NATIVE is a four-part series focusing on reclaiming traditional indigenous knowledge and food ways to address critical issues of health and wellness, the environment and human rights. (57 minutes)

Programs in this series have been collected from public broadcasts spanning from the 1970s to today and may contain a low-resolution picture and occasional image anomalies from their transfer to digital media.