Native American Heritage Month

Declared wards of the state, Native Americans negotiated housing, education and healthcare in numerous treaties with the US Government. Like so many other federal promises, these too have not been met.

A good day to die chronicles a movement that started a revolution and inspired a nation. By recounting the life story of Dennis Banks, the Native American who co-founded the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1968 to advocate and protect the rights of American Indians, the film provides an in-depth look at the history and issues surrounding AIM's formation. From the forced assimilation of Native Americans within boarding schools, to discrimination by law enforcement authorities, to neglect by government officials responsible for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, AIM sought redress for the many grievances that its people harbored. Banks' personal struggle culminated in major armed confrontations at Custer, South Dakota and Wounded Knee -- climactic flash points which saw him standing steadfast as a leader for his cause. Bittersweet and compelling, a Good day to die charts the rise and fall of a movement that fought for the civil rights of American Indians.

"How to trace your Native American heritage" teaches how to search out your Native American ancestors, obtain tribal citizenship, how to research the Dawes Rolls and discover your heritage.

Across the USA, Native Americans are struggling to protect their sacred places. Religious freedom, so valued in America, is not guaranteed to those who practice land-based religions. This film discusses the struggles of three indigenous communities to protect their sacred sites from rock climbers, tourists, strip-mining, development and New Age religious practitioners.

Up heartbreak hill chronicles the lives of three Native American teenagers in Navajo, New Mexico-Thomas, an elite runner; Tamara, an academic superstar; and Gabby, an aspiring photographer-as they navigate their senior year at a reservation high school. As graduation nears, they must decide whether or not to stay in their community-a place inextricably woven into the fiber of their beings-or leave in pursuit of opportunities elsewhere. Largely isolated from mainstream America, they hesitate to separate from their families and traditions, rooted to home in equal parts by love, obligation, and fear. Tribal elders urge members of the younger generation to leave-acquire an education or learn a trade-and return home with the skills to help their people. But, with a poverty rate of 65% and a per capita income under $6,200, Navajo has few prospects. Up heartbreak hill is a moving look at a new generation of Americans struggling with what it means to be Native American in the contemporary world.

Heenetiineyoo3eihiiho' (Language Healers) is a documentary that tells the story of Native Americans who are striving to revitalize their languages. From Alaska to Oklahoma and Wisconsin to Montana, we witness stories about the importance of saving Native American languages and meet some of the people who are working hard to heal these national treasures. Language Healers is one of the first films to focus upon the work the broader Native community is doing now to revitalize their languages.. We learn about the importance of Native languages and cultures in Alaska from a Yup’ik dog musher and a Tlingit carver of wood and metal. The film then takes us to a school in Wisconsin where we hear the story of a seventh grade girl who was recently punished for speaking a few words of the Menominee language. We learn more about the fight against language loss through visiting a Euchee (Yuchi) immersion school in Oklahoma where only four fluent elder speakers remain. We also meet National Geographic Fellow and Swarthmore College linguistics professor K. David Harrison who introduces us to his innovative online talking dictionaries project for Indigenous languages. Finally, we travel to Montana where an inventive Arapaho professor, Neyooxet Greymorning, has been perfecting a method to quickly save Native languages.

Explore the variety of civilizations in North America before European contact. Learn about the ways of life, government, economy, religion and laws of the early Native Americans. Provides a relevant picture of how Native Americans lived. Learn the origins of the first Native American. Learn about the Incas, Mayas & Aztecs- who they were, where they came to settle, and why?

The Bakken oil boom is bringing billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs to North Dakota. A substantial part of the oil production is concentrated on an Indian reservation. Fort Berthold Reservation’s 1,000-plus oil wells have brought in money and jobs for some, but oil has also brought danger — organized crime, hard drugs, traffic fatalities — and other problems. Tribal members speak about the benefits and consequences of the boom.

Native America explores the world created by America’s First Peoples. The four part series reaches back 15,000 years to reveal massive cities aligned to the stars, unique systems of science and spirituality, and 100 million people connected by social networks spanning two continents.

Told from the Native American perspective, this documentary uncovers the dark history of the U.S. Government policy and will give a voice to the countless Indian children forced through the system.