Documentaries Honoring Native American and Indigenous VoicesLike this list

11 items

• Imagining the Indian

  the Fight Against Native American Mascoting

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  This must-watch film examines why it is important to end the use of Native American names, logos, and mascots in sports and more. You’ll definitely get a better understanding of this subject and want change.

• Being Thunder

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  One of my favorite under-the-radar picks, this independent doc is a portrait of Sherente Mishitashin Harris, a two-spirit genderqueer teenager from the Narragansett tribe in Rhode Island. Focusing on their activism and efforts for more gender…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Alaskan Nets

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  Alaska's Metlakatla Indian community is defined by two traditions: fishing and basketball. After a tragedy sends shockwaves through the town, the island’s high school basketball team emerges as a rally point for healing when they have a chance to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Still We Rise

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  Written and directed by Indigenous filmmaker John Harvey. This documentary takes a deep dive into Aboriginal activism beginning in the 1970s in Australia, shining a light on the 50-year anniversary of the Tent Embassy, a protest movement that…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Lakota Nation Vs. United States

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  From first-time directors Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli, this film is sensitive, artful, well researched, and provocative. It delves into the history of the 1876 illegal seizure of the Black Hills from the Lakota people and their…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Gather

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  “Gather" was awarded Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2020 Red Nation Film Festival, and it won a James Beard Media Award for Best Documentary in 2022. Profiling various individuals and groups, it talks about generational trauma and shows a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• N. Scott Momaday

  Words From a Bear

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  Momaday, whose book "House Made of Dawn" got the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969, says that he always considered poetry the crown of literature. He is a storyteller through and through, and this is a wonderful profile with several interviews,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Rumble

  the Indians Who Rocked the World

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  Turn up the volume. This award-winning doc from Canada puts a spotlight on Indigenous musicians and their far-reaching influence. I certainly would welcome a follow-up.

• Mother Tongue

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  This documentary short from human rights activist/filmmaker Pamela Yates is about the translation and dubbing of her 2011 documentary “Granito: How to Nail a Dictator” into Mayan-Ixil, the native language of the Indigenous population targeted by the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Marie’s Dictionary

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  Sometimes it’s down to one person. In San Joaquin Valley, CA, Marie Wilcox was the last fluent speaker of the Native American language Wukchumni. This inspiring documentary short film highlights her years-long work to create a dictionary and oral…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Reel Injun

  on the Trail of the Hollywood Indian

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  Not just for movie buffs, this documentary takes the form of a road-trip movie, with director Neil Diamond traveling in a "rez" car to interview actors, activists, and scholars. The stories, commentaries, and archival footage offer a…Read moreRead more of this annotation