ShareUEN American Indian Film Festival
This month UEN partners with Native American Public Telecommunications, the nation's curator of Native media, for a month-long festival of independent films produced by and about American Indians and Alaskan Natives. We're pleased to share these quality stories of tribal nations and community beliefs, culture, and history with Utah learners of all ages. Film screenings are in-person Nov 7, 14, 16, and 28th and throughout the month on UEN-TV.
Dates:
Nov. 7, 14, 16 and 28
Nov. 7, 14, 16 and 28
Time:
7:00 pm
Additional Locations:
Wed, Nov. 7th: Reel InjunUnion Theatre - University of Utah
Reel Injun is an entertaining and insightful look at the Hollywood Indian...
Wed, Nov. 14th: Kind Hearted Woman
Utah Museum of Contemporary Art
Kind Hearted Woman illuminates the epidemic of child sexual abuse on Native American reservations...
Fri, Nov. 16th: Apache 8
Veridian Event Center (West Jordan Library)
The all-women wildland firefighting crew from White Mountain Apache Tribe has been fighting fires...
Wed, Nov. 28th: Miss Navajo
Natural History Museum of Utah
Miss Navajo, an affectionate and engaging look at the annual Miss Navajo pageant...
Watch on UEN-TV
Native Report: Native Report is an entertaining, informative magazine style series that celebrates Native American culture and heritage, listens to tribal elders, and talks to some of the most powerful and influential leaders of Indian Country today. The series is attractive to both a general and tribal audience, promoting understanding between cultures, tribes and reservations...offering a venue for the stories of challenge and success coming from Minnesota's tribal communities... and educating public television viewers about the culture and traditions of native citizens. Native Report is hosted by Stacey Thunder, an enrolled member of the Red Lake Nation, and co-hosted by Tadd Johnson who is an enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. The Native Report season consists of fifteen episodes. Another fifteen episodes are planned next year which will include stories from Minnesota and Wisconsin native communities. Saturdays at 7:00 p.m.
Teachings of the Tree People: Nationally acclaimed artist and Skokomish tribal leader Gerald Bruce Miller (subiyay) interpreted the sacred teachings of the natural world for anyone who wanted to learn. A passionate student of traditional culture, Bruce became the bearer of the language, oral history, art, and spirituality of the tuwaduq (Twana) and Southern Coast Salish peoples. This gentle and generous film documents his race against time and ailing health to pass the knowledge of his ancestors on to those who would listen. Sunday, November 4 at 7:00 p.m.
History of American Indian Achievement: Join host Tyler Christopher, a 21st Century American Indian, as he brings a new vision to a remarkable journey. The journey tells three stories: one of remarkable civilizations creating architecture, technology and art that matched the greatest success of any ancient culture. The second story is one of survival: overcoming attempts at extermination by the dominant culture. The final story is one of accomplishment. Tyler chronicles the survival of the American Indian in spite of oppressive wars and destruction that attempted, but did not succeed, in removing the American Indians from their culture and their future. These programs bring little known American Indian accomplishments to the viewer in this enlightening tribute to the American Indian. Thursday, November 7 at 8:00 p.m.
Grab: An official selection at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, GRAB is an intimate portrait of the little-documented Grab Day in the villages of New Mexico's Laguna Pueblo tribe. This community-wide prayer of abundance, thanks and renewal exists at the intersection of traditional native and contemporary Western cultures. Each year, Laguna Pueblo villagers honor Catholic saints and family members by showering food and gifts from the rooftops of their homes upon the community gathered below. GRAB explores the origins and evolution of this 300-year-old custom, from its introduction by Spanish settlers to its modern-day twists. The film, narrated by actress Parker Posey, follows three families as they prepare for the annual event, chronicling their lives for the year leading up to Grab Day. Wednesday, November 14 at 9:00 p.m.
Good Meat: Beau LeBeau (Oglala Lakota) is obese. Several members of his family are obese, and his mother died last year from diabetes. This is a real-time movie that documents his journey to get healthy by converting to a traditional Lakota diet centered on buffalo and native foods. LeBeau will be under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Weiland as he explores the history and culture of the modern reservation. Friday, November 16 at 8:00 p.m.
Native Waters: A Chitimacha Recollection: The Chitimacha, the 1,000-member tribe known as "the People of Many Waters," are heirs to an unbroken 8,000-year past. Living off the bounty of Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin, one of the richest inland estuaries on the continent, this indigenous nation persists and rejuvenates its culture despite gradually losing its ancestral territory to environmental and man-made forces. NATIVE WATERS: A CHITIMACHA RECOLLECTION journeys into sacred places of the Atchafalaya Basin with author Roger Stouff, the son of the last chief of the Chitimacha Indians and a keeper of his family's oral tradition. Stouff shares native stories, beliefs and perspectives about this often overlooked people. An avid fly-fisherman, Stouff laments the certain demise of the river basin, the depletion of its sacred fishing and hunting grounds and the painful "vanishings" of the time-honored Chitimacha way of life. Saturday, November 17 at 8:30 p.m.Apache 8: Apache 8 tells the story of an all-women wildland firefighter crew from the White Mountain Apache Tribe who has been fighting fires in Arizona and throughout the U.S., for over 30 years. The film delves into the challenging lives of these Native firefighters. Four extraordinary women from different generations of the Apache 8 crew share their personal narratives with humor and tenderness. They speak of hardship and loss, family and community, and pride in being a firefighter from Fort Apache. APACHE 8 weaves together a compelling tale of these remarkable firefighters, revealed for the first time. Saturday, November 17 @ 9:00 pm.
For the Generations: Native Story and Performance: The efforts of contemporary Native performers to recast themselves in the 21st century are examined in FOR THE GENERATIONS co-produced by OPB and Painted Sky. Told through original performance footage and the artists' own words, this documentary explores health and fitness issues that plague Native youth on and off the reservations. Sunday, November 18 at 8:00 p.m. 
Racing The Rez: For the Navajo and Hopi, running is much more than a sport, it is woven into the cultural fabric of their lives. Encouraged by their elders, many Navajos and Hopis begin running at an early age - to greet the morning sun, to prepare for a ceremony or simply to challenge themselves in the vast, southwestern landscape. In the rugged canyon lands of Northern Arizona, Navajo and Hopi cross-country runners from two rival high schools vie for the state championship while striving to find their place among their native people and the larger American culture. Win or lose, what they learn over the course of two racing seasons has a dramatic effect on the rest of their lives. Combining interviews with verite-style shooting, RACING THE REZ offers a rare view into the surprising complexity and diversity of contemporary reservation life, from the point of view of five teenage boys on the cusp of adulthood. The documentary follows Ryan, Dennis, Billy, Johnny and Joyai from the classrooms to their remote, un-electrified homes, from grueling runs across canyons and mesas to their ultimate day of reckoning - the state meet - and beyond. Saturday, November 24 at 8:00 p.m. 
Waila! Making the People Happy: Waila music comes from the Tohono O'odham, the native people of the Sonoran desert and the largest Indian tribe of southern Arizona. Waila (pronounced why-la) is an O'odham word that comes from the Spanish word "baile," which means "to dance." Waila began from the music of early fiddle bands that adapted European and Mexican tunes heard in northern Sonora. The dances performed in the waila tradition are the waila (which is similar to a polka), the chote (based on a folk dance from Scotland or Germany), and the mazurka (based on a Polish folk dance). Sunday, November 25 at 7:00 p.m.
Seeking Water from the Sun: After 30 years off the Navajo Nation, Rosie Sekayumptewa returned to the homestead where three generations of her family have lived. She found the beauty and serenity she remembered-and the scarcity that had shaped her childhood. In Sekayumptewa's corner of the reservation, there is no access to safe, clean water. Almost forty percent of the Navajo Nation's residents drive hundreds of miles every month to haul water back to their homes, where they ration what they have and use scant gallons for washing, bathing, cooking and drinking. Sekayumptewa had helped her family haul water as a child, and when she returned to her home she found that fact of life unchanged. But water may be on the way. University of Arizona scientists are exploring how to use solar energy to make clean water. Their hope is to bring solar-based, "off the grid" water purification to the vast, 24,000-square-mile Navajo Nation and its residents. If their pilot project succeeds, access to safe and inexpensive water may finally become a reality for the Dine people. Seeking Water from the Sun takes viewers on a journey into the drama of scientific innovation and the harsh reality of life without water. It visits laboratories and homesteads, follows residents and scientists, all to explore the very human story of a very real need. Monday, November 26 at 9:00 p.m. 
The Modoc War: The Modoc War of 1872 was one of the costliest American Indian wars in U.S. history. For seven months, a handful of Modoc Indian warriors and their families held off hundreds of U.S. Army soldiers. The international press took notice and people were enthralled as one of the last real-life Wild West battles unfolded on the American frontier. Again and again, the small band of Indians overcame incredible odds to protect their way of life. "The Modoc War" revisits the battle scenes, and uses rare historical images and original wood cut drawings from the period. Additionally, interviews with Modoc descendants and written first-hand accounts bring the Modoc War to life. Wednesday, November 28 at 9:00 p.m.Watch on KUED
The Long Walk: Tears of the Navajo: In 1864 eight thousand Navajo men, women and children were marched at gunpoint to a barren reservation along the Texas border. This forced relocation was aimed at crushing American Indian resistance in the Southwest. Hundreds of Navajo died during the march and the four years of forced isolation. The Navajo remember this tragedy as "The Long Walk." Narrated by Peter Coyote. Saturday, November 13 at 7:00 p.m.
Encounter on the High Desert: Saturday, November 13 at 8:00 p.m.
Sky Dancer: Academy Award®-nominated director Katja Esson (FERRY TALES, POETRY OF RESILIENCE) explores the colorful and at times tragic history of the Mohawk skywalkers, bringing us a nuanced portrait of modern Native American life and a visually stunning story of double lives. Renowned for their balance and skill, six generations of Mohawk men have been leaving their families behind on the reservation to travel to New York City, to work on some of the biggest construction jobs in the world. While the men are away working, the women often struggle to keep their children away from the illegal temptations of this economically deprived area. Sunday, November 21.
Additional Resources
We Shall Remain: KUED 7 produced We Shall Remain: A Native History of Utah, a five-part documentary focusing on the stories and ways of the Ute, Paiute, Northwestern Shoshone, Goshute, and Navajo people. Below are lesson plans and resources that support the documentaries.
American Indian Heritage Month: UEN gathered these resources to help you celebrate the accomplishments of the peoples who were the original inhabitants, explorers and settlers of the U.S.
We Shall Remain: KUED 7 produced We Shall Remain: A Native History of Utah, a five-part documentary focusing on the stories and ways of the Ute, Paiute, Northwestern Shoshone, Goshute, and Navajo people. Below are lesson plans and resources that support the documentaries.
American Indian Heritage Month: UEN gathered these resources to help you celebrate the accomplishments of the peoples who were the original inhabitants, explorers and settlers of the U.S.
