“The Weight,” features Ringo Starr and The Band’s original member Robbie Robertson, along with musicians across 5 continents. Great songs can travel everywhere bridging what divides us and inspiring us to see how easily we all get along when the music plays.

For millennia, Native Americans successfully stewarded and shaped their landscapes, but centuries of colonization have disrupted their ability to maintain their traditional land management practices. From deserts, coastlines, forests, mountains, and prairies, Native communities across the US are restoring their ancient relationships with the land. As the climate crisis escalates, these time-tested practices of North America’s original inhabitants are becoming increasingly essential in a rapidly changing world.

The five stories include sustaining traditions of Hopi dryland farming in Arizona; restoring buffalo to the Blackfeet reservation in Montana; maintaining sustainable forestry on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin; reviving native food forests in Hawaii; and returning prescribed fire to the landscape by the Karuk Tribe of California.

Rabbit Stories is Cherokee series that captures the essence of Cherokee culture and entirely in the Cherokee Language. This show is made possible by the Cherokee Nation and the talented Cherokee cast, which includes the renowned academy award winning Wes Studi, who is nothing short of exceptional. The director, Joseph Erb, brings his unique vision to life, creating a show that represents the Cherokee community.

Joey Clift is a comedian, TV writer, and enrolled Cowlitz Indian Tribal Member. Writing credits include Spirit Rangers on Netflix, New Looney Tunes on Cartoon Network and Molly of Denali on PBS. He created, wrote, and directed the Comedy Central digital series “Gone Native” and his award-winning short films have screened everywhere from Just For Laughs to The Smithsonian Museum. Most importantly, he started the LA Underground Cat Network, which is a 16,000- member strong Facebook group for Los Angeles comedians to share pictures of their cats. He’s kind of a cat guy.

The descendant of a matron in the American Indian Boarding Schools travels to the southwest attempting to return native artifacts collected a century earlier. After being away for awhile, will the objects be accepted in their communities?

Joey Clift is a comedian, TV writer, and enrolled Cowlitz Indian Tribal Member. Writing credits include Spirit Rangers on Netflix, New Looney Tunes on Cartoon Network and Molly of Denali on PBS. He created, wrote and directed the Comedy Central digital series “Gone Native” and his award-winning short films have screened everywhere from Just For Laughs to The Smithsonian Museum. Most importantly, he started the LA Underground Cat Network, which is a 16,000- member strong Facebook group for Los Angeles comedians to share pictures of their cats. He’s kind of a cat guy.

Zitkála-Šá became increasingly involved in the struggle for American Indian rights, lobbying for U.S. citizenship, voting, and sovereignty rights. She was appointed the secretary of the Society of American Indians, the first national rights organization run by and for American Indians, and edited its publication American Indian Magazine. In 1926, she co-founded the National Council of American Indians to lobby for increased political power for American Indians, and the preservation of American Indian heritage and traditions.

Joey Clift is a comedian, TV writer, and enrolled Cowlitz Indian Tribal Member. Writing credits include Spirit Rangers on Netflix, New Looney Tunes on Cartoon Network and Molly of Denali on PBS. He created, wrote and directed the Comedy Central digital series “Gone Native” and his award-winning short films have screened everywhere from Just For Laughs to The Smithsonian Museum. Most importantly, he started the LA Underground Cat Network, which is a 16,000- member strong Facebook group for Los Angeles comedians to share pictures of their cats. He’s kind of a cat guy.

In this episode, Talon Pascal from the L’ilwat First Nation in British Columbia, Canada is just 17-years-old, but he’s spent much of it learning ancient, nearly lost skills and arts. From hunting on horseback to building pit houses, flintknapping and constructing bows and arrows, Talon aims to live off the land just as his L’ilwat ancestors did. Host Joel Oulette travels to L’ilwat First Nation to get an introduction to these fascinating skills, and then follows Talon to an Indigenous Men’s Wellness Gathering. There Joel sees first-hand the impact this young warrior is making by teaching these skills to other Indigenous men, many who have lost contact with their ancestral knowledge.

During the copper rush of 1845, Angelique, a young Anishinaabe woman (Julia Jones), and her voyageur husband Charlie are abandoned on Lake Superior’s Isle Royale by a corrupt copper hunter. The newlywed couple has been left with few provisions and, as the winter sets in, they begin to starve.

With Charlie beginning to demonstrate strange behavior, Angelique—a devout Christian—struggles with her faith and must rely on the teachings she received from her grandmother in order to survive the harsh winter. Angelique is ultimately forced to face her inner demons and beliefs as the unbelievably beautiful, yet treacherous wilderness threatens to claim her. Abandoned: Angelique’s Isle is a harrowing tale of perseverance and a testament to the resilience and strength of Indigenous women. Based on the true story of Angelique Mott.

Best Film: 2017 American Indian Film Festival
Best Actress – Julia Jones: 2017 American Indian Film Festival
Best Supporting Actress – Tantoo Cardinal: 2017 American Indian Film Festival

Before Johnny Depp stepped into the role of Tonto, Ontario born Mohawk actor Jay Silverheels was remembered as Tonto, the faithful ‘Injun sidekick,’ in the 1950s TV series “The Lone Ranger.” Aside from his Pidgin English dialect, he became a pioneer for a generation of Aboriginal viewers – the only First Nations actor on the airwaves of the era. But he would emerge forever typecast as the stoic Indian — a box he tried to break out of for himself and other Aboriginal actors by founding The Indian Actors Studio. Featuring rare interviews with his family, his Lone Ranger co-star John Hart and First Nations actors Tina Keeper and Michael Horse, this documentary delves into the stereotype of the Hollywood Indian, and the actor who fought to move beyond it.

Jay Silverheels was born on Canada’s Six Nation’s Reserve and was one of 10 children. He was a star lacrosse player and a boxer before he entered films as a stuntman in 1938. He worked in a number of films through the 1940s before gaining notice as the Osceola brother in a Humphrey Bogart film Key Largo (1948). Most of Silverheels’ roles consisted of bit parts as an Indian character. In 1949, he worked in the movie The Cowboy and the Indians (1949) with another “B movie” actor Clayton Moore. Later that year, Silverheels was hired to play the faithful Indian companion, Tonto, in the TV series The Lone Ranger (1949) series, which brought him the fame that his motion picture career never did. Silverheels recreated the role of Tonto in two big-screen color movies with Moore, The Lone Ranger (1956) and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958). After the TV series ended in 1957, Silverheels could not escape the typecasting of Tonto. He would continue to appear in an occasional film and television show but became a spokesperson to improve the portrayal of Indians in the media.

“Prey” is directed by Dan Trachtenberg, written by Patrick Aison (“Jack Ryan,” “Treadstone”), and produced by John Davis (“Jungle Cruise,” “The Predator”), Jhane Myers (“Monsters of God”), and Marty Ewing (“It: Chapter Two”), with Lawrence Gordon (“Watchmen”), Ben Rosenblatt (“Snowpiercer”), James E. Thomas, John C. Thomas and Marc Toberoff (“Fantasy Island”) serving as executive producers. The filmmakers were committed to creating a film that provides an accurate portrayal of the Comanche and brings a level of authenticity that rings true to its Indigenous peoples. Myers, an acclaimed filmmaker, Sundance Fellow and member of the Comanche nation herself, is known for her attention and dedication to films surrounding the Comanche and Blackfeet nations and her passion for honoring the legacies of the Native communities. As a result, the film features a cast comprised almost entirely of Native and First Nation’s talent, including Amber Midthunder (“The Ice Road,” “Roswell, New Mexico”), newcomer Dakota Beavers, Stormee Kipp (“Sooyii”), Michelle Thrush (“The Journey Home”), Julian Black Antelope (“Tribal”). The movie also stars Dane DiLiegro (“American Horror Stories”) as the Predator.

From Hollywood films on the big screen to sacred writing deep within the Earth, from long-lost voices captured in wax cylinders, Native people are fighting to keep their languages and ways of life alive. Though many of the approximately 170 Native languages spoken across the United States remain at risk today, it is a time of hope. A revolutionary effort to revitalize traditional languages is unfolding across Native America; and Native innovators are applying 21st-century technologies to save a core element of their culture and inspire future generations. “Language Is Life” highlights how Native heroes are using every tool to recover, revitalize and restore their linguistic traditions. This episode from the PBS series explores the recovery of Passamaquoddy songs recorded over a century ago using a laser-assisted needle, and digital scans of Cherokee writing hidden under graffiti in a Georgia cave. In addition, Manny Wheeler (Navajo) shares his mission to dub Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars into Navajo. Their successes are changing Native America and the world at large.

Tribal College Journal Winner

In this short film, Vincent Schilling shares some historical information on the troubles related to race in Virginia. Vincent interviews two Black Indians, Dr. Arica Coleman, Rappahannock and Black, and Harold Caldwell, a traditional dancer who is Gros Ventre. Muskogee and Black. Vincent also shares a few of his posts on social media related to race and Black Indians in Virginia.

The true history of the young Native American girl named Pocahontas has long been affected incorrectly due to the Disney film of the same name. In this short film by Schilling, he details a true and tragic history of the young Native woman whose story was so incorrectly portrayed for so long.

Warning: Mature subject matter that may trigger some viewers.

3 Sports Emmy Nominations: 2021 Sports Emmys

The federal government created a series of boarding schools throughout the nation in an attempt to assimilate Native American children from the 1800s-1960s. There were several in South Dakota, including the Rapid City Indian Boarding School (1898-1933). After serving as the Indian Boarding School, this facility became a segregated Indian tuberculosis clinic from the 1930s-1960s, the “Sioux Sanatorium.” Children were brought to Rapid City Indian Boarding School predominantly from the tribes of the Great Sioux Nation (particularly Pine Ridge, Cheyenne River, Rosebud), but children came here from as far away as Gros Ventre, Northern Cheyenne, Flathead, and Chippewa. A significant percentage of the Rapid City Native American community are descendants of the children who survived after being brought to the Rapid City Indian Boarding School. As with most Indian boarding schools, the mortality rate was very high, and the government did not keep records of the deaths of the children or where they were buried. However, we know from oral histories and from years of independent research, including in the federal archived school records, that at least 50 children and infants – and likely many more – passed away.

This short film is intended to be the start of the story and create a full-length documentary that explores the whole story in more depth. This short emphasizes the history of the Rapid City Boarding School and the Remember the Children community’s efforts to find and protect the children’s graves. This film will lead to the full story and other aspects of memorial development, legal land issues, and current issues associated with what was the Rapid City Boarding School.

7th Generation covers generations of history, including the perspectives of advocate and educator Jim Warne (Oglala Lakota). His story of the “7th Generation” touches many levels of history and the unknown experiences of past generations. This documentary film addresses historical and current perspectives from Lakota elders and community members with a focus on a positive future for all of our youth – the “7th Generation” … Wounded Knee – Black Elk – Indian Policies – Boarding Schools – Mt. Rushmore – Crazy Horse – The future for the 7th Generation

Best Indigenous Film: 2018 Flathead Lake International Cinemafest
Best of FLIC: 2018: Flathead Lake International Cinemafest
Grand Jury Award 2018: California Film Festival
Best Documentary Feature: 2017 Los Angeles Film & Script Festival
Best Documentary Feature: 2017 Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Festival
Humanitarian Award of Distinction: 2017 Indiefest Film Awards
Inspiration Award: 2016 Cinema on The Bayou Film Festival
Best Documentary Feature Film: 2016 Los Angeles Cinema Festival
Award of Excellence: 2016 Indiefest Film Awards

Waking up in her East Van apartment, Lisa (Grace Dove) is served notice by her cousin’s ghost (Sera-Lys McArthur), “Your family needs you.” Reunited with her Haisla kin in Kitimaat Village, she realizes that she’s meant to save her brother, Jimmy (Joel Oulette), from a tragic fate she’s foreseen since childhood. Of course, there’s also the matter of contending with the mystical creatures lurking in the nearby woods. And so begins a captivating allegory about learning to coexist with both the ghosts that haunt us and spirits who might enlighten us. In bringing Eden Robinson’s beloved novel to the screen, Loretta S. Todd offers us a modern epic underpinned by themes that have long defined heroic journeys. Todd’s first feature narrative unfolds through a thrilling array of temporal shifts and stylistic flourishes. A film about reconnection with the land, its denizens and the secrets it holds, Monkey Beach is also a testament to Indigenous women’s ability to not just endure trials but emerge from them empowered.

Best Film: 2020 American Indian Film Festival
Best Director – Loretta Sarah Todd: 2020 American Indian Film Festival
Best Actress – Grace Dove: 2020 American Indian Film Festival
Best Actor – Adam Beach: 2020 American Indian Film Festival
Best Supporting Actress – Tina Marie Lameman: 2020 American Indian Film Festival
Best Supporting Actor – Nathaniel Arcand: 2020 American Indian Film Festival
Best Picture: 2020 Red Nation Film Festival Awards
Best Director: 2020 Red Nation Film Festival Awards
Best Lead Actress: 2020 Red Nation Film Festival Awards
Best Lead Actor: 2020 Red Nation Film Festival Awards

The year is 1968. Nowa Cumig, better known by his English name Dennis Banks, has started a movement with a few friends that would soon make ripples through history: The American Indian Movement. The taking of Alcatraz, the Custer Riots, the B.I.A. takeover, and the Wounded Knee siege are all events that have since marked the rise of indigenous rights in the United States. The film is narrated by actor, artist and activist Michael Horse. This film endeavors to look at the bigger picture by opening a door into the life of one of the most influential men in Native American history, using archival footage from films such as “Last Stop Before Wounded Knee” and “The Drum Will Never Stop,” photographs by Richard Erdoes and excerpts from his and Dennis’ book, “Ojibwa Warrior.”

Shot entirely on a cellphone, this short film is a self-archeological and self-anthropologic experimental collage through the intimate moments of Coapan. Decoloniality is a tool used as means of celebrating, challenging, and reconstructing. The resilience of traditions and costumbres of this community are highlighted as resistance, self-preservation, and endurance. Después de mas de 500 años de supremacía blanca en Mexico, que queda? After more than five hundred years of Mexican white supremacy, what is left?

In a small Saskatchewan town in the 1960s, Yvette Wong, a young girl of Chinese and Cree heritage, struggles with her Indigenous identity amidst family tragedy in this coming-of-age film directed by Mohawk artist and filmmaker Shelley Niro. Yvette’s mother, Katherine, discourages her from embracing her Cree identity, so she explores it in secret. As she learns more about herself and her Indigenous heritage, Yvette finds a friend in Maggie Wolf, who embraces being part Mi’kmaq and encourages Yvette to be proud of being Cree. When her classmates learn about her Cree ancestry, Yvette encounters the realities of being Indigenous, facing prejudice with pride and holding fast to her dream of becoming a doctor. Café Daughter is inspired by true events and based on Kenneth T. Williams’ play of the same name.

The film is written, directed and produced by Shelley Niro, a member of the Mohawk Nation from the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve, and produced by Diggstown‘s Floyd Kane via Freddie Films and Amos Adetuyi via Circle Blue Entertainment. Based on the Kenneth T. Williams play of the same name and inspired by true events, Café Daughter is a coming-of-age story about a young Chinese-Cree girl in Saskatchewan who begins to embrace her Cree identity after a family tragedy. This story takes place in the 1950’s and early 1960’s.

Native women are 10 times more likely to be murdered than the general population, but this isn’t about statistics for Mili. It’s very, very personal. After witnessing the murder of her mother 11 years ago, Mili has finally found a family of sorts with the MMA Jiu Jitsu team. But her past refuses to stay in the past and the gang she once ran with decides to teach her a lesson by kidnapping her girlfriend. Now Mili must choose between the life she’s finally making work or risk everything to save her friend from a life of sex trafficking. Tribal cops and an agent from the Federal Missing and Murdered Unit are on the case, but Mili waited for the authorities once…she won’t wait this time.

Best Director in a Feature Film: 2023 Boston International Film Festival
Best Indigenous Film: 2023 Latino and Native American Film Festival
Best Narrative Feature: 2023 Chicago Cinema Awards
Best Score: 2023 Chicago Cinema Awards
Best Cinematography: 2023 Chicago Cinema Awards

Darren Thompson (Ojibwe/Tohono O’ddham) is a Native American flute player and educator from the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Reservation in Northern Wisconsin. He is one of Crazy Horse Memorial’s main performers and the opening act of Brulé’s summer concert series in the Black Hills. In 2016, Darren’s dedication to his music earned him a nomination from the Native American Music Awards for “Flutist of the Year” with the release of his second album, “Between Earth and Sky: Native American Flute Music Recorded in the Black Hills.”

Grade ten student Nevaeh Pine is a proud Ojibwe teen from Garden River First Nation who uses public speaking to advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirited People. She also helps launch her school’s first Red Dress Day assembly and march.