List

Documentaries Honoring Native American and Indigenous Voices

By Sharon Weinberg

Enjoy this selection of documentaries.

Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting
2023
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.

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Being Thunder
2023
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 inclusivity in the traditionally female competitive fancy shawl dance, it’s revealing, insightful, moving, and joyful.

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Alaskan Nets
2022
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 bring home a long overdue state championship title. More than a typical sports documentary, these young athletes must balance helping to support their families via the dangerous fishing industry and playing basketball, which instills a strong sense of pride.

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Still We Rise
2024
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 started with a beach umbrella planted on the lawns opposite the Parliament House and activist leaders demanding land rights/justice. It became a meeting place and symbol of First Nations resistance.

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Lakota Nation Vs. United States
2024
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 generations-long fight to protect their sacred land. A powerful call for Black Hills justice and what we can do now, there is a lot here. You might want to watch this doc more than once.

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Gather
2020
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 growing movement by Indigenous people to reclaim ancestral foodways, restore relationships with traditional foods, and have food sovereignty. It’s informative, engrossing, and inspirational.

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N. Scott Momaday: Words from a Bear
2019
N. Scott 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, photos, and reenactments. Hearing and seeing him recite some of his writing, including excerpts from various poems, is a pleasure.

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Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World
2017
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.

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Mother Tongue
2019
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 Guatemalan military in the 1980s. The efforts to transform the documentary and make it accessible proves an emotional experience for all involved, but it’s a window to discussion that they want.

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Marie’s Dictionary
2018
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 recordings of stories so others can learn their endangered language.

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Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian
2010
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 thought-provoking look at the history and portrayal of Native Americans in film.

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