To Learn More About Race in America: Movies, Documentaries and TV Series -Native Americans
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Pop Culture and Documentaries
These films and TV shows may help you in your journey to understand race in America.
Movies - Native Americans
- Billy JackA Half-breed Indian Vietnam vet returns to the reservation where he struggles to protect the wild mustangs and the students at the Freedom School.
- Dances with WolvesA Civil War hero learns the culture of the Sioux by living with them.
- DreamkeeperExplores the relationship between a resentful Lakota teenager and his grandfather, a wise old man who keeps his tribe's history alive through stories and legends as they travel from their reservation to the All-Nations Powwow
- Black RobeIn the 17th century, Father Laforgue, a young and idealistic Jesuit priest, is assigned to go up river into the Canadian wilderness to convert the Huron Indians. His young aide and translator, Daniel, falls in love with Annuka, the daughter of the Algonquin chief. Torn between his own desires and ideals of the priesthood, Laforgue's faith is tested, and his life and the outcome of the mission imperiled, as the expedition faces the elements and hostile Indians.
- Frozen riverFacing economic hardship, two single mothers are lured by the promise of fast money, smuggling illegal immigrants from Quebec into a Mohawk reservation in upstate New York.
- Wind riverAn FBI agent teams with a town's veteran game tracker to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation.
- Te AtaIt is based on the inspiring true story of Mary Thompson Fisher, a woman who traversed cultural barriers to become one of the greatest Native American performers of all time. Born in Indian Territory, and raise on the songs and stories of her Chickasaw culture, Te Ata's journey to find her true calling led her through isolation, discovery, love and a stage career that culminated in performances for a United States president, European royalty and audiences across the world.
- WindtalkersA battle-weary Marine is assigned to guard - and ultimately befriends - a young Navajo soldier who has been trained to be a code talker. This code, the Navajo code, and the men who knew the code, were to be guarded as they went into action. It was the unspoken duty of the Marine to kill the Navajo soldier before he could be taken prisoner of war by the Japanese. This is the one wartime code that was never broken by the enemy.
- Bury my heart at Wounded Knee the epic fall of the American IndianBegins powerfully with the Sioux triumph over General Custer at Little Big Horn and goes on to center around three powerful men. Charles Eastman is a young, Dartmouth-educated Sioux doctor. Sitting Bull is the proud Lakota chief who refuses to submit to U.S. government policies designed to strip his people of thier identity, dignity and sacred land. Senator Henry Dawes is one of the men responsible for the government policy on Indian affairs. While Eastman and schoolteacher Elaine Goodale work to imporve live for the Sioux on the reservation, Senator Dawes lobbies President Grant for kinder Indian treatment.
- Drums along the MohawkThe Martins endure the hazards of pioneer life in the Mohawk Valley as the Revolutionary War intensifies and cling tenaciously to the land for which they have fought.
- HostilesIn 1892, a legendary Army captain reluctantly agrees to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory.
- Into the WestChronicling the struggles, heartache and conquests of two inspiring families, Into the West captures the hopes and perseverance of both the explorers who risked everything to fulfill their dreams and the land's indigenous people forced to watch their way of life disappear.
- The new WorldRetelling of the romance between Native American Pocahontas and British Captain John Smith.
Documentaries - Native Americans
- We shall remain America through native eyesFrom the Native American perspective, documents the European settlement of North America from the landing of the Mayflower to present-day activism.
- Native America first peoples, ancient civilizations, enduring culturesExplores the world created by America's first peoples. The 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.
- Great Indian leaders & nationsChronicles the history of Native American leaders and chiefs such as Crazy Horse, Chief Joseph, Geronimo, and Quanah Parker; chronicles the history of the six Native American nations of the Iroquois, the Seminoles, the Shawnee, the Navajo, the Cheyenne, and the Lakota Sioux.
TV Series - Native Americans
- Into the WestChronicling the struggles, heartache and conquests of two inspiring families, Into the West captures the hopes and perseverance of both the explorers who risked everything to fulfill their dreams and the land's indigenous people forced to watch their way of life diappear.
- The red road. The complete first seasonA hard-hitting drama that revolves around a local cop struggling to keep his family together while simultaneously policing two clashing communities: the small town where he grew up and the neighboring mountains, home of a Native American tribe. After a terrible tragedy and cover-up occurs involving the cop's wife, an unholy alliance is forged between the cop and Phillip Kopus, a dangerous member of the tribe that will come back to haunt all involved.