Native American Heritage Month Programming on WETA World

Monday, November 1

At its heart, it’s a battle for homeland and sovereignty. Bears Ears, a remote section of land lined with red cliffs and filled with juniper, sage, is at the center of a fight over who has a say in how Western landscapes are protected and managed.

Monday, November 1

In the hour-long documentary Stories I Didn't Know, Rita Davern examines an ugly reality at the heart of a Minnesotan family legend. While her family members have always been proud to say that their ancestors once owned Pike Island, a beautiful piece of land in Minnesota, the story of its acquisition is far less glorious than its profitability. Rita’s attempts to understand what happened and why leads her on a journey that requires facing the complicated legacy of westward expansion in the United States.

Tuesday, November 2

In January 2016, a school shooting in the remote Canadian aboriginal community of La Loche, Saskatchewan took the lives of four students and injured seven others. In the aftermath, a caring teacher, worried about eight boys directly affected by the shooting, contacted a TV celebrity the students admired. She hoped that Survivormanstar Les Stroud might spend time with the students. La Loche follows Stroud, the eight young Dené men, and several community and school elders on a wilderness adventure, in which they canoe down a 100-mile river path that their ancestors used to traverse.

Tuesday, November 2

On a Knife Edge is the coming-of-age story of George Dull Knife, a Lakota teen growing up on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation. The film traces George’s path to activism, inspired by his family’s history of fighting for justice for Native Americans. His focus: shutting down liquor stores in Whiteclay, a tiny town nearby that exists only to sell beer to the reservation’s vulnerable population.

Wednesday, November 3

The San Francisco-based Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits produces an annual LGBTQI-hosted Native American powwow -- the first and largest of its kind in North America.

Friday, November 5

What led approximately 600-plus volunteer soldiers to attack a peaceful settlement of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians in the Southeastern Colorado Territory? On November 29, 1864, Colonel John Chivington led an unprovoked attack that resulted in the deaths of more than 150 women, children and the elderly. Sand Creek Massacre revisits the horrific acts of that day and uncovers the history 150 years later.

Saturday, November 6

Delve into the enigmatic life and mind of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and poet N. Scott Momaday, best known for “House Made of Dawn” and a formative voice of the Native American Renaissance in art and literature.

Saturday, November 6

Tuesday, November 9

From contemporary life on Native reservations to stories of recovery on the Gulf, from hardships and revitalization in towns big and small to stories from city streets across the country, these independent, personal and opinionated films document the times in which we live.

Tuesday, November 9

The federal Indian Boarding School system's goal was total assimilation into Anglo civilization at the cost of stripping away Native culture, tradition, and language.

Friday, November 12

A portrait of Samuel Johns, a young Athabaskan hip-hop artist, founder of the Forget Me Not Facebook group for displaced people in Alaska, and activist for a cultural renaissance as he heals from his own legacy of historical trauma.

Friday, November 12

Before Christopher Columbus and his fellow Europeans arrived in North America, there were nearly 300 Native languages spoken north of Mexico. Today only half of those languages remain and experts say that by the year 2050, just 20 indigenous American languages will exist. Rising Voices/Hotȟaninpi is a one-hour documentary about how languages die – and how speaking them again can spark cultural and community restoration.

Friday, November 12

Around fourteen thousand Cherokee remain in their ancestral homeland in the mountains of North Carolina, but few among them still speak their native language, and no children are learning the language at home. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is now fighting to revitalize the language and come to terms with their native heritage in the context of the modern United States.

Friday, November 12

From 1907 until his death more than 50 years later, ethnologist John Peabody Harrington crisscrossed the U.S., chasing the voices of the last speakers of Native America's dying languages. Moving from one tribal community to the next, he collaborated with the last speakers to document every finite detail before their languages were lost forever. Chasing Voices chronicles Harrington’s work and traces the impact of his exhaustive research on Native communities working to restore the language of their ancestors.

Saturday, November 13

Conscience Point tracks the fractured history of the Shinnecock tribe on Long Island alongside the spirited path of one Native woman determined to make a stand: activist Rebecca Hill-Genia who, together with other determined tribal members and allies, has waged a relentless, years-long battle to protect the land and Shinnecock cultural heritage from the ravages of development and displacement.

Saturday, November 13

When an energy company begins searching for natural gas in New Brunswick, Canada, indigenous and white families unite to drive out the company in a campaign to protect their water and way of life.

Sunday, November 14

Combine ancient wisdom and modern science to answer a 15,000-year-old question: who were America’s First Peoples? The answer hides in Amazonian cave paintings, Mexican burial chambers, New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon and waves off California’s coast.

Sunday, November 14

Explore the rise of great American nations, from monarchies to democracies. Investigate lost cities in Mexico, a temple in Peru, a potlatch ceremony in the Pacific Northwest and a tapestry of shell beads in upstate New York whose story inspired our own democracy.

Monday, November 15

Almost an Island is a cinematic portrait of the Goodwins, an Inupiat family living above the Arctic Circle in Kotzebue, Alaska. Through observing three generations of one family over four years, the documentary explores what it means to be indigenous in the dramatically changing Arctic.

Monday, November 15

Searching for Sequoyah spans two countries and three Cherokee nations, leading viewers on a journey through the life and death of Sequoyah. This hour-long documentary allows viewers to learn more about Sequoyah through the written language he created for the Cherokee people, interviews with his descendants, cave writings depictions, and more.

Tuesday, November 16

Warrior Lawyers is an inspiring and compelling one hour documentary that invites viewers into the lives of contemporary Native American role models. It focuses on the under reported themes of Nation Re-Building, Tribal Justice and Cultural Revitalization. Through the personal and professional stories of American Indian Attorneys, Tribal Judges and their colleagues, the program provides an overview of the major historical, governmental, legal, judicial and intertwining social issues shaping many Federally Recognized Nations today.

Tuesday, November 16

Native American women are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault than all other American women, and 86% of the offenses are committed by non-Native men. Sisters Rising follows six women who refuse to let this pattern of violence continue in the shadows. Their stories shine an unflinching light on righting injustice on both an individual and systemic level.

Tuesday, November 16

The life of Lakota activist and community organizer Madonna Thunder Hawk.

Wednesday, November 17

A woman born and raised on the Oneida Reservation in Wisconsin marries the son of Polish immigrants; following a tragedy at a paper mill, the family moves to the center of the reservation.

Friday, November 19

The future of the Washington state's most diverse river hangs by a thread. Faced with worsening floods and a prized salmon population on the brink of extinction, a changing climate can no longer be ignored. Climate change is on the doorstep of this rural American Watershed, with models also predicting a 20% increase in storm intensity and rising water temperatures over the next 60 years. Can diverse communities and cultures across the basin find common ground to solve the crises of increasing floods, droughts and the plight of an iconic species?

Friday, November 19

Efforts by First Nations Indigenous hip-hop artists in Canada to right social injustices, heal personal traumas and preserve their cultures.

Saturday, November 20

Discover the inspiring true story of Alaska Native dogsled champion George Attla, who, with one good leg and fierce determination, rose to international fame. His racing prowess and ability to identify and train exceptional dogs made him a legend.

Saturday, November 20

Follow the first government-sanctioned truth and reconciliation commission in the U.S., which investigates the devastating impact of Maine’s child welfare practices on Native American communities. With exclusive access to this groundbreaking process and never-before-seen footage, the film reveals the untold narrative of Indigenous child removal in the United States.

Sunday, November 21

Explore the untold story of how Indigenous women influenced the early suffragists in their fight for freedom and equality. Mohawk Clan Mother Louise Herne and Professor Sally Roesch Wagner shake the foundation of the established history of the women’s rights movement in the US joining forces to shed light on the hidden history of the influence of Haudenosaunee Women on the women’s rights movement.

Sunday, November 21

Discover the cosmological secrets behind America’s ancient cities. Scientists explore some of the world’s largest pyramids and 3D-scan a lost city of monumental mounds on the Mississippi River; native elders reveal ancient powers of the sky.

Sunday, November 21

Discover how resistance, survival and revival are revealed through an empire of horse-mounted Comanche warriors, secret messages encoded in an Aztec manuscript and a grass bridge in the Andes that spans mountains and centuries.

Monday, November 22

Red Power Energy is a provocative film told from the American Indian perspective that reframes today's complex energy debate. Can energy development on tribal lands empower a people while powering the nation? And what impact will it have on their culture, economy and the environment? These Native-told energy stories offer a rare insight into the ideological battle shaping modern Indian country and further advances a deeper understanding of American Indian culture, which is too often under-reported, misunderstood or overlooked.

Monday, November 22

Venture to the Pacific Northwest to capture the stories of ongoing traditions and perseverance of its original inhabitants. For the tribes of this region, water is life. The rivers that crisscross this land were the highways for trade and fresh water grocery stores for thousands of years. Today, tribes celebrate their cultures by participating in a yearly canoe journey, an opportunity for people to gather and travel to all the places their ancestors once inhabited. From totem poles, to language preservation to traditional crafts, host Chris Eyre (Cheyenne Arapaho) discovers the wilds of the North.

Monday, November 22

Two indigenous artists create new works reflecting on their tribal homelands, the Wind River Indian Reservation. Ken Williams (Arapaho) is a Santa Fe art celebrity and Sarah Ortegon (Shoshone) is an up-and-coming actress in Denver. Both artists travel to Wind River Reservation to reconnect with their ancestors and present their art work to a somewhat isolated community.

Monday, November 22

The sacred relationship between the horse and the Dakota people, and the centuries-old tradition of dressing horses for ceremonies and celebrations; efforts to preserve and restore the Dakota language and traditions.

Tuesday, November 23

The First Official Thanksgiving tells the story of what some historians might call the first “official, English-speaking” Thanksgiving held in the Americas. Through dramatic re-enactment and interviews, The First Official Thanksgiving challenges the long-held belief that America's first Thanksgiving was held in Plymouth, Mass., and chronicles how the discovery of the Nibley papers led to a friendly rivalry between Virginia and Massachusetts about who can rightfully lay claim to the birth of America's Thanksgiving holiday.

Tuesday, November 23

The Medicine Game, a film six years in the making, shares the remarkable journey of two brothers from the Onondoga Nation driven by a single goal-to beat the odds and play the sport of lacrosse for national powerhouse Syracuse University.

Wednesday, November 24

Over the Centuries, the Great Lakes have been home to hundreds tribes and a source of fresh water, food, and health. Indigenous creation stories describe the world came into being on a back of a turtle shell, and today they know the earth as Turtle Island. Growing Native host Stacey Thunder (Red Lake and Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe) guides this journey by engaging tribal voices while touring Indian country with those who still devote their lives to care for the land.

Wednesday, November 24

Northern Arapaho tribal members travel to Pennsylvania to retrieve the stories and the remains of children who died at Carlisle Indian boarding school in the 1880s. More than a century later, will these Native American boys finally come home?

Thursday, November 25

Oklahoma is home to thirty-nine federally recognized tribes. Nowhere in North America will you find such diversity among Native Peoples, and nowhere will you find a more tragic history. Host Moses Brings Plenty (Oglala Lakota) guides this episode of Growing Native, on a journey to Oklahoma’s past and present. What he discovers among the many faces of Oklahoma culture is the determination, values and respect that tribes have brought to this land, once called Indian Territory.

Friday, November 26

Rumble is the electric story of how Native American influence shaped rock and roll, a missing chapter in music history.

Saturday, November 27

In the rugged canyon lands of Northern Arizona, Navajo and Hopi cross-country runners from two rival high schools put it all on the line for Tribal pride, triumph over adversity and state championship glory. Win or lose, what they learn in the course of their seasons will have a dramatic effect on the rest of their lives.

Saturday, November 27

Four Alaska Native women fight to save Kodiak Alutiiq, an endangered language now spoken by less than 40 remaining fluent elders.