KQED is proud to celebrate Native American Heritage Month starting in November with a special TV programming lineup. Premiere dates are listed below.

KQED 9

Weekdays 7am Molly of Denali
This series follows the adventures of Molly, a feisty and resourceful Alaska Native girl, as she helps her parents run the Denali Trading Post in their Alaskan village. Viewers are introduced to the rich history and modern-day experience of family life in the heart of the Alaskan tundra through the eyes of Molly, her parents, and her friends.

 Fri, 11/4

10:30pm Two-Spirit Powwow
"Two-Spirit Powwow" shows how the San Francisco nonprofit Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits (BAAITS) has hosted an annual queer-friendly powwow since 2012, the first and largest LGBTQI-hosted one of its kind in North America. The film tracks growth from the modest one-room inaugural dance to the huge events now conducted at a massive venue. Staff work long hours to provide a warm welcome to native and ally visitors from around the country. When traditional conservative powwow protocol conflicts with queer-positive identity, the two-spirit powwow changes up the rules. For LGBTQI natives still facing prejudice and stigmatization at home, just attending the powwow is a pioneering act of resistance. But when they arrive, some are surprised to find a welcoming community, great drumming and dancing, and a lot of fun.

Sat, 11/12
6pm Groundworks (NEW)
Groundworks profiles four California Native co-creators of the Groundworks project - an immersive, year-long media collaboration that culminated with a performance on Alcatraz Island on San Francisco's first official Indigenous Peoples Day in October 2018. While weaving together these artists' stories and their contemporary ways of sharing traditional knowledge, GROUNDWORKS also explores land management issues, water rights, and food-security - concerns for all Americans, especially in an age of climate change.

Fri, 11/18
10pm And Now We Rise: A Portrait of Samuel Johns
And Now We Rise is 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.

Sat, 11/19
3:30pm Roadtrip Nation: A Single Mom’s Story
Roadtrip Nation: A Single Mom’s Story follows three single mothers driven to succeed despite the odds stacked against them. Along the way, they hear the inspiring stories of other single mothers who have made it through raising children on their own while paving their own career path. Roadtrippers Gabby, Kiera and Maliaq learn from other single moms working in the fields of law, clothing design science, and more. They meet Amy Yeung, the founder of Orenda Tribe, a clothing line dedicated to helping Native American designers pursue their fashion goals; Elisa Peterson, a visual artist and writer who also co-hosts the Cool Moms podcast; and Felicia Rice, a microbiologist at the Mayo Clinic.

6pm Time Has Many Voices (NEW)
Time Has Many Voices is the untold story of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay area. Decimated by Spanish colonizers in the late 1700s, an Ohlone village is rediscovered through cutting edge archeology, revealing surprising details about the life ways of pre-contact ancestors. Now, modern day members of the Muwekma Ohlone are honoring their past with these findings, laying claim to their existence, and paving the way for their future.

Tues, 11/22

9pm American Masters: Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On (NEW)
 Discover the groundbreaking ascent of Indigenous artist Buffy Sainte-Marie as she rises to prominence in New York's folk music scene and blazes a path as an Oscar-winning singer-songwriter, social activist, educator, and artist.

Wed, 11/30
11:30pm Saving the Sacred
The Koi and Habemetol Pomo have called the majestic Clear Lake basin home for 14,000 years. However, rapid urbanization and the looting of artifacts for sale on illegal markets has threatened to erase their long history and rich culture from this unique landscape. In an effort to protect these sacred sites, the tribes unite with their local governments and communities to preserve their priceless culture and past. They honor their ancestors by fighting to preserve what has been left behind. So much has already been taken from this country's native people. We cannot let looters take what little remains. The Pomo are descended from some of the earliest inhabitants of North America. Preserving their past is preserving our future.

PLUS

 Sat, 11/5
11:30pm Skindigenous: Los Angeles
Written and directed by Jason Brennan. Two Ravens is an Opata tattoo artist based in East Los Angeles. As an activist, he was injured at Standing Rock while defending land rights in North Dakota. He continues to use his art to unite and help Indigenous Americans in Los Angeles and across the U.S. reclaim their origins.

 Sat, 11/12
9:30am Skindigenous: Kahnawake
Written and directed by Roxann Whitebean. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is a matrilineal society consisting of five founding Nations who later adopted a sixth nation to join their family. Kanentokon Hemlock is a traditional Bear clan representative from the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake, a small community located outside Montreal. Their traditional territory is divided between present-day Quebec, Ontario and New York State. From a young age, Kanentokon was fascinated by his culture. He began the art of tattooing to revitalize the lost tradition and ancient protocols. In this episode, he invites us to witness the first tattooing in a longhouse in roughly 300 years.

Sun, 11/13
4:30pm N. Scott Momaday: American Masters
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.

6pm Warrior Women
 Warrior Women is the untold story of American Indian Movement activists who fought for civil rights in the '70s, anchored by one of the Red Power Movement's most outspoken Lakota leaders, Madonna Thunder Hawk, and her daughter Marcy Gilbert.

Sat, 11/19
11:30pm Return: Native American Women Reclaim Foodways For Health & Spirit
 At its heart, Return: Native American Women Reclaim Foodways For Health & Spirit is a film about empowering people to overcome their current circumstances through eating as their ancestors did - nutritiously and locally. Return explores the food sovereignty movement occurring across the country through the stories of women championing the return to traditional food sources. The documentary features the charismatic Roxanne Swentzell from Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, whose Pueblo Food Experience project is transforming lives in her community. Her efforts to reclaim ancient foodways are echoed across the continent by Tlingit, Muckleshoot, Oglala Sioux, Menominee and Seneca women who share Roxanne's passion and drive.

Sun, 11/20
6pm  Home from School: The Children of Carlisle
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?

7pm  Attla
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.

Tues, 11/22

11pm Chasing Voices
 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.

 WORLD

 Tues, 11/1

12pm Growing Native: Growing Native Northwest: Coast Salish
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 freshwater 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.

1pm Growing Native: Growing Native Alaska: People of the North
 All across Alaska, Native cultures have depended on the abundant natural resources found there to support their families, cultures, and ways of life. Now, however, those resources are growing scarce, and the people who have relied on them for centuries have to find new ways to adapt. Growing Native visits some of the many communities engaged in this familiar struggle - the struggle to maintain their traditions and ways of life, while continuing to thrive in a constantly changing world. Host Chris Eyre (Cheyenne Arapaho) meets Alaska Natives who thrive and survive in this complex environment.

Wed, 11/2

12pm Growing Native: Growing Native Great Lakes: Turtle Island
Over the Centuries, the Great Lakes have been home to hundreds of tribes and a source of fresh water, food, and health. Indigenous creation stories describe the world that 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.

1pm Growing Native: Growing Native Oklahoma: Red People
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.

4pm Art of Home: A Wind River Story
 From modern art to beading and leather work to drumming, and music, we'll follow Native American artists with a connection to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming through their creative process. These artists explain how their art connects them to their tribal past, present, and future.

Thurs, 11/3
4pm The Horse Relative
The Horse Relative explores the historic art of horse regalia and how the tradition is being revived and reinterpreted by Dakota communities for a new generation. Interviewees discuss the sacred relationship between the horse and the Dakota people, and the centuries-old tradition of dressing horses for ceremonies and celebrations. The film also looks at the efforts of artists, educators and community leaders to preserve and restore the Dakota language, cultural traditions and lifeways. Beyond chronicling how the Dakota people of Minnesota are working to keep their cultural identity thriving, The Horse Relative also details a story of migration, following the difficult path Native people and their horse relatives traversed as foreigners settled the surrounding lands.

6:30pm Films BYKids: Against the Current
 17-year-old Daunnette Moniz-Reyome, who lives on the Umo ho Native American reservation in Nebraska, has grown up hearing stories of substance abuse, depression, and suicide. Yet Moniz-Reyome has thrived, becoming an activist who has appeared in Teen Vogue and spoken at the U.N. about Native American issues. Mentored by filmmaker Evan Mascagni, Moniz-Reyome interviews Native American youth and elders against the backdrop of a ceremonial powwow. She shares her family's journey to retain the sacred rituals and values of their culture and the ways in which her community is healing generational trauma and mental health issues with strength and dignity.

Fri, 11/4
4pm Rising Voices/Hothaninpi
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/Hothaninpi is a one-hour documentary about how languages die - and how speaking them again can spark cultural and community restoration. 

6pm Searching for Sequoyah
 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.

Sat, 11/5
4pm Roadtrip Nation: Native Way Forward
TV and film have long depicted Native Americans in the past tense. It's time to shine a light on the present-day experiences of Native young adults - and explore what's possible for their futures. In Roadtrip Nation: Native Way Forward, native leaders are telling their stories in their own words and illuminating the path for Native youth everywhere. Follow the journey of three Native young adults as they road-trip across the country to explore the possibilities. The three "roadtrippers'' also reflect a snapshot of the diversity of cultures and experiences of modern Native youth.

6:30pm Breath of Life: Revitalizing California Languages
 What if Grandmother composed a song for you, but you couldn't understand the words? What if no one else could, either? The half-hour independent film "Breath of Life" explores the painstaking efforts of dedicated indigenous Californians who have committed themselves to revitalizing the rich cultural legacy their ancestors have left to them in tribal languages under threat of extinction. For decades, every two years a group of determined Native activists and allied language experts have convened an extraordinary week-long conference at the University of California, Berkeley, to make sure that the more than 100 individual tongues of this region remain vibrantly alive. The archive of linguistic resources housed here is of world significance.

Sun, 11/7

4pm Warrior Tradition
Learn the heartbreaking, inspiring and largely untold story of Native Americans in the United States military. This film relates the stories of Native American warriors from their own points of view -- stories of service, pain, courage and fear.

5pm The People's Protectors
 Meet four Native American veterans who reflect on their experiences in the military during the Vietnam War and how their communities helped them carry their warrior legacy, even as they struggled with their relationship to the U.S. government.

Wed, 11/9
1pm Hunting In Wartime
 "Hunting in Wartime '' profiles Tlingit veterans from Hoonah, Alaska who saw combat during the Vietnam War. The veterans talk about surviving trauma, relating to Vietnamese communities, readjusting to civilian life, and serving a government that systematically oppresses native people. Their stories give an important human face to the combat soldier and show the lasting effects of war on individuals, families and communities.

Thurs 11/10
5pm America ReFramed: Sisters Rising
 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.

Sat, 11/12

5pm Bring Her Home
Bring Her Home follows three Indigenous women - an artist, an activist and a politician - as they work to vindicate and honor their relatives who are victims in the growing epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. As they face the lasting effects of historical trauma, each woman searches for healing while navigating the oppressive systems that brought about this very crisis.

6pm Connected: A Search for Unity: We Are Blood
During his visit with the Blood Tribe on the Blackfoot Nation, Monty learns how the first people are coping in the aftermath of cultural genocide. Despite being stripped of their land, tradition, language, and identity, Monty finds timeless wisdom even in the midst of great struggle, as well as powerful lessons of hope, forgiveness, redemption, and love.

Mon, 11/14
11:30am Skindigenous: New Mexico
Written and directed by Angie-Pepper O'Bomsawin. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Stephanie Big Eagle grew up astray from her identity. She reconnected with her culture when she rekindled relationships in her home community, the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. She immersed herself in the fight for aboriginal rights and became a prominent figure in the Dakota pipeline protests, where her thunder hawk hand poke design became a symbol of the standoff. Stephanie found her calling as an environmental and Indigenous activist and full-time hand poke tattoo artist. She sees the revitalization of hand poke as a gift to be offered with love, gratitude, and respect, particularly for the ancestors.

12pm Skindigenous: India
Written and directed by Randy Kelly. Mo Naga is a traditional tattoo artist from Manipur, in the lush North East Region of India on the Myanmar border. While studying fashion design in his early 20s, Mo Naga stumbled across some interesting Naga textile designs and quickly realized their cultural importance. He gradually started researching, archiving and preserving them. His creativity and love for tattoos led him to create a neo-Naga style of design. Mo Naga now works diligently from his New Delhi tattoo studio reviving the traditional Naga tattoo culture of his people and the whole North East Region of India.

12:30pm Skindigenous: Taiwan
Written and directed by Randy Kelly. The Paiwan people are one of about 20 Indigenous minorities who make up roughly 3 percent of the population of Taiwan. When Cudjuy Patjidres discovered that his Paiwanese ancestors had a tattoo culture, he was surprised and amazed. Having developed his artistic skills from watching his grandfather weave and carve wood, he is now dedicated to preserving the ancient symbols and designs that were once common on the island.

1pm Skindigenous: Lebret
Written and directed by Courtney Montour. Metis artist Audie Murray sees tattooing as a way for people to connect with their culture and communities when they are away from home. Audie's art and tattoo practice draw from the duality in her life, especially her experience growing up in Regina and Lebret, and then moving to Vancouver to pursue her art career. She finds inspiration for her work in Metis beaded designs. When Audie returns home to Regina and Lebret, her work is centered around creating and learning from family.

1:30pm Skindigenous: Nimkii
Written and directed by Roxann Whitebean. Isaac Murdoch and Christi Belcourt founded the Onaman Collective, which represents a group of multidisciplinary artists who focus on land-based decolonization. They established a new traditional community called Nimkii Aazhibikong in Northern Ontario. Under the guidance of elders, they studied ancient markings from the past and are carrying them forward by tattooing individuals from various nations to unify the Indigenous peoples of the land.

4pm Native America: From Caves to Cosmos
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.

5pm Native America: Nature to Nations
Explore the rise of great American nations. 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.

6pm Surviving New England's Great Dying (NEW)
It's been more than 400 years since the first Thanksgiving. And there is a lot we are learning about that time. Just prior to the Pilgrim's arrival, a plague decimated New England's coastal Native American population, altering the course of colonialism. This is the story of the Great Dying and how tribal leaders are learning from the past as they deal with the effects of today's pandemic.

Tues, 11/15
11am Skindigenous: New Zealand
Written and directed by Angie-Pepper O'Bomsawin. Julie Paama-Pengelly is a veteran in the revitalization of ta moko Maori tattooing. Her studio in Mount Maunganui mixes contemporary and traditional designs and cultivates artists from all walks of life. With twenty years teaching experience, her art practice ranges from the use of symbolic imagery to pure abstraction in graphic design, painting, mixed media, and tattooing. Over time many misconceptions have surfaced about who has the right to wear and practice tâ moko. Julie is one of the first women to practice in the male-dominated field. She is a strong voice for Maori women's rights and continues to break down barriers to give women a place in tâ moko and in the arts.

11:30am Skindigenous: New Zealand
Written and directed by Angie-Pepper O'Bomsawin. Pip Hartley is on a mission to infuse Auckland's city core with as much Maori culture as possible. From her Karanaga Ink studio, she practices traditional and contemporary Maori tattooing, tâ moko. Although her approach is always guided in Maori style, it is a dance between artist and receiver in telling a story that will become permanent. Pip embraces the power of artistic expression to inspire and educate. Karanaga Ink has become one of Auckland's most respected Maori businesses in a very influential part of New Zealand. Pip takes every opportunity to educate, include and invite the modern world to step into Maori culture and gain a better first-hand understanding of her people.

12pm Skindigenous: Iqaluit
Written and directed by Jason Brennan. Northern Canada is home to the oldest tattooing traditions on the planet. Ippiksaut Friesen, a well-known young Inuk artist, was inspired to follow the many Inuit women before her and develop tattooing skills for her sisters. Notwithstanding the challenges in maintaining and reclaiming Inuit traditions in a world strongly affected by contemporary society and climate change, the importance of female tattooing among Inuit women continues to grow. Ippiksaut hopes to play a vital role in the resurgence of traditional tattooing.

12:30pm Skindigenous: Amsterdam
Written and directed by Randy Kelly. In the 1950s, warriors from the Dutch-controlled Maluku islands who were fighting alongside Dutch soldiers against the Indonesians were brought back to the Netherlands by force. As a descendant of that Moluccan diaspora, Joe Patty-Sabandar has been rediscovering and reconnecting with his traditional ancestral culture. As a tattoo artist, he is very keen to preserve and share Moluccan culture as it existed before the Portuguese colonized the Maluku islands. He is part of a group of third and fourth generation Dutch-Moluccans who are thirsty for knowledge and the ancient culture of their homeland.

1pm Skindigenous: Haida Gwaii
Written and directed by Courtney Montour. When Haida artist Kwiaahwah Jones picked up the needle and traditional Haida tattoo practices that were once outlawed, she inspired a whole new generation to embrace their Haida culture and make it their own. She has curated Haida art exhibits across Canada but found her true calling in Haida hand poke tattoos. Tattooing was an important part of Haida culture, signifying family lineage and rank in society. Kwiaahwah draws inspiration from being out on the land and water in Haida Gwaii. She sees the revitalization of Haida tattooing as a reconnection to her ancestors.

1:30pm Skindigenous: Tunisia
 Written and directed by Sara Ben-Saud. Manel Mahdouani is a tattoo artist living in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. As a descendant of the Amazigh people native to North Africa, Manel specializes in Amazigh tattoos. With tattooing traditions no longer practiced, her grandmother's generation are the last to carry the traditional designs and knowledge. Since many still depend on oral transmission of their cultural knowledge, Manel travels to remote villages and searches for the knowledge found in the collective memory of elderly people. When she finds a tattoo, she takes pictures and adds it to her research. She then modernizes the design for present-day reproduction. Manel is the only person archiving traditional Amazigh tattoos.

Wed, 11/16

11:30am Skindigenous: Pablo Zafirekudo
Pablo is part of the Huitoto tribe in the Amazon forest in Southern Colombia. He is trying to preserve his rapidly disappearing cultural traditions. One of these traditions is body painting for special celebrations with a temporary paint that is made with the juice of the huito fruit.

12pm Skindigenous: Rosa Lopez - Wayuu
Rosa is a 50-year-old Wayuu elder who lives in Northeastern Colombia with her family. The Wayuu culture is matriarchal, and Rosa is responsible for transmitting traditional knowledge like weaving, knitting, dancing and face-painting to her daughters and granddaughters.

12:30pm Skindigenous: Elle Festin
Elle Festin specializes in Filipino tribal designs. More than twenty years ago, he started to research on this tattoo culture because nothing was available in the US. More and more Filipinos around the world where interested in those designs and this started the Mark of the Four Waves Tribe.

1pm Skindigenous: Turumakina Duley
Based in Australia, Turumakina has been part of the Maori ta moko for 26 years now and known for doing face tattoos. The couple has adopted a holistic approach of tattooing and Tu uses these sacred skin markings as a tool for healing the body, mind and spirit.

1:30pm Skindigenous: Kanahus Manuel
Land defender Kanahus Manuel is revitalizing ancient tattoo practices that represent thousands of years of ancient connection to the land.

4pm Spirit Flute: Healing the Heart
Narrated by Academy Award Winning Actor Wes Studi, Spirit Flute delves into the extraordinary journey of a group of Oklahoma flute makers and artists. The sojourn begins with an understanding of the Indigenous people who live and walk the Native road on Oklahoma soil. The viewer will enjoy the beautiful sounds of the flute as well as being taken on a visual journey. This film asks the question...who will continue this great tradition?

5pm Independent Lens: Scenes From a Glittering World
Following three Indigenous students, Scenes from the Glittering World is a meditation on adolescence, trauma, and the power of connecting with an isolated Navajo homeland.

6pm POV: Manzanar Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust
 Three communities intersect, sharing histories of forced removal - Japanese Americans who were incarcerated at the Manzanar WWII concentration camp, Native Americans who were forced from these lands, and ranchers turned environmentalists, who were bought out by the LA Department of Water and Power. How do they come together in the present moment to defend their land and water from Los Angeles?

Thurs, 11/17

11am Skindigenous: Keith Callihoo
Kanien'keha:ka artist Keith Callihoo keeps his relationship to the land and to his ancestors' stories from the Michel First Nation alive through his tattoo practice. He strives to pass these teachings on to his 9-year-old daughter, Hayden, who is always by his side.

11:30am Skindigenous: Kiskihkoman
Nehiyaw/Anishinaabe artist Heather Kiskihkoman finds inspiration for her tattoo designs on the land where she grew up and still lives today. She shares this journey with her family as they prepare for her sister Vivienne's first traditional tattoo.

12pm Skindigenous: Toby Sicks
Struggling to find direction, Toby Sicks credits the discovery of his Metis heritage to his success as a tattoo artist. Overcoming his addiction to become the hard-working outspoken Metis man he is today; Toby sets a great example for youth who may be trying to find their own voice in the world today.

12:30pm Skindigenous: Stacey Fayant
Born and raised in Regina Saskatchewan, Stacey Fayant is a Metis and Cree tattoo artist who has found a way to give back to her urban Indigenous community by revitalizing the practice of skin stitch and hand poke.

1pm Skindigenous: Lianna Spence
Lianna Spence is a tattoo artist in Prince Rupert, BC, who does beautifully detailed designs based on the family crests of her clients.

1:30pm Skindigenous: Isaac Weber
Isaac Weber, a multidisciplinary artist who is both Creole from the Cape Verde Islands (West African Atlantic Islands) and Anishnawbek from Inlet First Nations, has recently taken up tattooing as a means to reconnect with his family and his community.

5pm America ReFramed: Daughter of a Lost Bird
Kendra, an adult Native adoptee, reconnects with her birth family, discovers her Lummi heritage, and confronts issues of her own identity. Her singular story echoes many affected by U.S. policy towards Indigenous people.

6:30pm Our American Family: The Kurowskis
 Our American Family: The Kurowski's presents the story of a woman born and raised on the Oneida Reservation in Wisconsin married to the son of Polish immigrants. At the time, Native Americans had been pressured to forsake their heritage and assimilate into the culture of their white neighbors. Following a tragedy at a paper mill, the Kurowski family moves to the center of the reservation where their selflessness strengthens the community and prepares the next generation to support their Oneida heritage.

Fri, 11/18

4pm Older Than the Crown (NEW)
Older Than the Crown follows the trial of Sinixt tribal member Rick Desautel who in 2010 was charged with hunting as a non-resident and without a proper permit in Canada. Rick harvested an elk on the ancestral land of the Sinixt people in Vallican British Columbia Canada. To the Sinixt, hunting on ancestral land is an aboriginal right gifted to them by the Creator. A right that has legally been denied to the Sinixt people since 1956 when the Canadian government unjustly declared them extinct in Canada, despite the nearly 3,000 members existing on the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington State. Now with the Desautel Hunting Case, the Sinixt people have a chance to not only bring light to their unjust extinction by the Canadian government, but also abolish the declaration completely.

Sat, 11/19

6pm Battle Over Bears Ears
 Explore the deep connections to place and the vast cultural divides that are fueling the fight over how the Bears Ears Monument is protected and managed. At its heart, it's a battle for homeland and sovereignty. Bears Ears, a remote section of land characterized by its distinctive red cliffs and abundance of juniper and sage, is at the center of a fight over who has a say in how Western landscapes are protected and managed. The Monument was first declared under President Obama, and then drastically reduced in size by President Trump. Now, under the Biden administration, the moment's fate is under review. Regardless of politics, questions remain--whose voices are heard, whose are lost, and how do all sides find common ground in this uncommon place?

Sun, 11/20

7pm We’re Still Here
 Through their music and work in communities and in schools, First Nation indigenous hip-hop artists in Canada lead an effort to right long-standing social injustices, heal personal traumas, and preserve their cultures.

Mon, 11/21

11am Skindigenous: Danika Nacarrella
Danika Nacarrella is from the Nuxalk Nation in Bella Coola, B.C. She was officially adopted into the Nation at birth, but she has been making her mark in the community by working with the youth as an educator, visual artist, and tattoo artist.

11:30am Skindigenous: Gordon Sparks
With over 20 years of tattoo machine experience, Mi'kmaw mask carver Gordon Sparks is turning his skills to hand poke tattooing. Through his art, Gordon is reconnecting to his roots and bringing traditional tattooing home to the Mi'kmaw territories.

12pm History with David Rubenstein: Philip J. Deloria
A Harvard University professor, Philip Deloria discusses the social, cultural and political histories of the relations among American Indian peoples and the United States, and how these relationships impacted indigenous peoples throughout history.

12:30pm History with David Rubenstein: Brenda Child
Scholar Brenda Child sheds light on how America's first inhabitants, American Indians, were impacted by the arrival of colonial settlers in a discussion ranging from President Jackson's Indian Removal Act to aggressive assimilation efforts in boarding schools and beyond.

1pm POV Shorts: Water Warriors
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.

1:30pm Without a Whisper: Konnon: Kwe
Kanon:Kwe is an 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 right movement in the United States. They join forces on a journey to shed light on the hidden history of the influence of Haudenosaunee Women on the women's rights movement, possibly changing this historical narrative forever.

4pm Native America: Cities of the Sky
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.

5pm Native America: New World Rising
Discover how resistance, survival and revival are revealed through an empire of horse-mounted Comanche warriors, secret messages encoded in Aztec manuscript and a grass bridge in the Andes that spans mountains and centuries of time.

6pm First Official Thanksgiving
 The First Official Thanksgiving tells the story of what some historians might call the first "official, English-speaking" Thanksgiving held in the Americas. 

Tues, 11/22

12pm A Watershed Moment
 On Dec. 3. In 2007 the Chehalis river valley in Washington State experienced a catastrophic flood like never before, marking the 4th major flood in 30 years and the resurgence of long-standing interest in building a flood retention dam. As the region prepares to pursue possible solutions with a combination of infrastructure and restorative design, this wild salmon stronghold faces rising water temperatures and a 100-year legacy of habitat degradation. 

Wed, 11/23

11am Sand Creek Massacre
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. The hour-long program gives insight into the history and describes in detail the actions and the events - the discovery of gold in the west, the push for Colorado statehood by Governor John Evans, and the belief in manifest destiny - that led to this infamous massacre. The documentary provides an in-depth look at the story's real-life villains and heroes through moving oral histories shared by 22 Sand Creek descendants, an interview with David. F. Halass, PhD, a Northern Cheyenne Consultant and Colorado Chief Historian and archival photos and letters.

12pm 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.

4pm The Medicine Game
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. The Onondaga Nation, tucked away in central New York State, is a sovereign Native American community known to produce some of the top lacrosse players in the world. The Iroquois people play a ceremonial game of lacrosse, referred to as the "medicine game" - a very important medicine ceremony played to ward off sicknesses from the tribe. The obstacles in the brothers' way are frequent and daunting, but their love for the game, each other, and their family's unyielding determination propels these young men towards their dream.

Thurs, 11/24
11am 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 these 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.

12pm Native Art Now!
What exactly distinguishes contemporary Native art from other contemporary art? "About 15,000 years," explains Jennifer Complo McNutt, curator of contemporary art at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in downtown Indianapolis. The documentary Native Art Now! examines the evolution of Native contemporary art over the last 25 years, presenting personal perspectives from internationally acclaimed Native modern artists. Installations, paintings, photographs, prints, sculptures, glass and fabric art by indigenous artists Rick Bartow, Meryl McMaster, Jim Denomie, Holly Wilson and numerous others from the United States and Canada are featured in the program. What exactly distinguishes contemporary Native art from other contemporary art? "About 15,000 years," explains Jennifer Complo McNutt, curator of contemporary art at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in downtown Indianapolis.

4pm Warrior Lawyers: Defenders of Sacred Justice
Warrior Lawyers examines contemporary Native American Nation rebuilding through the personal stories of Native Attorneys, Tribal Judges and their colleagues. The documentary provides an overview of the major historical, legal, judicial and intertwining social issues shaping many Federally Recognized Native Nations today as well as reveals how culture and traditional values are effectively being utilized to face challenges and promote Sacred Justice. 

5pm America ReFramed: Blood Memory
For Sandy White Hawk, the story of America's Indian Adoption Era is not one of saving children but of destroying families and tribes. As an adoption survivor, Sandy sets out to reclaim the missing pieces of her stolen past and discovers that her's was not an isolated case. Blood Memory explores the communal healing that is sparked by the return of this stolen generation, as Sandy helps organize the first annual Welcome Home Ceremony in the community from which she was removed over 60 years ago.

6pm Red Power Energy
 From a historically passive role in mineral extraction that frequently left their resource-rich reservations either leased out for pennies on the dollar or contaminated by environmental degradation and Federal mismanagement, Native people are in the midst of an extraordinary resurgence. They are challenging long-held stereotypes, fighting for the sovereign right to control their lands and develop their natural and mineral resources - however they choose. 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.

Fri, 11/25
4pm La Loche
 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 Dene 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. With one camera, a paddle and a desire to help, Stroud uses this trek to encourage the young men to open up and tell their own stories. They talk about their families, their town and the shooting, but more importantly, their hopes and dreams. Over the course of eight days, the cathartic journey through natural wilderness helps the teenagers confront their trauma, guiding them from fear and confusion to optimism and confidence.

Sat, 11/26
4pm Stories I Didn’t Know
 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.

Mon, 11/28

6:30pm Stories From the Stage: Raising the Bar (NEW)
Explore the art of storytelling through interviews with the storytellers talking about their craft, their on-stage performances, and comments and stories from the audience. Theresa Okokon and Wes Hazard host, introducing each episode's theme.