Documentaries to watch for Native American Heritage Month

Image credit (left to right): Warrior Women, This is the Way We Rise, Powerlands, Indigenous Perspectives on Restoring Our World, Powerlands, The Condor And The Eagle.

In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, we are highlighting a selection of award-winning independent documentaries that uplifting stories of Indigenous leadership, empowerment, and resistance. These films are available in a variety of streaming and purchase options for schools, non-profits, community organizations, libraries, and corporations. We hope you will utilize these important educational resources year-round to spark critical dialogue in your community or organization! Click here for a full list Native American and Indigenous Studies films!

INHABITANTS: INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES ON RESTORING OUR WORLD follows five Native American communities as they restore their traditional land management practices in the face of a changing climate.

POWERLANDS follows Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, a young Navajo filmmaker who investigates the displacement of Indigenous people and the devastation of the environment caused by the same chemical companies that have exploited the land where she was born.

CROW COUNTRY: OUR RIGHT TO FOOD SOVEREIGNTY tells the stories of three Apsáalooke tribal members: a journalist; an elder; and a hunter, as they try to address food security in their tribal community.

MANZANAR DIVERTED: WHEN WATER BECOMES DUST is a fresh retelling of the LA water story that follows Native Americans, Japanese-American WWII incarcerees and environmentalists who form an unexpected alliance to preserve Payahuunadü (Owens Valley), “the land of flowing water.”

REZ METAL explores the thriving heavy metal scene on the Navajo reservation through the remarkable story of metal band I DONT KONFORM and their journey gaining popularity on reservations and recording their debut album in Denmark with one of the music industry's most influential producers.

WARRIOR WOMEN is the Peabody-nominated story of Madonna Thunder Hawk, a leader of the 1970s American Indian Movement, who shaped a kindred group of activists' children - including her daughter Marcy - into the "We Will Remember" Survival School as a Native alternative to government-run education.

THE CONDOR AND THE EAGLE follows leaders from impacted communities who embark on an extraordinary trans-continental adventure from the Canadian Boreal forests to the heart of the Amazonian jungle to unite the peoples of North and South America and deepen the meaning of justice.

THIS IS THE WAY WE RISE is an exploration into the creative process, following Native Hawaiian slam poet Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio as her calling to protect sacred sites atop Maunakea, Hawai`i reinvigorates her art.