Documentary
For 50 years, controversial ethnographer John Peabody Harrington crisscrossed the United States, frantically searching and documenting dying Native American languages. Harrington amassed over a million pages of notes on over 150 different tribal languages. Some of these languages were considered dead until his notes were discovered. Today tribes are accessing the notes, reviving their once dormant languages, and bringing together a new generation of language learners in the hope of saving Native languages.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Those Who Come, Will Hear
Cree Code Talker
Badger Creek
Unconquered: Allan Houser and the Legacy of One Apache Family
Trudell
Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun
Taking Alcatraz
Skydancer
The Native Americans: The Tribal People of the Northwest
Dislocation Blues
Grandfather Sky
Fighting Indians
The Brave Class
Contrary Warriors: A Film of the Crow Tribe
Mankiller
Essence of Healing: The Journey of American Indian Nurses
The Commission
Last Words
Lon Marum
Keep Talking
SIMILAR MOVIES
Those Who Come, Will Hear
IMDB 9 | Jun , 2018
The documentary proposes a unique meeting with the speakers of several indigenous and inuit languages of Quebec – all threatened with extinction. The film starts with the discovery of these unsung tongues through listening to the daily life of those who still speak them today. Buttressed by an exploration and creation of archives, the film allows us to better understand the musicality of these languages and reveals the cultural and human importance of these venerable oral traditions by nourishing a collective reflection on the consequences of their disappearance.Cree Code Talker
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2016
CREE CODE TALKER reveals the role of Canadian Cree code talker Charles 'Checker' Tomkins during the Second World War. Digging deep into the US archives it depicts the true story of Charles' involvement with the US Air Force and the development of the code talkers communication system, which was used to transmit crucial military communications, using the Cree language as a vital secret weapon in combat.Badger Creek
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2016
Badger Creek is a portrait of Native resilience as seen through a year in the life of three generations of a Blackfeet family living on the rez in Montana. The Mombergs are a loving, sober family who run a successful ranch, live a traditional worldview and are re-learning their language.Unconquered: Allan Houser and the Legacy of One Apache Family
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2008
In decades past, Native American artists who wanted to sell to mainstream collectors had little choice but to create predictable, Hollywood-style western scenes. Then came a generation of painters and sculptors led by Allan Houser (or Haozous), a Chiricahua Apache artist with no interest in stereotyped imagery and a belief that his own rich heritage was compatible with modernist ideas and techniques. Narrated by actor Val Kilmer and originally commissioned as part of an exhibit of Houser’s work at the Oklahoma History Center, this program depicts the artist’s tribal ancestry, his rise to regional and national acclaim, and the continuing success of his sons as they expand upon and depart from their father’s achievements. Key works are documented, as is Houser’s tenure at the Santa Fe–based Institute of American Indian Arts.Trudell
IMDB 5.4 | Jan , 2005
A chronicle of legendary Native American poet/activist John Trudell's travels, spoken word performances, and politics.Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun
IMDB 0 | Feb , 2023
An intimate and thrilling portrait of a young Siksika woman and the deep bonds between her father and family in the golden plains of Blackfoot Territory as she prepares for one of the most dangerous horse races in the world… bareback.Taking Alcatraz
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2015
A documentary account by award-winning filmmaker John Ferry of the events that led up to the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz Island as told by principal organizer, Adam Fortunate Eagle. The story unfolds through Fortunate Eagle's remembrances, archival newsreel footage and photographs.Skydancer
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2011
For more than 120 years, Mohawk ironworkers have raised America’s modern cityscapes. They are called 'sky walkers' because they walk fearlessly atop steel beams just a foot wide, high above the city. In this nuanced portrait of modern Native Americans' double lives, Jerry McDonald Thundercloud and his colleague Sky shuttle between the hard-drinking Brooklyn lodging houses they call home during the week and their rural reservation, a grueling drive six hours north, where a family weekend awaits. While the men are away working, their wives often struggle to keep their children away from the illegal temptations of an economically deprived area.The Native Americans: The Tribal People of the Northwest
IMDB 0 | Oct , 1994
A meeting of the Far West Council elders inspires a discussion of Northwest Native American history and traditions, and the struggle to remember and honor their ancestryDislocation Blues
IMDB 5.8 | Sep , 2017
Filmed during the 2016 Standing Rock protests in South Dakota, Sky Hopinka's Dislocation Blues offers a portrait of the movement and its water protectors, refuting grand narratives and myth-making in favour of individual testimonials.Grandfather Sky
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1993
A young Native American man on his way to visit his uncle learns about his Navajo heritage by attending tribal gatherings, traditional ceremonies and listening to old folktales.Fighting Indians
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2022
On May 16th, 2019, the State of Maine made history by passing LD 944 An Act to Ban Native American Mascots in All Public Schools, the first legislation of its kind in the country. For Maine's tribal nations, the landmark legislation marked an end to a decades long struggle to educate the public of the harms of Native American mascotry. Fighting Indians chronicles the last and most contentious holdout in that struggle, the homogeneously white Skowhegan High School, known for decades as "The Home of the Indians". This is the story of a small New England community forced to reckon with its identity, its sordid history, and future relationship with its indigenous neighbors. It is a story of a small town divided against the backdrop of a nation divided where the "mascot debate" exposes centuries old abuses while asking if reconciliation is possible.The Brave Class
IMDB 6.7 | Jun , 2017
Three college students start a social experiment to prove that reality changes according to the words we use to describe it. Through research, activist actions, and artistic interventions, they analyze the importance of language in the way we understand the world. The documentary includes analysis from more than 20 international experts and leaders in the fields of political communication and information.Contrary Warriors: A Film of the Crow Tribe
IMDB 0 | Nov , 1985
Examines the impact a century of struggling for survival has on a native people. It weaves the Crow tribe's turbulent past with modern-day accounts from Robert Yellow-tail, a 97-year-old Crow leader and a major reason for the tribe's survival. Poverty and isolation combine with outside pressures to undermine the tribe, but they resist defeat as "Contrary Warriors," defying the odds.Mankiller
IMDB 6 | Jun , 2017
The story of an American hero and the Cherokee Nation's first woman Principal Chief who humbly defied all odds to give a voice to the voiceless.Essence of Healing: The Journey of American Indian Nurses
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2017
Essence of Healing is a documentary exploring the life journeys of 14 American Indian nurses - their experiences growing up, their experiences in nursing school, and their experiences on the job. They are part of a larger story - a historical line of care and compassion that has run through hundreds of indigenous tribes for thousands of years.The Commission
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2019
For some time now, The State Commission of the Lithuanian Language is at the center of tough discussions. For some, it’s an institution which safeguards the most important principles of the language, but for others, it’s an anachronism of the Soviet regime. This film offers a first-time glimpse into the commission’s workLast Words
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2025
Linguist-philologist Mark Janse discovers speakers of the Cappadocian language – previously assumed extinct, linguists worldwide are exhilarated at the discovery, but Janse realizes the rediscovered language is doomed to die anyway.Lon Marum
IMDB 0 | Jan , 2012
A TV-hour length documentary film depicting the relationship between language, culture, place, music, tradition, and magic on an active volcano, in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, on the island of Ambrym.Keep Talking
IMDB 8 | Mar , 2017
Three Alaska Native women work to save their endangered language, Kodiak Alutiiq, and ensure the future of their culture while confronting their personal demons. With just 41 fluent Native speakers remaining, mostly Elders, some estimate their language could die out within ten years. The small community travels to a remote Island, where a language immersion experiment unfolds with the remaining fluent Elders. Young camper Sadie, an at-risk 13 year old learner and budding Alutiiq dancer, is inspired and gains strength through her work with the teachers. Yet PTSD and politics loom large as the elders, teachers, and students try to continue the difficult task of language revitalization over the next five years.