Special Native American Programming in November is made possible by
Island Resort & Casino

Pictured: Navajo people hauling water in 5-gallon buckets The Water Haulers
Seventy thousand people on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico – an area the size of Connecticut – live without easy access to running water. This population of U.S. citizens make daily treks to obtain the fresh water they need for drinking, cooking and bathing. This program profiles Navajos struggling to prosper in their dry ancestral lands, and offers expert explanation of pressing water-rights issues and interviews with policymakers throughout the Southwest.
Sunday, November 1 at 11 am ET
Repeats 11/4 at 9:30 pm ET

Pictured: Marshall Johnson, Navajo, speaks out against pumping water for coal slurry Independent Lens
“Power Paths”
It’s time to cut our dependence on fossil fuel and pursue renewable energy. But how can it be done? Native-American tribes turn to solar and wind sources to provide clean sustainable energy for cities across the west. Their traditional values regarding conservation and the earth offer real solutions to America’s energy crisis. A film by Bo Boudart.
Tuesday, November 3 at 10 pm ET

Pictured: Navajo woman The Long Walk: Tears of the Navajo
In 1864 eight thousand Navajo men, women and children were marched at gunpoint to a barren reservation along the Texas border. This forced relocation was aimed at crushing American Indian resistance in the Southwest. Hundreds of Navajo died during the march and the four years of forced isolation. The Navajo remember this tragedy as “The Long Walk." Narrated by Peter Coyote.
Wednesday, November 4 at 10 pm ET

Pictured: Lost Bird as a baby Lost Bird of Wounded Knee
Late in the 19th century a Lakota child survives the Wounded Knee massacre, only to be adopted as a living curio by a prominent white couple. What follows is another tragedy – a life of racism, abuse, heartbreak and poverty. This poignant story is told with the dramatic use of interviews, significant locations and archival photos.
Sunday, November 8 at 11 am ET

Pictured: Fort Shaw Indian Boarding School girls' basketball team 1905 team photo Playing for the World: The 1904 Fort Indian Girls’ Basketball Team
In 1904, a unique combination of Native women came together at a boarding school in Montana. They used the new sport of basketball to help them adjust to a rapidly changing world. Their travels and experiences led them to places they never imagined. Ultimately, these women played for something much larger than themselves.
Thursday, November 12 at 10 pm ET

Pictured: Charles Banks Wilson Charles Banks Wilson, Portrait of an American Artist
Painter Charles Banks Wilson's earliest days are chronicled in this documentary showing film footage from the 1950s of Wilson painting the “pureblood” Native Americans. Wilson admits to having painted approximately 150 different tribes of Native Americans that trace their ancestry to a single tribe. The collection of original art was donated to the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa in honor of Wilson’s promise to his Native American models that he would not sell their images. His mutual respect and admiration for their culture is evident in his drawings and paintings that are beautifully illustrated in the program.
Sunday, November 15 at 11 am ET

Pictured: Hopi children at boarding school Indian Boarding Schools: Keeping the Culture Alive “Beyond the Mesas”
With the establishment of government-run boarding schools, the United States Congress and Bureau of Indian Affairs pursued a policy of total assimilation, disassociating the children from all things inherently Indian and in effect, erasing all connection with traditional cultural systems and values. This 2-part documentary takes a look at the effect of boarding schools on the Hopi people, and how contemporary Native artists are making efforts to keep their culture alive through their art.
Wednesdays, November 18 & 25 at 10:30 pm

Pictured: Pigeon's Egg Head (The Light) going to and returning from Washington, 1837-1839. Frontier Visionary: George Catlin and the Plains Indians
In the 1830s, Catlin was the first major artist to travel beyond the Mississippi and live with American Indians, eventually recording the "manners and customs" of 50 Plains tribes in his Indian Gallery. Experience Catlin's epic journey up the Missouri River, following parts of the Lewis and Clark trail, hear about his frontier adventures as told by Catlin himself, and learn about this incredible encounter of two cultures through the voices of Native Americans today.
Sunday, November 22 at 11 am ET

Pictured: Brule and Airo. Brulé, Live at Mt. Rushmore: A Concert for Reconciliation of the Cultures
Top-selling Native American recording artists Brulé and Airo perform in front of 11,000 people at Mt. Rushmore National Memorial in July of 2007. Combines beautiful music with breathtaking Native American rhythms and dance, while delivering the unmistakable message of peace, hope, and reconciliation.
Monday, November 23 at 10 pm ET

Pictured: Rob Kapilow and Darrell Robes Kipp Summer Sun, Winter Moon
A symphony inspired by the Lewis and Clark expedition brings together two individuals from different worlds: Rob Kapilow, a celebrated composer trying to breathe new life into classical music, and Darrell Robes Kipp, a Blackfeet Indian poet fighting to save his language from extinction. This program tells the story of how their unexpected collaboration creates a unique work of art from the perspective of American Indians today.
Tuesday, November 24 at 1 pm ET

Pictured: Oneida woman The Oneida Speak
This program blends traditional Oneida storytelling with modern media, providing a window to a world that no longer exists. An engaging personal account written by elders of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin during the early 1930s depicts a dramatic portrayal of the land grab policies carried out by government agents. It raises awareness and educates viewers about these policies through the nature of its narrative and personalized storytelling.
Tuesday, November 24 at 2 pm ET

Pictured: American Indians fishing the traditional way River of Renewal
Eight years in the making, this film chronicles the ongoing battle over the resources of Northern California’s and Oregon’s Klamath Basin. For its filmmaker, Jack Kohler, a self described ‘sidewalk Indian’ who grew up in San Francisco, this is a journey of self-discovery as he uncovers the elemental bond between California native tribes, the river, and its legendary denizen, the salmon. Awarded best documentary feature at the American Indian Film Festival.
Wednesday, November 25 at 1 pm ET

Pictured: Jim Thorpe when he played professional baseball Jim Thorpe: World's Greatest Athlete
This biography chronicles events from Jim Thorpe's remarkable life (1887-1953) – from his boyhood in Oklahoma and his gold-medal wins at the 1912 Summer Olympics to his subsequent fall from grace and later, his advocacy of Indian rights and self-sufficiency.
Wednesday, November 25 at 2 pm ET

Pictured: Hopi children at boarding school Indian Boarding Schools: Keeping the Culture Alive “Beautiful Resistance”
With the establishment of government-run boarding schools, the United States Congress and Bureau of Indian Affairs pursued a policy of total assimilation, disassociating the children from all things inherently Indian and in effect, erasing all connection with traditional cultural systems and values. This 2-part documentary takes a look at the effect of boarding schools on the Hopi people, and how contemporary Native artists are making efforts to keep their culture alive through their art.
Wednesday, November 25 at 10:30 pm ET

Pictured: Actor portrays a Blackfeet boy riding a horse A Blackfeet Encounter
This documentary reveals the extraordinary history, heritage and culture of the Blackfeet, tracing their history beginning with the oral tradition of Blackfeet Creation, the program explores the encounter with Meriwether Lewis, chronicles Blackfeet history after the deadly clash with the Lewis and Clark Expedition and ends with a revealing look at the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and the people who live there today.
Friday, November 27 at 1 pm ET

family band Waila! Making the People Happy
This program tells the history and evolution of Waila Music, the contemporary social dance music of Native American tribes of southern Arizona, through three generations of the Joaquins, a family of musicians. Waila music comes from the Tohono O’odham, the native people of the Sonoran desert and the largest Indian tribe of southern Arizona. There are no words to waila music — it is only instrumental, and is played on a button accordion, alto saxophone, electric six-string and bass guitars, and drums. The dances performed in the waila tradition are the waila (which is similar to a polka), the chote (based on a folk dance from Scotland or Germany), and the mazurka (based on a Polish folk dance).
Sunday, November 29 at 11 am ET