Special Native American Programming in November 2012
is made possible by
Island Resort & Casino

Native Report
This entertaining, informative magazine style series celebrates Native American culture and heritage, listens to tribal elders, and talks to some of the most powerful and influential leaders of Indian Country today. Promoting understanding between cultures, tribes and reservations, Native Report offers a venue for the stories of challenge and success coming from the Midwest's tribal communities.
Saturdays at 5 pm ET

Good Meat
Once a star athlete in his community, Beau LeBeau (Oglala Lakota) weighed 333 pounds--an unhealthy weight which has triggered the onset of Type II Diabetes. His mother's untimely death from complications due to Diabetes motivates him to drop the excessive pounds. Enlisting the help of physician Dr. Kevin Weiland and nutritionist Kibbe Conti (Oglala Lakota), Beau starts exercising and takes up a traditional Lakota diet of buffalo meat and other Native foods. He rapidly sheds pounds and encourages others to do the same, but can he maintain his weight loss amidst the poor diet options and naysayers on the Reservation?
Sunday, November 4 at 4 pm ET

Seeking Water from the Sun
University of Arizona scientists are exploring how to use solar energy to bring water purification to the vast, 24,000-square-mile Navajo Nation. This documentary journeys into the drama of scientific innovation and the harsh reality of life without water. It visits laboratories and homesteads, follows residents and scientists, all to explore the very human story of a very real need.
Sunday, November 4 at 11 pm ET
Repeats 11/5 at 2 pm ET

Defending the Homeland: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces
From the American Revolution to World Wars I and II to present day Iraq and Afghanistan, Native Americans have a long tradition of participation in the United States military. Their courage, determination, and fighting spirit were recognized by American military leaders as early as the 18th century. This new documentary brings their stories to life. California's Pala Band of Mission Indians and the Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians have an especially illustrious history of military service and the program showcases their emotional battles both overseas as warriors and here at home as veterans.
Sunday, November 11 at 11 pm ET
Repeats 11/12 at 2 pm ET

The Modoc War
The Modoc War of 1872 was one of the costliest American Indian wars in U.S. history. For seven months, a handful of Modoc Indian warriors and their families held off hundreds of U.S. Army soldiers. The international press took notice and people were enthralled as one of the last real-life Wild West battles unfolded on the American frontier. Again and again, the small band of Indians overcame incredible odds to protect their way of life. This documentary revisits the battle scenes, and uses rare historical images and original wood cut drawings from the period. Additionally, interviews with Modoc descendants and written first-hand accounts bring the Modoc War to life.
Monday, November 12 at 10 pm ET

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.
Friday, November 16 at 9 pm ET

Standing Bear's Footsteps
This is the story of an Indian chief who went to court to prove he was a person... and in the process redefined what it means to be an American. The documentary traces one man’s journey from his Nebraska homeland to the malaria-infested plains of Indian Territory and finally to a trial that made front page news across America. Standing Bear’s odyssey began in 1877, when the Ponca tribe was exiled from the Niobrara valley to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma, a place they called death country. As Standing Bear’s son was dying, he begged his father to take his body home for burial with his ancestors. In January of 1879, Standing Bear began the long walk north to keep his promise. Before he and his small band could make it home, they were arrested and imprisoned at Fort Omaha. With the secret support of a famous army general, Standing Bear sued the U.S. government for his freedom. The film weaves interviews, re-creations and present-day scenes to tell a powerful story about human rights. 
Sunday, November 18 at 4 pm ET

Independent Lens
“Reel Injun”
Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond takes an entertaining, insightful, and often humorous look at the Hollywood Indian, exploring the portrayal of North American Natives through a century of cinema and examining the ways that the myth of “the Injun” has influenced the world’s understanding — and misunderstanding — of Natives. Narrated by Diamond with infectious enthusiasm and good humor, “Reel Injun” is a loving look at cinema through the eyes of the people who appeared in its very first flickering images and have survived to tell their stories their own way.
Monday, November 19 at 10 pm ET
Repeats 11/23 at Noon ET

Grab
An official selection at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, GRAB is an intimate portrait of the little-documented Grab Day in the villages of New Mexico's Laguna Pueblo tribe. This community-wide prayer of abundance, thanks and renewal exists at the intersection of traditional native and contemporary Western cultures. Each year, Laguna Pueblo villagers honor Catholic saints and family members by showering food and gifts from the rooftops of their homes upon the community gathered below.
Thursday, November 22 at 8 pm ET

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 vérité-style shooting, this film 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.
Monday, November 26 at Noon ET

The Journey of Sacagawea
The teenage Sacagawea, who with her infant son accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition, is an American historical icon. This program seeks the woman behind the icon and shows how cultures and events may have shaped her. The special goes beyond the sparse comments found in the expedition journals to the rich oral history of the Agaidika Shoshoni (known as the Lemhi Shoshoni), the Mandan/Hidatsa and the Nez Perce. Dramatic re-enactments and scenes of the wild areas in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and Oregon that the youthful Sacagawea knew bring her story to life.
Friday, November 30 at Noon ET