Engage Your Students with Indigenous Stories

 The Big Sky Film Institute is once again partnering with the Montana Office of Public Instructions Indian Education Unit to share films made by and about Native people. According to their Facebook post in the Teaching Montana History Facebook group: 

The 2023 season of the NFI Film Club [Native Filmmaker Initiative] presents "Celebrating Cultures & Honoring Traditional Practices," a triptych of films curated to engage Montana youth with unique and uplifting stories of Native and Indigenous individuals ... who are building strength through their communities and upholding traditional practices in the modern day. Our films are selected and ready for teacher registration, each one accompanied with an accompanied discussion guide, streaming link to view the film and an invitation to join our live filmmaker Q&A with film teams and OPI’s Indian Education Specialist, Mike Jetty.

Here's more from their website: 

The Native Filmmaker Initiative Film Club is a virtual youth education outreach program that screens a curated selection of Indigenous-made documentary films in classrooms across Montana. Following the screenings, filmmakers visit classrooms virtually for a live Q&A and discussion activities rooted in Montana's Indian Education for All Essential Understandings. Film Club discussions are led by the Big Sky Film Institute in collaboration with Montana Office of Public Instruction’s Indian Education Specialists as well as participating filmmakers to talk in-depth about the process of filmmaking....

Running October through December, each Film Club event will focus on diverse Indigenous subjects and topics. Consult the discussion guides to help adapt the Film Club activities into social studies, science, history or other areas of study. Films are available to view in advance of Film Club discussions and each classroom will receive access to discussion guides and instructions on how to join the live Q&A.

Visit the Native Filmmaker Initiative website to register your classroom to view one or more of this year's films. Registration includes a screening link to the film with details to join a live filmmaker Q&A and accompanied discussion guides. Email Director of Education, Julia Sherman, at julia@bigskyfilmfest.org for more information, or to be added to their Youth Programs email list.

Here are the three films they will be showing this fall (text from the NFI website): 

October 11: Snqʷeyłmistn (pronounced, SING-KWAY-SH-MEE-STOIN), 7 minutes

Following the native-led organization ​Snqʷeyłmistn, this short portrait follows key players behind the organization's mission and seasonal programming which aims to foster Salish community immersion for foster children of the Flathead Reservation in Montana. With programs and activities designed to empower, strengthen, and inspire generational change, the organization offers indigenized solutions for foster care issues across the Flathead Reservation and greater Indian Country.  RECOMMENDED FOR ALL AGES & GRADES

November 15: Shrampari: Legacies of the River, 16 minutes

In one of the most remote places in the Peruvian Amazon, an Ashéninka boy must overcome his fears to start his journey as an adult: catching a giant catfish using only a hook. RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 3+ (DUE TO SUBTITLES, OTHERWISE SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES)

December 12: Jonathan Thunder, Good Mythology, 14 minutes 

Follow Anishinaabe artist Jonathan Thunder as he dives deep into the inspirations behind his surrealist paintings and animations. From the killing of an iconic American hero to critical perspectives of how Indigenous people were portrayed in early children’s cartoons, Thunder’s art prompts viewers to reexamine our shared mythologies. THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 4+

On their website you can also find links to past film club films and discussion guides. These films cover topics that are sure to connect with your students: skateboarding, boxing, mountain biking, fly fishing and horse racing to bison restoration and the water protectors movement. They also have a film notetaking guide that could be useful for any film you watch with your students. 

If you are interested in bringing authentic Indigenous voices and perspectives into your classroom--and I hope you are!--this is an amazing resource.

P.S. Don't miss the first of our monthly Monday Meetups, September 11, 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. where I'll be sharing an Introduction to Montana Historical Society Resources. Register to earn one Renewal Unit.