November is Native American Heritage Month! Join us as we celebrate and recognize the contributions and influence of Native Americans on the United States. Below we’ve gathered a list of educational and enlightening programs that highlight the achievements, history, culture, and traditions that are available to stream for free on the PBS App, or available to stream with PBS KVIE Passport.
Programs Available to Stream on the PBS App
The American Buffalo: A Film by Ken Burns
Free to stream until 11/30/2023
For thousands of generations, buffalo have evolved alongside Indigenous people who relied on them for food and shelter, and, in exchange for killing them, revered the animal. The stories of Native people anchor the series, including the Kiowa, Comanche, and Cheyenne of the Southern Plains; the Pawnee of the Central Plains; the Lakota, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, and Blackfeet from the Northern Plains; and more.
KVIE Arts Showcase: Native American Art
Celebrate the art, culture, and traditions of local Native American artists.
Road Trip Nation: Native Way Forward
For too long, TV and film have depicted Native American experiences in the past tense. Roadtrip Nation – led by director Ryan RedCorn – shines a light on the present-day lives of Native young adults and explores what’s possible for their futures.
Tending Nature: Reclaiming Agriculture with the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation
Explore how local food production and deep knowledge of plant diversity sustained the Yocha Dehe people of California’s Capay Valley for millennia. Spanish colonization and the Gold Rush changed this drastically, but the tribe is reclaiming its land.
ViewFinder: Saving the Sacred
Discover how rapid urbanization and the looting of artifacts for sale on illegal markets have threatened to erase the long histories of the Koi and Habematolel Pomo tribes.
The Warrior Tradition
Examine the astonishing, heartbreaking, inspiring, and largely-untold story of Native Americans in the United States military. The film relates the stories of Native American warriors from their own points of view – stories of service and pain, of courage and fear.
Programs Available to Stream on the PBS App with PBS KVIE Passport
PBS KVIE Passport is a benefit of station membership. Members gain extended access to more videos available to stream on the PBS App.
America Reframed: My Louisiana Love
Trace Monique Verdin’s quest to find a place in her Native American community as it suffers from decades of environmental degradation. When she returns to Louisiana to reunite with family, she sees that the traditional way of life is threatened by a cycle of human-made environmental crises.
Independent Lens: Home From School – The Children of Carlisle
“Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.” This was the guiding principle that removed thousands of Native American children and placed them in Indian boarding schools. Among the many who died at Carlisle Indian Industrial School were three Northern Arapaho boys. Now, more than a century later, tribal members journey from Wyoming to Pennsylvania to help them finally come home.
Native America
Explore the world created by America’s First Peoples. Season 1 of the series reaches back 15,000 years to reveal massive cities aligned to the stars, unique systems of science and spirituality, and 100 million people connected by social networks spanning two continents.
Stream the first episode of season 2 now! New episodes for season 2 will be available on air and online on Tuesdays at 9PM through 11/14.
POV: Manzanar, Diverted – When Water Becomes Dust
See how three communities intersect, sharing histories of forced removal – Japanese Americans who were incarcerated at the Manzanar WWII concentration camp, Native Americans who were forced from these lands, and ranchers turned environmentalists, who were bought out by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. How do they come together in the present moment to defend their land and water from Los Angeles?