momto2Cs Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 My dd (age 10, 11 next month) is studying Native Americans with The History of US and Kaya's World (American Girls). Are there any movies or documentaries about Native Americans that are really excellent? She's watched some pretty mature films before, so there is a little leeway on the age appropriate part. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 The West by Ken Burns is excellent. It isn't exclusively about NA but they are a large topic of the series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Dances with Wolves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Please get some books or videos about contemporary native Americans. Learning about history is important, but learning about a cultural group should not be done as if they disappeared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Subbing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 Please get some books or videos about contemporary native Americans. Learning about history is important, but learning about a cultural group should not be done as if they disappeared. Do you have any resources you could recommend? One of our best friend/homeschooling families is Cherokee and Lakota, so dd does realize there are still Native Americans (plus she's got Cherokee, Choctaw and Blackfoot on her dad's side... it just isn't something that is culturally a part of his family). I would love some recommendations for something that discusses/shows modern Native American culture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Please get some books or videos about contemporary native Americans. Learning about history is important, but learning about a cultural group should not be done as if they disappeared. I set up a field trip to our local tribal office/headquarters with the education dept. They are going to do a presentation for our small co-op about their tribe. I'm really excited about it. You might try contacting a local tribe and seeing if they have any information or resources for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 We Shall Remain 3 disc series; Incident at Ogalala -- (may have title off a bit, director is Michael Apted) documentary; Thunderheart -- fiction following on the former documentary, but not very closely related, director also Michael Apted. We saw them in that order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Coming to Light is a documentary about Edward Curtis, the man who devoted his life to photographing and documenting the disappearing cultures of Native Americans around the turn of the 20th century. There are also many books of photography that contain his work, and others with the music, foods and stories he documented. Finally, there is a recent biography o Edward Curtis called Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Monumental Life and Work of Edward Curtis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkygirl Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 If you are comfortable with mature movies I highly recommend Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Watch it first and review the content for yourself you may want to skip some sections. It is very true to reality although parts of the main characters life were fictionalized for the move the overall concepts are accurate. On netflix is also a 30-days episode in which Morgan goes to live with a Navajo family. It is a good snapshot of life currently for Native Americans. It actually aired while I was living on the reservation and I made all of my family at home watch it to see what life was like for the people I was working with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elisabet1 Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I have not yet seen a movie that has been accurate on this. It always seems to have a political slant/agenda. Some tribes have websites. There are historical sites that talk about tribes, now and past, too. Each tribe is so different, so please keep that in mind when studying. Native Americans is not one homogenous cohesive group anymore than Earth is. I have some Native American roots in me, and I know some tribes were peaceful, some was violent. I know of one tribe where the peaceful tribes were thrilled when that tribe for small pox and died...because that tribe was a leech, going around killing everyone they came in site with and tribes were dying from it. There were nomadic and farmers and everything within the Native Americans. Media tries to act like all Native Indians were the same. They were actually extremely different. Try checking out museums or digs too if you have access. My children have an extensive amount of knowledge on this, and not the PC version. I think it is best to get the non-PC version. Our past is not just full of Lily's and pretty Princesses...and that applies to all cultures. I am proud that all of us, as a people, have come so far forward. And knowing that no one has some sort of perfect ancestry line where everyone was just a bunch of innocent victims, really puts things in to perspective. Once you get past all that PC...for a lack of better word BS...you can learn some very interesting things about the cultures and the histories and even how different tribes that lived so close to each other could be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elisabet1 Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Also, I would start with a huge map of North America (assuming you want to focus on that) but one that is the land, not the state lines. This way, you all can start labelled where tribes where, where they moved to, which tribes died off and when and how...many tribes never died off but rather married in with the people who came over (that is my case, my original tribe is gone, but not dead, everyone married off. So we are still here, just in the form of descendants who make up the melting pot America is). I saw an article about a tribe dying off in the news the other day. Then it mentioned grandchildren who were out there, and I was thinking..the tribe did not die off...I hate it when they make it sound like everyone died. Just because a group no longer exists as an exclusive group anymore does not mean these people no longer exist at all. We have just grown and have many more to love in our "family"! I know you are thinking I sound too cheery about it. But Native American history is no more grim than world history. There is plenty interesting and fine to learn and discover there, for those who really want to research this and get past what Disney Movies and Hollywood producers like to put out there. (just imagine if in 500 years from now, people watch our movies and assume that is what our lives looked like. All the women are skinny and beautiful, and mostly young, there is rarely someone who is disabled in a movie, so disabilities must not have happened, etc. See what I am saying?) This post could have been a huge one. This is a subject I love and that is close to my heart. But, I have to get going. Hope I have given you a starting point though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TianXiaXueXiao Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I remember liking the movie Windwalker when I was a kid, but I'm not sure of its accuracy. I highly recommend visiting your local tribal offices. We are fortunate to live near several tribal head quarters and a number of well curated local history museums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 500 Nations http://www.amazon.com/500-Nations-Kevin-Costner/dp/B0002S65WC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392264171&sr=8-1&keywords=500+nations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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