elect an event/film from the list of eligible Extra Credit Opportunities on the previous page. watch the entire film or attend the entire event
Extra Credit Criteria:
Select an event/film from the list of eligible Extra Credit Opportunities on the previous page.
You may earn up to 10 extra credit points per event or film watched by answering all parts of the prompt. You may attend/watch up to 2 events/films from the list for extra credit, and you can earn up to 20 points extra credit total.
To receive extra credit for attending an event or watching a film you must meet all of the 5 following requirements for each extra credit opportunity:
1) watch the entire film or attend the entire event from the list of Extra Credit Opportunities provided;
2) take a “selfie” clearly showing you watched/listened to the movie or attended the event,
3) write one 400 word (minimum) journal entry describing the film/event in detail and reflecting on what you learned from the film.
4) in your journal entry, also analyze how the film connects to one of the chapters from our textbook, as well as how it connects to at least one of our key terms from the semester.
5) attach your selfie to your journal entry.
Films:
1) “Our Spirits Don’t Speak English: Indian Boarding School”
Details: A documentary film that examines the educational system that was designed to destroy Indian culture and tribal unity. Introduced by August Schellenberg, the film provides a candid look at the Indian Boarding School system starting in 1879 through the 1960s combining personal interviews with historical background. The philosophy of the Indian boarding school system was based on the concept of “kill the Indian and save the man”, as stated by Captain Richard Henry Pratt who was the founder of the Carlisle Indian School. The film combines a number of powerful personal interviews, including Andrew Windy Boy, along with historical narration to reflect the harrowing, and often untold, experience of so many. Grace Thorpe, daughter of Jim Thorpe, the famous Sauk and Fox athlete, closes the film with her last public interview.
Length: 81 minutes
Watch: Via SDSU Kanopy at https://sdsu.kanopy.com/video/our-spirits-don-t-speak-english-indian-boarding-school (Links to an external site.)
2) “Urban Rez: The Repercussions of the Native American Relocation Program”
Details: This documentary explores the controversial legacy and modern-day repercussions of the Urban Relocation Program (1952-1973), the greatest voluntary upheaval of Native Americans during the 20th century. During the documentary, dozens of American Indians representing tribal groups from across the West recall their first-hand experiences with relocation, including the early hardships, struggles with isolation and racism. Interviewees also speak about the challenges of maintaining one’s own tribal traditions — from language to hunting — while assimilating into the larger society. Actor, musician and Oglala Lakota member Moses Brings Plenty narrates this insightful film about this seldom-told chapter in American history.
Length: 58 minutes
Watch: Via SDSU Kanopy at https://sdsu.kanopy.com/video/urban-rez (Links to an external site.)
3) “Language Healers: Native Americans Revitalizing Native Languages”
Details: A documentary that tells the story of Native Americans who are striving to revitalize their languages. From Alaska to Oklahoma and Wisconsin to Montana, we witness stories about the importance of saving Native American languages and meet some of the people who are working hard to heal these national treasures. Language Healers is one of the first films to focus upon the work the broader Native community is doing now to revitalize their languages.
Length: 41 minutes
Watch: Via SDSU Kanopy at https://sdsu.kanopy.com/video/language-healers-4 (Links to an external site.)
4) “Badger Creek: A Portrait of Native American Resilience on the Blackfeet Reservation”
Details: A documentary portrait of a Blackfeet (Pikuni) family, the Mombergs, who live on the lower Blackfeet Reservation in Montana near the banks of Badger Creek. In addition to running a prosperous ranching business, they practice a traditional Blackfeet cultural lifestyle that sustains and nourishes them, including sending their children to a Blackfeet language immersion school, participating in Blackfeet spiritual ceremonies and maintaining a Blackfeet worldview. The film takes us through a year in the life of the family, and through four seasons of the magnificent and traditional territory of the Pikuni Nation.
Length: 27 minutes
Watch: Via SDSU Kanopy at https://sdsu.kanopy.com/video/badger-creek (Links to an external site.)
5) “Geronimo”
Details: PBS documentary. As the leader of the last Native American fighting force to capitulate to the U.S. government, Geronimo was seen by some as the perpetrator of unspeakable savage cruelties, while to others he was the embodiment of proud resistance.
Length: 77 minutes
Watch: Via SDSU Kanopy at https://sdsu.kanopy.com/video/geronimo (Links to an external site.)
6) “By Blood: Native American Men Fight for Cherokee Citizenship”
Details: A chronicle of American Indians of African descent battling to regain their tribal citizenship. BY BLOOD explores the impact of this battle, which has manifested into a broader conflict about race, identity, and the sovereign rights of indigenous people. The film demonstrates both sides of the battle, the shared emotional impact of the issue, and the rising urgency of the debate: a Native American and African American history has been overlooked, and a tribal body feels as though their sovereignty is under siege. Winner of Best Short Documentary at the Native American Film Festival Of The Southeast and nominated for the Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Award at the Cleveland International Film Festival.
Length: 53 minutes
Watch: Via SDSU Kanopy at https://sdsu.kanopy.com/video/blood-0 (Links to an external site.)
7) “In Whose Honor? American Indian Mascots in Sports”
Details: The Cleveland Indians. Washington Redskins. Atlanta Braves. What’s wrong with American Indian sports mascots? This moving, award-winning film is the first of its kind to address that subject. This documentary takes a critical look at the long-running practice of “honoring” American Indians as mascots and nicknames in sports. It follows the story of Native American mother Charlene Teters, and her transformation into the leader some are calling the “Rosa Parks of American Indians” as she struggles to protect her cultural symbols and identity. IN WHOSE HONOR? looks at the issues of racism, stereotypes, minority representation and the powerful effects of mass-media imagery, and the extent to which one university will go to defend and justify its mascot.
Length: 49 minutes
Watch: Via SDSU Kanopy at https://sdsu.kanopy.com/video/whose-honor (Links to an external site.)
8) “Sweetheart Dancers”
Details: Indigenous dancers Sean and Adrian challenge the rulebook of San Manuel’s Native American Sweetheart Special as they attempt to compete in the annual couple’s competition. Dancing not only against the other dancers, but against the drums of oppression and closed-mindedness, this two-spirit couple is determined to rewrite the rules of “one man, one woman” with their resplendent charisma, character and resilience. Director, Ben-Alex Dupris explains the origin of the film. “This story is rooted in an incident where the first Two Spirit couple, Sean Snyder and Adrian Stevens, decided to enter a Sweetheart special competition at one big influential powwow. This had never been attempted before in modern tribal dance circles and they were disqualified for not adhering to the rule of the “one man, one woman” competition. This led to a year of reflection, and thoughtful preparation for the next year where they courageously returned to the same powwow and were allowed to compete. This success story of resilience, and the action of love provided a talking point that spans decades of colonization with Indigenous communities. Prior to the Catholic boarding school era, LGBTQIA were accepted and respected by Native people. This story, and the spiritual renewal of our sacred Identities is one that leaves the audience with a greater understanding of our tribal lifeways. Within our hearts we are all one.”
Length: 14 minutes
Watch: Via SDSU Kanopy at https://sdsu.kanopy.com/video/sweetheart-dancers (Links to an external site.)
9) “Don’t Get Sick After June: American Indian Healthcare”
Details: Declared wards of the state, Native Americans were promised housing, education, and healthcare in numerous treaties with the US Government. Due to chronic underfunding, American Indian health care facilities predictably run out of funds by June every year. This documentary film highlights the tragic impact of failed promises of healthcare services from its inception under the Department of War up to the present.
Length: 58 minutes
Watch: Via SDSU Kanopy at https://sdsu.kanopy.com/video/don-t-get-sick-after-june-american-indian-healthcare (Links to an external site.)
10) “Gregory Cajote: An Indigenous Ecology”
Details: Interview with Gregory Cajete, a Native American educator whose work is dedicated to honoring the foundations of indigenous knowledge in education. Cajete is a Tewa Indian from the pueblos of New Mexico who has spent his life striving to harmonize indigenous ways of learning and knowing with western science and scholarship so that each tradition can be enriched by the other. Where western scholarship tends to isolate things in order to understand them rationally, native thinking perceives objects and events holistically and spiritually in terms of their relationships with their surroundings. For Cajete, the two ways of knowing are complementary. Together they offer a depth of understanding that neither can provide on its own. A depth of understanding that we desperately need as we confront a crisis brought on perhaps by an explosion of knowledge and a shortage of wisdom. Cajete is one of the foremost scholars in the field of sociocultural studies as it relates to Indian education and curriculum and native science. .
Length: 52 minutes
Watch: Via SDSU Kanopy at https://sdsu.kanopy.com/video/native-ecology-gregory-cajete (Links to an external site.)
Answer preview for elect an event/film from the list of eligible Extra Credit Opportunities on the previous page. watch the entire film or attend the entire event
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