Feature

Inhabitants

An Indigenous Perspective

For millennia, Native communities have successfully stewarded, shaped, and cared for the land, but centuries of colonization have disrupted their ability to maintain traditional land management practices. These five films follow Native American Tribes across deserts, coastlines, forests, and prairies as they restore traditional land management practices. The stories document the sustaining traditions of Hopi dryland farming in Arizona, the restoration of buffalo on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana, sustainable forestry on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin, the revival of Native food forests in Hawaii, and the return of prescribed fire to the landscape by the Karuk Tribe of California. These time-tested practices from North America’s original inhabitants provide essential solutions during our global climate crisis. 

 

Watch the Films

These films share the stories of five Native American communities who are restoring their traditional land management practices.

Film
The Seeds Are Our Children

Hopi farmer, Michael Kotutwa Johnson, has embarked on a life-long journey to gain recognition for traditional farming techniques by bringing together modern science and Indigenous ways of knowing.

Film
Fire Is Our Relation

As California battles massive wildfires that are increasing in size, scale, and severity, several tribes are working to revive traditional Native American land management practices.

Film
They Take Care Of Us

The Blackfeet Nation of Northern Montana is reintroducing the buffalo back to their landscape after 125 years of their absence.

Film
The Trees Will Last Forever

As unsustainable logging continues to ravage landscapes around the world, the Menominee Tribe of Northern Wisconsin is leading the way in regenerative forest management.

Film
The Island Is a Canoe

Hawaiian farmers are revitalizing traditional Hawaiian agroforests that are more resilient to the changing climate and provide food security for the island.

More to Explore

Feature
Coming Home to the Cove

This series is the multigenerational story of a Coast Miwok family’s eviction from their ancestral home and one woman’s effort to bring the living history of her family back to the land.

Feature
Language Keepers

This feature shares the stories of four Indigenous communities in California who are working to revitalize their languages and cultures in order to pass them on to the next generation.

Film
Marie's Dictionary

Marie Wilcox is the last fluent speaker of Wukchumni and created a dictionary to keep her language alive.