Dodging Bullets—Stories from Survivors of Historical Trauma

Dodging Bullets—Stories from Survivors of Historical Trauma is a documentary film on historical trauma in Indian Country co-directed by Kathy Broere (Blackfeet), Sarah Edstrom, Jonathan Thunder, Bob Trench. The film focuses on historical events and how they inter-generationally affect[1] the Indigenous population in North America today. It premiered at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival where is was awarded "Best of Fest"[2] and was awarded The Samuel Sprynczynatyk Storyteller Award: Best Documentary Feature at the North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival.[3] Filmed across the lands of the Plains Indians which is now known as Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Montana, the film recalls first-hand storytelling that reflects how past generations were deeply impacted by mass trauma and how that trauma influences Indigenous peoples of the Americas today.[4] The film ends on a positive path to healing through ceremony and cultural identity.

Dodging Bullets—Stories from Survivors of Historical Trauma
Directed byKathy Broere, Sarah Edstrom, Jonathan Thunder (Tall Paul Segment), Bob Trench
Produced byLarry Long
Music byKeith Secola, Tall Paul, Dorene Day Waubanewquay, Karlee Fellner, Mitch Walking Elk
CinematographyBob Trench, Matt Myers
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish, Dakota

Synopsis

The title of the film was inspired by American Indian Movement (AIM) co-founder Dennis Banks[5] who stated "we have been dodging bullets for generations" [6] which metaphorically infers that Native Americans not only have had to dodge bullets fired from guns, but also the genocide and ethnocide[7] inflected by the colonists since first contact with Europeans. This film brings a cross-generational sampling of Indigenous people, researchers, and politicians to reveal reasons for their disproportionately high incidences of health disparities and social issues.[8] This collection of stories, names Historical Trauma as the unique and insidious part of the genetic code that resilient Native American populations are still finding ways to dodge. The film focuses on Native Americans and is not the typical "tragedy porn" film about Indian Country, it is more of an accurate portrayal of life.[9]

Co-director statement

"Stories of Survival from Historical Trauma will help us to heal. However, it is our connections to our culture, traditions, and family that has allowed us to not only to survive but will allow us to thrive now ... and forever", said Kathy Broere (Blackfeet).[10]

Cast

Segments

Introduction

The film begins with a young girl telling the story of losing her brother in a shoot out with law enforcement and the trauma she has to live with everyday as an introduction to historical trauma.

People interviewed:

Rick McArthur, AIM Legal Resources, Dr. Rachel Yehuda, Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Winona LaDuke, Program Director, Honor the Earth, Dr. Melissa Walls, research sociologist, UMD, Chy (Native Youth), Music by Tall Paul and Keith Secola

First Contact

This segment of the film introduces discusses first contact which is defined as Christopher Columbus’[11] and his crews domination over the Indigenous peoples of the new world.

People interviewed:

Mike Her Many Horses, Oglala Historian, Melvin Lee Houston, Santee Treaty Rights, Michelle Johnson-Jennings, PhD, Ed.M. clinical health psychologist, Clyde Belecourt, co-founding the American Indian Movement, Music by Karlee Fellner

No Honor in Racism

This segment of the film documents the demonstrations outside TCF Bank Stadium during a NFL Football game tells how the NFL Washington Football team's name is a racial slur[12] and how the use of the name and logo are damaging upon Indigenous peoples.

People interviewed:

Vanessa Goodthunder, Director of Cansayapi Wakanyeza Owayawa Oti, Jesse Ventura, Governor, State of Minnesota, Clyde Belecourt, Dr. Melissa Walls, Richie Plass, Curator Bittersweet Winds, Tara Houska, tribal attorney, the National Campaigns Director of Honor the Earth, Dr. Anton Treuer, Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State, Rep. Keith Ellison, Rep. Betty McCollum

Boarding School Era

This segment of the film discusses the US governments efforts to use ethnocide via religious boarding school to rid North American of Indigenous peoples.[13] [14]

People interviewed:

Melvin Lee Houston, Mike Her Many Horses, Dr. Michelle Johnson-Jennings, Dr. Melissa Walls, Dr. Anton Treuer, Don Coyhis, President and Founder of White Bison, Linda Eagle Speaker, Elder In Residence, MIWRC, Joseph Marshall III, historian, writer, teacher, craftsman, administrator, actor, and public speaker

Treaty Rights

This segment follows a treaty right Leonard Thompson and his son Todd Thompson as they attempt to gather wild rice off-reservation without a permit and in violation of State law.[15] In the 1855 Treaty with the Chippewa Indians[16] Native tribes believe those rights exist. The 1855 Treaty signed by two Ojibwe tribes ceded a large piece of land in northwest Minnesota while retaining their rights to hunt, fish and gather on the rest of the land.

People interviewed:

Dr. Melissa Walls, Dr. Anton Treuer, Leonard Thompson, Treaty Rights advocate Music By Dorene Day Waubanewquay

Social Justice

This segment of the film addresses the root causes of health inequities[17] and the relationship between law enforcement and Native Americans.[18] It speaks to social workers, health care providers as well as institutions and explores how transgenerational trauma directly impacts the health outcomes and legal entanglements for Indigenous peoples in the United States.

People interviewed:

Dr. Melissa Walls, Dr. Anton Treuer, Rick McArthur, Chy (Native Youth), Lester Johnson III, Ed.D., Adjunct Professor University of Montana-Missoula

Loss and Resilience

This final segment tells the toll of lost lives in Indian country and the resilience necessary to survive.

People interviewed:

Dr. Melissa Walls, Dr. Anton Treuer, Dirk Whitebreast, Emmy May, Red Lake, Lester Johnson III, Mike Her Many Horses, Dr. Rachel Yehuda

Awards

In 2018 MSPIFF (the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival) selected Dodging Bullets as the winner of Minnesota Made Documentary Feature Competition and has named it as one of the "Best of Fest" films.

In 2018, the North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival awarded Dodging Bullets the Samuel Sprynczynatyk Storyteller Award: Best Documentary Feature.

In 2019, BIFF (the Bigfork International Film Festival) awarded Dodging Bullets the Best Documentary award.

In 2019 the Covellite International Film Festival awarded Dodging Bullets the Best Documentary Cinematography award.

In 2019, the Queen City Film Festival awarded Dodging Bullets the Audience Award Feature.

References
  1. Yehuda, PhD, Rachel. "How Trauma And Resilience Cross Generations". Mount Sinai - On Being with Krista Tippett. Mount Sinai. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  2. "The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul Announces Best of Fest for the 37th Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival". Mill City Times. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  3. "2018 North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival Award Winners Announced". The Human Family. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  4. Mable, Nora. "New documentary highlights impact of historical trauma on Indigenous communities". Great Fall Tribune. Gannett Co. Inc. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  5. "American Indian Movement (AIM): Overview". Minnesota Historical Society Gale Family Library. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  6. "ABOUT DODGING BULLETS". Dodging Bullets. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  7. "A Vanishing People: The Systematic Destruction of American Indian Identity for the Sake of American Manifest Destiny". University of Massachusetts Amherst UMASS Scholarworks. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  8. Sotero, Michelle. "A Conceptual Model of Historical Trauma: Implications for Public Health Practice and Research". SSM. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  9. "Dodging Bullets Overview". Dodging Bullets. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  10. "Documentary to make North Dakota premiere". Bismarck Tribune. The Bismarck Tribune. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  11. Bourne, E. G. The Spanish struggle for justice in the conquest of America. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 111–112.
  12. Kilgore, Adam; Stubbs, Roman. "To Native American groups, Redskins name is 'worst offender.' Now they hope for more changes". Washington Post. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  13. "Death by Civilization". Emerson Collective. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  14. "Cultural Genocide Veiled as Education—The Time for Healing Is Now". NCAI Fund. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  15. "Protest leaders plan to test treaty rights again". The Mankato Free Press. Mankato Free Press.
  16. "Relationships: Dakota and Ojibwe Treaties". State of Minnesota. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  17. "Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: evidence and interventions". Science Direct. Elsevier Ltd.
  18. "The Police Killings No One is Talking About". IN These Times. THE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
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