PassportStories To Be Celebrated
At Lakeland PBS we believe that Native American and Indigenous stories should be shared year round. We celebrate these stories by learning and listening to Indigenous and Native voices from our own community and across the continent.
We've compiled our favorite series, documentaries, episodes, articles and invite you to dive in to the culture, history, and art that awaits.
The power of public media allows our station and stations across the country to produce and provide a platform for these important stories. Watch online or download the free PBS App to your SmartTV, tablet, or phone.
Documentaries & Specials
Ghosts
PBS Short Film Festival
Three Kiowa boys escape from a government boarding school to attend a ghost dance ceremony.
Native Ball
Legacy of a Trailblazer
A Native American girl uses basketball as a ticket to college and helping others.
Twice Colonized
POV Documentary
Inuit activist Aaju Peter embarks on a personal journey for Indigenous people's rights.
One With The Whale
Independent Lens
For Native Alaskans living on a tiny Bering Sea island, if you don’t hunt, you die.
Bring Her Home
A Minnesota Story
Three Indigenous women fight to vindicate and honor their missing and murdered relatives.
Lily Gladstone
American Masters
Native American actress Lily Gladstone reflects on her origins and acting in Hollywood.
American Buffalo
A Ken Burns Film
The dramatic story of the American Buffalo's near extinction—and the people who saved it
Time Has Many Voices
History & Culture
The Muwekma Ohlone partner with archeologists in an intensive excavation in California.
Return
Reclaiming Foodways
Food sovereignty movement and women championing the return to traditional food sources.
The Electric Indian
A Minnesota Story
Follow Ojibwe hockey legend, Henry Boucha. An injury that ended his athletic career led to a journey of healing.
Native Way Forward
Roadtrip Nation
In Native communities across America, leaders and youth are striving for a better future.
Native Horse
Nature & Culture
“Native Horse” looks at the evolution of horses in North America & those who work to protect them.
Something Inside Is Broken
Art & Music
A Native American rock opera about the tragedy at Sutter’s Fort.
Birchbark Canoe
A Minnesota Story
Follow Grant Goltz and friends as they create a replica of an 1860’s Ojibwe birchbark canoe
Why Treaties?
Real Estate & Indians
Explore the views of tribal leaders, settlers, & the U.S. government of the 19th century.
The Warrior Tradition
History
The largely-untold story of Native Americans who served in the United States military.
Regaining Food Sovereignty
A Minnesota Story
Explore the state of food systems in some Northern Minnesota Native communities.
Shaynowishkung
A Minnesota Story
Follow the creation of Bemidji’s Shaynowishkung Statue, a great leader and peacemaker.
The FNX Channel
Television exclusively devoted to Native American and World Indigenous content 24/7.
Find our local broadcast channel or download the free PBS App to livestream FNX today.
Series
Native America
Native America is a groundbreaking portrait of contemporary Indian Country. This Native directed series reveals the beauty and power of today’s Indigenous world. Smashing stereotypes, it follows the brilliant engineers, bold politicians, and cutting-edge artists who draw upon Native tradition to build a better 21st century.
Little Bird
In 1968, five-year-old Bezhig Little Bird was forcibly removed from Long Pine Reserve and adopted into a Jewish family in Montreal, and renamed Esther Rosenblum. Eighteen years later, she embarks on a journey to unravel her history. Through this epic journey of connection and self-discovery, Bezhig Little Bird begins to find her lost family and put the pieces of her fragmented past back together.
A People's History
This digital miniseries explores the current social climate in Native America, diving deep into the history of tribal nations and the external factors that have shaped their contemporary circumstances. Comedian and actor Tai Leclaire and several topical experts will guide A People’s History of Native America, chronicling the accurate history with humor and brevity.
Legacy of the Land
In this 6-part series, indigenous filmmakers highlight climate stories from native communities across the United States and share insight from their traditions, culture, and knowledge. From megadroughts, coastal erosion, desert agriculture, food access and more important topics. A combination of innovation and cultural legacies shine hope on a brighter tomorrow.
Indigi-Genius
Indigi-Genius is devoted to telling the scientific & cultural impact of Indigenous creations & knowledge of the past and present. Written & hosted by Dr. Lee Francis, pueblo & self described Indigi-Nerd, & funded in part by VisionMaker Media. The series covers a range of global Indigenous topics & breaks down the science, culture, history, & “Indigi-Genius” knowledge.
Native Report
An entertaining, informative series that celebrates Native American culture and heritage, listens to tribal elders, elevates the voices of our youth, and talks to game-changers and leaders of Indian Country today.
A Minnesota Production.
Growing Native
Through conversations between episode hosts and local guides, viewers get a glimpse of modern and traditional reservation life. The series highlights these shared experiences to help bridge a better understanding of native people. Learn how Native communities are working toward sustainable food sovereignty and renewable energy sources, and how they are adapting to impacts from climate change.
Sovereign Innnovations
For more than 400 years, Native and Indigenous peoples have been portrayed as primitive historical relics in order to further settler-colonial endeavors in the United States (and around the world). But traditional teachings, historical records, and contemporary understandings fully recognize that the innovations of Indigenous people have had significant impacts on modern culture.
Native Shorts
"Native Shorts presented by Sundance Institute's Native American and Indigenous Program" is a series that will feature short films produced, premiered or showcased at the Sundance Film Festival through its Native American and Indigenous Program, followed by a brief discussion with hosts Ariel Tweto and the Sundance Institute's own Bird Runningwater.
Studio 49
FNX is proud to present our music performance series STUDIO 49, featuring in-studio showcases by Native and World Indigenous artists! Listen to live performances, discover new artists, and listen to interviews providing the story. behind the music.
Stay up to date on local indigenous news stories from Lakeland News, covering north and central Minnesota.
New stories posted every week.
Collections
Manidoo Ogitigaan - The Spirit's Garden Snowshoe Class
Wild Rice and Indigenous Food Sovereignty - Frank Bibeau
Delina White Fashion Designer & Ojibwe Artist
Renee Dillard’s Bulrush Weaving Class
Boarding School Era Sculpture: Duane Goodwin
Bemijigamaag Powwow
Celebrating Native American Heritage
Alaska Native Heritage Center, Hour 3
Alaska Native Heritage Center, Hour 1
Appraising Alaska Native Items
Alaska Native Heritage Center, Hour 2
Traditional Alaskan Native Games Demonstration
John Herrington, First Native American In Space
Susan La Fleshe, First Native American Medical Doctor
Mary Golda Ross, Native American Aerospace Engineer
First Native American Composer to Win Pulitzer Prize
Charles Curtis, First & Only Native American Vice President
Michaela Goade First Native American to win Caldecott Medal
The Myth of Thanksgiving
Overcoming Barriers for Native American Voters
Running: Connection To Ancestral Land
Native Americans and Mount Rushmore
Navajo Artist
The Lakota Ghost Dance and the Massacre at Wounded Knee
Enjoy this delicious Bison Short Ribs recipe from Chef Maria Givens from Season 2 of The Great American Recipe.
Givens is a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe in Idaho and grew up in her ancestral homelands on Lake Coeur d’Alene. She first learned about the importance of food in her community through her father’s work as a lawyer fighting for the ownership of the Coeur d’Alene Lake as a means of food production for the entire reservation. When she wasn’t accompanying her father to court, she would go fishing and berry picking with her mother in the Idaho mountains.
Relish: Forage to Fork, Fried Wild Rice
From centuries-old traditional techniques, like foraging with ethnobotanist Linda Black Elk and harvesting manoomin (wild rice) with expert ricers Veronica Skinaway and Michaa Aubid, to a modern meal of fried wild rice with chef Sean Sherman, you will taste the rich history of Indigenous food in Minnesota.
Relish: Brian Yazzie's Three Sisters Dish
Chef Brian Yazzie explains the traditional Native dish Three Sisters.
Brian Yazzie, known as Yazzie the Chef is a Navajo chef. He celebrates and promotes Indigenous American foods. He was born in the Navajo Nation in Dennehotso, Arizona but moved to Minnesota in 2013. Yazzie is a member of I-Collective, a group of indigenous chefs, farmers, foragers, hunters, and food historians.
Colores: Learn About The Magic Eight, Lois Ellen Frank
Lois Ellen Frank, Santa Fe Native Food Historian and Chef, celebrates the Magic Eight and the Indigenous Foodscape.
Wisconsin Life: Elena Terry, SassSquash
“SassSquash” is a dish conceptualized by chef Elena Terry, of the Ho-Chunk Nation, as a celebration of indigenous foodways and Wisc. ingredients. Terry learned from the matriarchs in her life, who shared lessons on foraging and processing wild game. Terry is the Executive Chef and Founder of Wild Bearies and the Food & Culinary Program Coordinator for the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance.
Savor San Diego: Indigenous Foods
Explore various native foods and plants and learn how the Kumeyaay used them for meal preparation and medicinal purposes in their culture.
Decolonizing Dinner
Decolonizing Dinner explores how reconnecting with traditional Indigenous foodways preserves heritage and identity, and counters the historical and contemporary erasure of Indigenous cultures.
Indigenous Food Activism
Learn about the benefits of returning to a simpler pre-colonization Native American diet, including herbs and plants that have been a source of medicine and nourishment for thousands of years.
Solving Food Insecurity
As climate chaos increases, Michelle Week, a farmer outside of Portland Oregon is drawing on her Sinixt indigenous knowledge to adapt to the changes by practicing seed saving and dry farming.
Children's Programming & Activities
Celebrate tradition, culture, and language with the whole family.
From shows, games, crafts, and recipes there are so many resources for you to discover.
Watch Molly of Denali Episodes & Movies
Talking With Children About Grandpa's Drum
Play Molly of Denali Games
Ways Children Learn Through Storytelling Traditions
Books To Celebrate Native American Heritage
Discover More Molly of Denali Resources
Molly's Recipe Book
Molly's Field Guide To Birds
Molly Coloring Page
Iskigamizigan (Sugar Bush) & Artist/Animator Jonathan Thunder
Inaande (Niizh)
Counting To Twenty
Memengwaa (Butterfly)
Asabikeshiinh (A Spider)
Awesiiyag (Animals)
I am Jigonsaseh/I am Sacagawea
“Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum” follows the adventures of three friends as they tackle everyday problems by traveling back in time to learn from real-life inspirational figures when they were kids!
Let's Go Luna!
Leo is nervous about the wild animals in Juneau, Alaska; Carmen learns about native Alaskan spoken-word storytelling.
Let's Go Luna!
Andy and Luna enlist the help of a totem pole artist to tell their story; Andy wants to see the blue light of the Mendenhall Glacier ice caves.
More Episodes & Specials:
How Indigenous Communities Are Fighting Climate Change
Learn more about #LandBack, an Indigenous-led environmental, cultural, and political movement that seeks to place Indigenous land back in Indigenous hands.
The Lasting Impact Of Native American Residential Schools
Recently, the bodies of Indigenous children were discovered lying in unmarked graves at former Residential School sites in Canada. This tragic discovery begs multiple questions: Why did this happen?
Pawnee Seed Warriors
In Seed Warriors, filmmaker Rebekka Schlichting follows a group of seed keepers as they work to regain food sovereignty in their ancestral homelands of Nebraska. By reclaiming their sacred corn seeds, they seek to return to the healthy, traditional lifeways of the Pawnee people.
Backroads: Corey Medina & Brothers
We welcome for a third time, Corey Medina & Brothers. They perform at the Rail River Folk School in Bemidji, MN and discuss their new album SOAK.
Native Music Goes On The Record
Explore the rich memories of a little red schoolhouse and the endless legacy of Native American Music. Learn how Arizonans kept cool in unique ways during the intense heat before air conditioning.
Backroads: Mel Hunt
Rock and roll artist Mel Hunt joins us for a performance at the Rail River Folk School in Bemidji. We also discuss how he got into performing music, and what advice he would give to future musicians.
Cavern Sessions: Bill Miller
3-time GRAMMY winner Bill Miller’s music has amplified the whispers of Native peoples’ hearts. His songs explore his Christian faith in his indigenous language while bridging cultures around the world with his signature sound.
What Does Electric Pow Wow Sound Like?
Canadian DJ collective A Tribe Called Red combine Native American drum circle sounds with electronic music to create Electric Pow wow. Watch a live performance of the Iron Boy drum circle in Minnesota
My Music with Rhiannon Giddens
Native American vocalist and lap steel guitarist Pura Fé has both Tuscarora and Taino blood in her veins and generations of ancestors in her voice. She shares her personal background and musical journey in an episode that culminates in a Silkroad Ensemble performance of her song “Mahk Jchi.”
Salmon People: The Fight To Preserve A Way Of Life
The river is a way of life for the Wy-Kan-Ush-Pum, the Salmon People. Over the last century and a half, they have watched as forces eroded their access to salmon. The stakes in their fight to preserve the salmon, and their way of life, are existential.
Indigenous Enterprise Brings Pow Wow Dance To World Stage
Indigenous Enterprise, made up of a new generation of Native American Powwow dancers from across the U.S. and Canada, is on a mission to bring Native culture to new heights and audiences.
Stories From The Stage: Sacred Circle
As a symbol of life’s cyclical nature, the circle is important for Native Americans. Rebekka honors the keeper of the connection between her people & culture; Charlie, who has light skin & hair, works to be accepted by fellow tribe members; & Levelle finds a path to meaning, healing, & helping after prison.
Thank You For Taking The Time To Explore These Stories
We hope this collection has introduced you to new stories, perspectives, and traditions.