Hidden stories of Native American boarding schools will come to light Wednesday, Sept. 24, when Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) premieres “Uncovering Boarding Schools: Stories of Resistance and Resilience” at the Tower Theatre in Bend, Ore., followed by additional free Oregon public screenings in Klamath Falls and Forest Grove next month.
“Uncovering Boarding Schools” will be distributed nationally by Vision Maker Media through American Public Television. Viewers can watch it on the PBS app starting Saturday, Nov. 1, and on OPB TV on Monday, Nov. 3; the trailer is available here. An eight-minute version of the documentary, accompanied by a viewer discussion guide created for educators and community groups, is available at opb.org/promotions/boardingschools/.
The documentary, part of the “Oregon Experience” series and set for national distribution, follows Klamath Tribes member Gabriann “Abby” Hall as she uncovers her family’s experiences. Led by OPB producer Kami Horton and featuring a crew that included Native American tribal members, the one-hour film offers the first in-depth look at the Native American boarding school experience in Oregon, spanning over 150 years from the first generation forced onto reservations to the present day.
Spurred by Hall’s passion to fill the gaps in her family tree, Hall and Horton spent years tracing the paths of Hall’s relatives. Through painstaking, often original research, they documented that several of Hall’s family members were among countless Indigenous children forcibly removed from their homes by the federal government, which aimed to assimilate children by severing them from their families, culture and language.
Lessons in resistance
Some schools, including Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Oregon, have been examined by OPB and other outlets. But Hall and Horton cover new ground, revealing that children were sent to a broader web of schools than previously known – including Catholic and other religious institutions, reform schools, and the now-shuttered Fairview Training Center for people with disabilities.
Alongside tragedy, the documentary highlights influential acts of resistance through Hall’s family stories. She discovered ancestors who ran away from schools, set fires to dormitories and worked to close them down. The film also showcases ways in which Native American communities are reclaiming language and culture that schools had tried to strip away.
“The film is not all about the trauma,” Horton said. “It’s also about how a group of people are overcoming that. That’s an important lesson for all of us to hear as we go through challenging times – that you can resist and be resilient.”
Creative team
“Uncovering Boarding Schools” was produced by OPB and made possible by the generosity of OPB members and grants from Vision Maker Media. Nez Perce Tribe member and world-champion jingle dress dancer Acosia Red Elk narrates it. The creative team also includes:
- Editor: Bruce Barrow
- Associate producer: Emma Barrow (Cherokee Nation)
- Executive producer: Arya Surowidjojo
- Cinematographers: LaRonn Katchia (Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs), Jessie Spears (Karuk Tribe)
- Media cultural consultant: Taylor R. Tupper (Klamath Tribes)
