Sept. 18, 2025 — Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) will premiere “Uncovering Boarding Schools: Stories of Resistance and Resilience” on Wednesday, bringing hidden narratives of Native American boarding schools to a national audience. The documentary, part of the “Oregon Experience” series, follows Klamath Tribes member Gabriann “Abby” Hall as she explores her family’s history.
Produced by OPB’s Kami Horton and a crew that includes Native American tribal members, the one-hour film sheds light on the 150-year history of Native American boarding schools in Oregon, revealing the forced removal of Indigenous children by the federal government and their experiences of culture and language loss.
The film will be distributed nationally by Vision Maker Media through American Public Television, available on the PBS app starting Nov. 1 and on OPB TV on Nov. 3. An eight-minute version, along with a discussion guide for educators and community groups, is available at opb.org/promotions/boardingschools/.
“Uncovering Boarding Schools” uncovers new ground by revealing that children were sent to a wider network of schools than previously known, including Catholic and other religious institutions, reform schools, and the Fairview Training Center for people with disabilities. Alongside tragedy, the documentary highlights powerful 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 that Native American communities are reclaiming language and culture that the schools 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.”
Screenings will be held in Klamath Falls on Oct. 24 at the Ross Ragland Theater and in Forest Grove on Oct. 28 at Pacific University. For more details, visit opb.org/events.
