Here is a selection of short video clips in which Native Americans are interviewed. They relate to a number of important topics that can be covered when working with indigenous peoples in Northern America.

Misconceptions about Native American People

Discuss: What can we learn about attitudes towards Native American peoples from this video? What can we learn about how Native Americans feel about these attitudes?

 

Life on Reservations

Here are two short videos about life on Reservations. In the first video, Native Americans share their immediate thoughts and reactions to Reservations. The second video is a short documentary (15 mins) about the Cheyenne River Reservation, one of the poorest communities in the US.

Discuss: What impressions do you get of Reservations from the first video? What attitudes do the Native Americans show towards them?

 

Discuss:

1. What issues are there in the Cheyenne River community?
2. In which ways do the people of Cheyenne River Reservation keep their culture alive?
3. What impression to you get of the Reservation at the start of the video? Does this impression change as the documentary progresses? Why?
4. How do you see the future for the people of the Cheyenne River community? What challenges do you think they may face in the future?
5. What role can society at large play in helping the people of the Cheyenne River Reservation out of poverty? 

 

More insight into life on Reservations:  The novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” (Sherman Alexie) is about a Native American boy who leaves Spokane Indian Reservation to go to an all-white high school.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Absolutely-True-Diary-Part-Time-Indian-ebook/dp/B01LRIQA02/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503511344&sr=1-1&keywords=absolutely+true+diary+of+a+part-time+indian

Thanksgiving

Is Thanksgiving just a day for celebration in the US? This video gives an insight into how Native Americans view the holiday.