''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, and Bob Trench, and produced by Larry Long with soundtrack by

Keith Secola Keith Secola (born 1957) is an Ojibwe- American musician who plays rock and roll, folk rock, folk, and reggae. A singer-songwriter, he also plays guitar and flute. Secola was born in Cook, Minnesota . He is married and has 2 children. In 1982 h ...

. The film focuses on historical events and how they inter-generationally affect the Indigenous population in North America today. It premiered at the

Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival The Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival is a springtime film festival in the U.S. state of Minnesota that has been held since 1981. It began as the Rivertown Film Festival in Stillwater by Al Milgrom of Pine City and eventu ...

where it was awarded "Best of Fest" and was awarded The Samuel Sprynczynatyk Storyteller Award: Best Documentary Feature at the North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival. Filmed across the lands of the

Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of N ...

, which is now known as Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Colorado, 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 The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

today. The film ends on a positive path to healing through ceremony and cultural identity.

Synopsis

The title of the film was inspired by American Indian Movement (AIM) co-founder

Dennis Banks Dennis Banks (April 12, 1937, in Ojibwe – October 29, 2017) was a Native American activist, teacher, and author. He was a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement, which he co-founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1968 to represent urb ...

who stated "we have been dodging bullets for generations" which metaphorically infers that Native Americans not only have had to dodge bullets fired from guns, but also the

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

and

ethnocide Ethnocide is the extermination of cultures. Reviewing the legal and the academic history of the usage of the terms genocide and ethnocide, Bartolomé Clavero differentiates them by stating that "Genocide kills people while ethnocide kills social ...

inflected by the

colonists A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

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. 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 with Indigenous people and researchers reflecting stereotypes by examining current issues of poverty, racism and mental illness through a historical lens.

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).

Cast

* Rick McArthur, AIM Legal Resources * Dr. Rachel Yehuda, Director of the Traumatic Stress Studies Division at the

Mount Sinai School of Medicine The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City. It is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, which manages eigh ...

Winona LaDuke Winona LaDuke (born August 18, 1959) is an American economist, environmentalist, writer and industrial hemp grower, known for her work on tribal land claims and preservation, as well as sustainable development. In 1996 and 2000, she ran for Vice ...

, Program Director,

Honor the Earth Honor the Earth is a non-profit organization founded to raise awareness and financial support for Indigenous environmental justice. The organization was founded by Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Saliers after meeting Winona LaDuke, and after consu ...

* Dr. Melissa Walls, (Bois Forte and Couchiching First Nation Anishinaabe) research sociologist,

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a two-year progr ...

Director of Great Lakes Hub, Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health * Chy (Native Youth) * Tall Paul,

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, ...

hip-hop artist *

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

, Native American musician * Mike Her Many Horses,

Oglala The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority of the Oglala live o ...

historian,

Wounded Knee, South Dakota Wounded Knee ( lkt, Čaŋkpé Opí) is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 364 at the 2020 census. The town is named for the Wounded Knee Cr ...

* Melvin Lee Houston,

Santee Santee may refer to: People * Santee Dakota, a subgroup of the Dakota people, of the U.S. Great Plains * Santee (South Carolina), a Native American people of South Carolina Places * Lake Santee, Indiana, a reservoir and census-designated place * ...

Treaty Rights Representative * Michelle Johnson-Jennings, PhD, Ed.M. clinical health psychologist * Dr. Karlee Fellner,

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

Associate Professor,

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

otipemisiwak-nehiyawiskwew in Siksikaitsitapi territory, Indigenous Education Counseling * Vanessa Goodthunder, Director of Cansayapi Wakanyeza Owayawa Oti

Lower Sioux Indian Reservation The Lower Sioux Indian Community, (Dakota language, Dakota: Caŋṡa'yapi; lkt, Čhaŋšáyapi) also known as the Mdewakanton Tribal Reservation, is an Indian reservation located along the southern bank of the Minnesota River in Paxton Townshi ...

Early Head Start * Jesse Ventura, former Governor,

State of Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to i ...

Clyde Bellecourt Clyde Howard Bellecourt (May 8, 1936 – January 11, 2022) was a Native American civil rights organizer. His Ojibwe name is ''Nee-gon-we-way-we-dun'', which means "Thunder Before the Storm". He founded the American Indian Movement (AIM) in Minn ...

, co-founding the American Indian Movement * Richie Plass, Curator Bittersweet Winds * Tara Houska,

Couchiching First Nation The Couchiching First Nation ( oj, Gojijiing Anishinaabeg) is a Saulteaux First Nation band government in the Canadian province of Ontario, who live on the Couchiching 16A and Agency 1 reserves in the Rainy River District near Fort Frances. Hi ...

, tribal attorney, the National Campaigns Director of

* Dr.

Anton Treuer Anton Treuer is an American academic and author specializing in the Ojibwe language and American Indian studies. He is professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University, Minnesota and a 2008 Guggenheim Fellow. Early life and education Anton Treue ...

, Professor of Ojibwe at

Bemidji State University Bemidji State University (BSU) is a public university in Bemidji, Minnesota. Founded as a preparatory institution for teachers in 1919, it provides higher education to north-central Minnesota. It is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Univ ...

* Rep.

Keith Ellison Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to ...

* Rep. Betty McCollum *

Don Coyhis Don Lawrence Coyhis (born August 16, 1943) is an alcohol and addiction recovery counselor known for designing treatment programs primarily for Native Americans. He is the founder and president of White Bison, Inc., a non-profit charitable orga ...

, President and Founder of White Bison * Linda Eagle Speaker, Elder In Residence, MIWRC *

Joseph Marshall III Joseph M. Marshall III (born c. 1946, Brulé Lakota, Sicangu Oyate) son of Joseph Nelson Marshall Sr. and Hazel Lorraine Two Hawk-Marshall, is a historian, writer, teacher, craftsman, administrator, actor, and public speaker. He was a founding boa ...

, historian, writer, teacher, craftsman, administrator, actor, and public speaker * Lester Johnson III, Ed.D., Adjunct Professor

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

-Missoula * Emmy May, Red Lake Anishinaabe * Dirk Whitebreast, member of the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa ( Meskwaki Nation), runner, entrepreneur, and a board member for the Center for Native American Youth

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,

, Program Director, Honor the Earth, Dr. Melissa Walls, research sociologist, UMD, Chy (Native Youth), Music by Tall Paul and

First Contact This segment of the film introduces discusses first contact which is defined as Christopher Columbus’ 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 Huntington Bank Stadium (formerly known as TCF Bank Stadium) is an outdoor stadium located on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The stadium opened in 2009, after three years of construction. It is ...

during an NFL Football game tells how the NFL Washington Football team's name and the Native American mascot controversy creates racial injustice and how the use of the Native American names and images used by non-Native entities are damaging to 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.

, Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State, Rep.

, Rep. Betty McCollum Boarding School Era This segment of the film discusses the US and Canadian governments efforts to use ethnocide via religious boarding schools and residential schools in the United States to rid the North America Indigenous peoples of their own culture. 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,

, 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. In the 1855 Treaty with the Chippewa Indians 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 and the relationship between law enforcement and Native Americans. It speaks to social workers, health care providers as well as institutions and explores how

transgenerational trauma Transgenerational trauma is the psychological and physiological effects that the trauma experienced by people has on subsequent generations in that group. The primary modes of transmission are the uterine environment during pregnancy causing epige ...

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 due to the increase in the rates of suicide in Indian Country and the resilience necessary to survive. It follows Meskwaki distance runner Dirk Whitebreast who was awarded the Native American 40 under 40 Award in 2018 for his initiative and leadership in suicide prevention. Filmed at the Fox Cities Marathon in Appleton, Wisconsin, Dirk runs with youth from the

Ho-Chunk The Ho-Chunk, also known as Hoocągra or Winnebago (referred to as ''Hotúŋe'' in the neighboring indigenous Iowa-Otoe language), are a Siouan-speaking Native American people whose historic territory includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iow ...

Nation in support of suicide prevention for their community. The film also includes reflections from Emmy May of Red Lake, Minnesota who lost multiple friends and relatives due to suicide in a short period of time. 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 (th
Bigfork International Film Festival
awarded ''Dodging Bullets'' the Best Documentary award. In 2019 the Covellite International Film Festival awarded ''Dodging Bullets'' Best Cinematography for Documentary Film. In 2019, the Queen City Film Festiva

awarded ''Dodging Bullets'' the Audience Award Feature.

References

External links

*
KUMD Public Radio

on IMDB

FilmSnob Review

MSP Magazine Review

Prairie Public Radio Review

Human Family Interview

Eye for Film Review

Potawatomi Traveling Times Review

Educational Media Reviews Online—Penn State University Review

Minnesota-Made Documentary, 'Dodging Bullets' Examines Historical Trauma Plaguing Native Communities

New documentary highlights impact of historical trauma on Indigenous communities

Studium Generale - Dodging Bullets and Historical Trauma Discussion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodging Bullets-Stories from Survivors of Historical Trauma Documentary films about Native Americans 2018 documentary films American documentary films Native American people