For Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Use These Two Films to Combat Dehumanizing Stereotypes
WATCH TRAILER FOR “MORE THAN A WORD”
On Monday, Oct. 9, an unprecedented number of states, towns, and cities across the country will celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, setting the stage for National Native American Heritage Month in November.
If you’re looking for resources to help mark these important occasions, we encourage you to screen the powerful documentary More Than a Word, directed by John and Kenn Little. Ranging from deep in American history to today, the film traces the destructive, real-world impact of racist cultural stereotypes, and pays tribute to the ongoing Native American-led struggle to eliminate indigenous team names and mascots from U.S. sports culture.
We also urge you to watch and share this short clip from our acclaimed new release Behind the Shield: The Power and Politics of the NFL, featuring celebrated Nation magazine writer Dave Zirin.
Clip from: Behind the Shield: The Power & Politics of the NFL | “Protest against Washington football team name” by Fibonacci Blue is licensed under CC BY 2.0
In the clip, Zirin draws explicit connections between the National Football League’s decades-long appropriation of Native American culture, its overwhelmingly white ownership structure, and larger currents of systemic racism within the league and U.S. society more broadly.
Behind the Shield is available on Kanopy through some universities and public libraries. To see if your university subscribes to Kanopy, click here. You can also rent, purchase, or stream the film in a variety of other formats, or request a quote for a public screening.
More than a Word is also streaming on Kanopy, and available to rent or purchase in multiple other formats. To host a public screening of More than a Word, request a quote here.
