Episode Guide

1. Keep Your Heart Strong — Giving an inside view of Native American celebrations, this program explores the prairie region powwow circuit and the people who travel the circuit. The program captures a people’s spirit through poignant narratives by the dancers and singers. The program shows that the celebrations are more than just a showcase for the colorful regalia and the energetic dancing, but also that they represent a community that shares certain values. This program won several media and festival awards.

2. Warriors — This program reflects traditional beliefs and contemporary dilemmas of the Native American Vietnam veterans. Interviews with these veterans provide an understanding of the traditional concepts of war and current ways of honoring warriors or “bringing them home.” The veterans discuss their personal experiences in Vietnam and the difficulties they still face. The program is a portrait of contemporary Indian people caught in the cross currents of American history, finding in their traditional ways the key to understanding and moving forward.

3. Sacred Buffalo People — Interviews of North and South Dakota Native Americans, paintings, other art work, and an animated story describe the powerful bond between the Native American Indian and the buffalo. This animal represents the wisdom of the Indians’ ancestors and a way of life that values living in harmony with all of nature. The program looks at the world through Native American eyes; the buffalo acts as the vehicle to that vision.