ABSTRACT
This chapter shows the powerful influence of media, including TV and film, in shaping understandings of "Indian" identity for both non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples. This chapter argues that all Indigenous histories are made "difficult" within the contemporary US educational landscape. It focuses on teaching histories that are difficult because they are about emotionally charged events and/or because they are integral to honoring Indigenous epistemologies and revitalizing traditional knowledges. The chapter introduces educators to the ways teaching about representations of Indigenous peoples in film can enrich student thinking about difficult history and shares strategies for using filmmaking to teach difficult history in culturally sustaining and revitalizing ways. It introduces an alternative teaching model – Community-Centered Storywork – as a means to engage learners in thinking deeply about representations of Indigenous peoples. It gives an overview of the need for enhanced critical and historical thinking about the largely negative ways Indigenous peoples have typically been represented in curricula and film.
