Honoring Native American Heritage Month, GBH, Vision Maker Media, and NOVA have released a collection of six short documentaries, Legacy of the Land, covering climate change in Native American communities. The first of its kind, the collection includes stories each produced by an Indigenous filmmaker making the series as dynamic and distinct as Native American communities themselves. From Alaska to Arizona, audiences witness the knowledge, tradition, and innovation of people living on the front lines of our changing climate. This series is a companion to NOVA’s film, Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine, which was released in July.

“This series shines a well-deserved spotlight on Native American climate solutions that are based on Indigenous knowledge and science. The stories provide a rare insight from the perspective of Indigenous filmmakers who have given us privileged access to their communities,” said Laurie Donnelly, GBH Executive Producer.

Here is a short description of each film.

Sands of Time: This short documentary by Anna Hoover of Bristol Bay, Alaska, presents the realities of coastal erosion by witnessing the experience of Bristol Bay community members. Interviews, local archives, and ancestral knowledge put the circumstances in stark relief, detailing the communities’ adjustments to the retreating coastline. Watch it here.

Keepers of the Coastline – California’s Indigenous Marine Stewards: In 2023, the Tolowa Dee-ni’ people alongside partnering tribes asserted sovereignty over the 700 square miles of their ancestral fisheries. Now in 2024, in this film by Jeremy Charles of Smith River, California, we see how marine science and resource management can be guided by community and culture. Watch it here.

Tides of Tradition: Communities like the Unangax̂ rely on traditional foodways instead of customary, expensive grocery suppliers. This film by Kanesia McGlashan-Price of Unalaska, Alaska, follows the journey of a local subsistence hunter and shares the realities of food access in the changing Arctic and the values that inform their harvest. Watch it here.

Standing the Heat:  In a journey of reconnection, Navajo Nation filmmaker Steven Tallas explores the hogan - a small, unassuming traditional structure found across the Navajo Nation. Remaining cool in the summers and warm in the winters, this short film revisits the hogan amid a warming American Southwest. Watch it here.

Megadroughts and Indigenous Voices: The Southwestern United States is experiencing a megadrought, but this isn’t the first time people have survived one in the region. By highlighting ideas and practices from Navajo tradition, this story by Native Outdoors of Colorado Plateau re-centers our relationship to water. Watch it here.

Harvesting the Future: Agriculture can thrive in the desert. The Tohono O’odham people have used Ak Chin farming, a form of dry farming, to grow crops for thousands of years. In this short documentary by Wenona Benally and Sal Baldenegro from Tucson, Arizona, cultural experts demonstrate these traditional practices and implementations for future community planning. Watch it here.

GBH is committed to including Native and Indigenous voices in our storytelling. Watch more programs here and read our Land Acknowledgement and Commitment to Actions here.