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Inhabitants

Costa Boutsikaris
Anna Palmer
United States, 2021, 76 min.

In English with Spanish/French subtitles.
This film is family friendly.

Inhabitants follows five Native American Tribes across deserts, coastlines, forests, and prairies as they restore their traditional land management practices. For millennia Native Americans successfully stewarded and shaped their landscapes, but centuries of colonization have disrupted their ability to maintain traditional land management practices. From deserts, coastlines, forests, mountains, and prairies, Native communities are restoring their ancient relationships with the land. As the climate crisis escalates these time-tested practices of North America's original inhabitants are becoming increasingly essential in a rapidly changing world.

Director's Statement

This has been an unprecedented time of reflection from both the scientific and Indigenous perspectives in our nation. We stand at a crucial moment in climate change history, and Inhabitants re-focuses our attention on those communities who are on the front lines of this conversation. This film showcases ways that we can increase cooperation, respect, and honoring of Indigenous-led practices to manage our homelands. These traditional ways, along with science and teamwork, can improve our chances against the looming effects of global warming and climate change. The co-directors Anna Palmer and Costa Boutsikaris worked with Native filmmaker and producer Ben-Alex Dupris of the Colville Confederated Tribes along with a Tribal Advisory board to create a collaborative documentary that meets the needs of the communities involved. As climate change continues to intensify Indigenous guidance on land management and adaptation must become a bigger part of the sustainability conversation and we hope this film can contribute to that cause. 

Category: Documentary.