Trust Our Land: New film series spotlights Indigenous relationships with the land

By Keri Inouye

On the White Mountain Apache reservation, an acclaimed chef embarks on an ambitious project to establish a first-of-its-kind Indigenous cafe. In South Dakota, a gifted Lakota high school student analyzes the health effects of a beef-based diet versus a traditional diet based on buffalo. In northern California, a ragtag group of teenage boys of the Yurok Tribe fights to rehabilitate the habitat of their sacred salmon. And in southeastern Arizona, a medicine woman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe is on a mission to introduce youth to ancestral ways of harvesting and foraging.

These are the stories in “Gather,” a documentary from Monument Releasing and the first film in a new series presented by Eagle Valley Land Trust. It’s a compelling portrait of a growing movement among Indigenous Americans to reconnect with their spiritual and cultural identities through reclaiming their ancient food systems. Intimate and character-driven, “Gather” explores the importance of Native food practices that were once deliberately destroyed, and the heroic efforts to rebuild them as a way to restore health and vitality to tribal communities.

Eagle Valley Land Trust is pleased to host a screening of “Gather” at the Riverwalk Theater on Tuesday, March 19. The screening — presented in partnership with One Book One Valley, Vail Symposium, and the Bookworm of Edwards — kicks off Eagle Valley Land Trust’s Community Land Connection Film Series, a new initiative for 2024. This special event is a part of the One Book One Valley lineup of programming around the novel “Calling for a Blanket Dance” by Native American writer Oscar Hokeah. Like “Calling for a Blanket Dance,” the film “Gather” shines a spotlight on Indigenous people working to heal themselves and their communities by reuniting with their heritage.

The film screening is free and open to all, and participation in the One Book One Valley initiative is not required. To reserve your tickets, please visit evlt.org/event/gather.

The Community Land Connection Film Series will continue on Oct. 14 — Indigenous People’s Day — with a screening of “Inhabitants.” This documentary from Inhabit Films follows five Native American tribes across deserts, coastlines, forests and prairies as they restore their traditional land management practices in the face of a changing climate. From dryland farming in Arizona and sustainable forestry in Wisconsin to native food forests in Hawaii and prescribed fire in California, the stories in “Inhabitants” reveal how the original keepers of the earth may hold the key to protecting our rapidly changing planet. 

Eagle Valley Land Trust will host a free community screening of “Inhabitants” at its new Conservation Center in Edwards, set to open its doors this summer. 

In a time of tremendous growth and modernization, reconnecting with the land has never been more critical. As “Gather” and “Inhabitants” so powerfully illustrate, there is much we can learn from those who have been stewarding the land for millennia. Through the Community Land Connection Film Series, Eagle Valley Land Trust seeks to deepen awareness and encourage conversation around Indigenous wisdom here in Eagle County, the ancestral homelands of the White River and Uncompahgre Ute. Please join us for these thought-provoking and ultimately uplifting films on resilience, reconnection and the healing of our planet and ourselves.  

Keri Inouye is the Community Engagement Manager with Eagle Valley Land Trust. She coordinates EVLT’s community-centered conservation programs, including Earth Week. To learn more, please visit evlt.org/join-us