I recently attended the Seattle International Film Festival where I saw Bring Them Home/ Aiskótáhkapiyaaya, a conservation documentary film about the reestablishment of the American bison, also known as buffalo, on ancestral territory of the Blackfeet nation near Browning, Montana. The film highlights the history of the buffalo, and how the species was nearly wiped out in the 19th century. The film also points to the many ways the history of the buffalo mirrors the epic history of the Blackfeet people, and how the success of the wild herd has, in turn, uplifted the Blackfeet community.

The film, narrated by Academy Award-nominated Blackfeet/Nez Perce actor Lily Gladstone, was co-directed by Blackfeet siblings Ivan and Ivy MacDonald along with Daniel Glick. The musical soundtrack includes traditional singing, rapping, and contemporary arrangements mixing indigenous singing with modern orchestral accompaniment. I especially enjoyed the inspiring stories of the Blackfeet people who worked on the project, along with the magnificent cinematography of the buffalo roaming, and sometimes, galloping along the Rocky Mountain front. What a thrill! The area showcased in the film is about 70 miles northwest of Choteau, Montana, where I am from.

If you get a chance to see this movie, I wonder if you’ll shed a tear, as I did, when you watch the buffalo thunder toward the wide open space when they are released into the wilds of Montana under the big Montana sky at the end of the film. For more information bout the film here click here.

Subscribe to receive the latest blog posts delivered directly to your inbox.