Dawnland
86 min, documentary
54 min, broadcast version
purchase DVD & stream here | OFFICIAL SITE
For decades, child welfare authorities have been removing Native American children from their homes to “save them from being Indian.” In Maine, the first official Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the United States begins a historic investigation. Dawnland goes behind-the-scenes as this historic body grapples with difficult truths, redefines reconciliation, and charts a new course for state and tribal relations. Dawnland aired on Independent Lens on PBS in November 2018 reaching more than 2 million viewers. The film won a national Emmy® Award for Outstanding Research in 2019 and made the American Library Association’s list of 2020 Notable Videos for Adults: “a list of 15 outstanding films released on video within the past two years.”
SUBJECTS & GRADE LEVEL
Anthropology, Child Welfare, Genocide Studies, Native/Indigenous/First Nations Studies, Peace Studies, Psychology, Sociology, Transitional and Restorative Justice, and U.S. History. Appropriate for middle school through graduate level, adaptable for elementary.
“Dawnland is a film that everyone should see. Removal of Native children isn’t just something that happened far away and long ago, but to Wabanaki communities in Maine in the late 20th century. Watch and be outraged, heartbroken, and hopeful as the Wabanaki labor to protect and heal their most precious and vulnerable members, and some of their non-Native neighbors struggle with the challenge of moving from the role of occupiers to neighbors.”
Why This is Important
For most of the 20th century, government agents systematically forced Native American children from their homes and placed them with white families. A 1977 US Senate report (p. 287) found that as recently as the 1975, Native children in Maine were 19 times more likely to be removed by child welfare workers than non-Native children. Many children experienced devastating emotional harm in homes that shamed, demeaned, and erased their culture.
Americans should know that these atrocities are not history. Native children in Minnesota are still 14 times more likely to enter foster care than non-Native children; other states are not much better. Many Native people describe this persistent child welfare crisis as ongoing genocide resulting in cultural, emotional, and financial devastation—a stark contrast to most outsiders who are ignorant, misinformed or unaware of these abuses.
WABANAKI REACH
Wabanaki REACH is featured in Dawnland. The organization advances Wabanaki self-determination by strengthening the cultural, spiritual and physical well-being of Native people in Maine. REACH initiated the Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission and is carrying out its recommendations. The filmmakers encourage you to support REACH by making a donation via the REACH website.
“What is the Relationship Between the Taking of the Land and the Taking of the Children?”
LEARNING RESOURCES
This compelling question at the center of the Dawnland Teacher’s Guide frames the study across 12 lessons and will help students collect and organize evidence to support an argument that answers the question. The guide is freely available as an online resource.
Producer Bruce Duthu, professor of Native Studies at Dartmouth, explains the importance of the TRC (1:46)
FILMMAKING Team
Directors Adam Mazo, Ben Pender-Cudlip
Producers Adam Mazo, N. Bruce Duthu, J.D. (Houma)
Executive Producers Heather Rae, Beth Murphy, Shirley K. Sneve (Rosebud Sioux)
Director of Photography Ben Pender-Cudlip
Editor Kristen Salerno
Composer Jennifer Kreisberg (Tuscarora)
Learning Director Mishy Lesser, Ed.D.
Impact Producer Tracy Rector (Multicultural), Adam Mazo
Senior Advisor Chris Newell (Passamaquoddy)
CONSULTANTS
Margaret D. Jacobs, Ph.D., University of Nebraska, author, A Generation Removed
Anne Makepeace, director, Tribal Justice,We Still Live Here, Rain in a Dry Land
Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki), National Film Board of Canada, director, Waban-aki: People from Where the Sun Rises, Trick or Treaty, Hi-Ho Mistahey!, Incident at Restigouche, and others
Geo Neptune (Passamaquoddy), artist, educator
ADVISORS
Chico Colvard, filmmaker (A Family Affair)
Donna Hicks, Ph.D., associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, author of Dignity
Dave Joseph, LICSW, senior vice president for program, Public Conversations Project
Robert Koenig, filmmaker (Returned)
Rebecca Lowenhaupt, Ph.D., assistant professor for educational leadership and higher education at Boston College
Dick Olsen, strategic planner and fundraising consultant
