(upbeat music) - Coming up next on this special edition of ""Arizona Horizon"," an award-winning film details the experiences of Indigenous children who are forced to attend American Indian boarding schools.

Also, tonight, a new documentary looks at homelessness in Flagstaff, and another documentary explores how wildlife connects people, nature and cultures.

Those stories and more next, on this special edition of ""Arizona Horizon."

- [Announcer 1] This hour of local news is made possible by contributions from the Friends of PBS, members of your PBS station.

Thank you.

- Good evening, and welcome to this special documentary film edition of "Arizona Horizon."

I'm Ted Simons.

We begin with a documentary titled, "Remember the Children," which tells a story of abuse and neglect at government-funded Native American boarding schools.

We spoke to Jim Warne, executive producer of the film.

He is also an ASU graduate and member of ASU's 1987 Rose Bowl Champion football team.

Good to have you here.

Thank you, congratulations on the film.

What got you started on this?

- Well, as a educator and advocate all of my life, post-football career, I went into academics and I've been teaching and advocating about Indigenous issues in all sorts of elements.

And this particular film, "The Boarding School," my mom is a survivor of Indian boarding school.

She went to the Pine Ridge Indian Boarding School in the 1940s.

And she's still with us today, so I'm still able to talk with her and she's in the film.

She starts off the film, so she's my star.

But she shares a lot of information and she's an educator and advocate as well, so she's really able to share those stories in an impactful way.

- Describe the Rapid City Indian School in South Dakota.

- Yes, they just tore down some of the original building.

They're building a new hospital there, but used to be a tuberculosis clinic after the boarding school.

But the boarding schools were designed to take the language, take the culture, cut our hair, change our clothes, so it was forced assimilation often through physical, mental, and emotional, and sexual abuse, unfortunately.

- I was going to say, the results were disease, neglect, malnutrition, beatings, handcuffs, and unmarked graves.

Talk to us about that, that must have been very sobering.

- Yes, and many people recall the Pope was in Canada this summer, apologizing for the residential schools in Canada and the thousands of unmarked graves they're finding there with modern technology.

We're doing the same here with the 400 boarding schools that were here in the United States.

We want to find those children, acknowledge them, and get them home.

- You talked about your mom having spent time in a boarding school, I'm sure others as well.

How did you research this story?

- Going through, we had a research team that was working on it for two years prior to bringing me in as a filmmaker.

So there was a lot of experts that got that information, found the names of those 50 children that were not identified that passed away at the school, and were able to identify those kids and utilize that research to tell the story in a good way with a lot of the facts that were uncovered through that research.

- [Ted] I was going to say, it sounds to me like if you had enough people, you'd almost be overrun by some of the information.

- It is overwhelming, and more and more is happening.

I actually just took a position on the school board for Red Cloud Indian School that's still operating today, and they recently did some LiDAR search for some of the missing children there as well.

So many of the schools are doing this like Canada did over the past few years.

- You made the film with regional Lakota people, true?

- [Jim] Yes.

- Talk to us about that.

- Yeah, home is South Dakota.

I grew up here in Tempe, but home is South Dakota where our DNA is, if you will.

And so it's really personal for me as a Lakota tribal member to share those stories of our Lakota people and my films have been addressing Indigenous issues, mostly associated with my tribe, but I do delve into other Indigenous stories.

- Was this something when you were growing up in Tempe, and playing at Tempe High School, and going to ASU, and you get a football career and winning the champion, was this something that was always bubbling under the surface or something that was really front and center with you?

- It was kind of bubbling because front and center was athletics, but it was always there.

And that expectation was given us to by our mom, who was a strong res woman we say, she grew up on the reservation.

She made sure we knew our language, our culture, and knew who we were as Lakota men, my brother and I.

So growing up and going to Arizona State and having that athletic career, I was always the only Native.

So I got a lot of press in terms of being a Native football player where there wasn't very many of us at that time.

- Yeah, as far as now the Lakota people, when they see this film, what kind of reaction do you see?

- There's been healing, actually.

There's a lot of tears and folks that have been hiding it and suppressing it all these years are able to discuss it.

So we actually do a warning that some of these traumatic issues may come back at the beginning of the film for our elders that went through that, as well as family members that lost a lot of their traditional ways as a result of these boardings.

- Yeah, some triggers, right?

- Yes, exactly.

- What about mom?

How does she feel about it?

- She's good, and if mom approves, I'm okay.

(Ted and Jim laugh) - [Ted] That's great.

- So again, she's a strong advocate.

She's still teaching at 84 at South Dakota State Nursing, and she ran the Indian nursing program here at Arizona State for many years.

So she's still making an impact today and making a difference in the Lakota way with nursing.

- Last point on this is somewhere I read a grandfather was asked, "Why were these schools even existing?"

And he's says, quote, "Was because they didn't know us."

What does that mean to you?

- It is almost still relevant today because our curriculum isn't quite there in telling the true history of Indian country, and I think it's key for more of our non-Indian allies to know who we are as Indigenous people.

Not just the Hollywood stereotype, which is improving fortunately, but knowing who we are in curriculum, I think, is important.

And as an educator and advocate, that's the difference I'm making teaching through film.

- And then that's what you want people to take from this film?

- Yes, is learn something new about some of the history and some of the things that happened to the Indigenous people of this country.

- Well, the film is "Remember the Children," Jim Warne, congratulations on this and continued success in your next endeavors.

I know you're all over, you're doing all sorts of things here.

Thank you so much for joining us and spending some time with us, we appreciate it.

- [Jim] Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

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(bells chiming) (wind blowing) - "The Man in the Dog Park" is a new documentary that looks at the daily lives of homeless people in Flagstaff.

The film is based on a book, which is designed to give a close-up look at life in a shelter and what it means to be unhoused.

We learn more about the project from the documentary's screenwriter and producer, Cathy Small.

Welcome to "Arizona Horizon," good to have you here.

- Thank you so much.

- Yeah, congratulations on the film and the book, "The Man in the Dog Park."

Who was the man in the bar?

Who was the man in the dog park?

- Okay, so it started a number of years ago, more than 10.

I went to the dog park with my dogs in the morning as I do.

And when I got to the park, I saw that there was a man sitting there.

And he had a green army jacket, he was slumped over, he had a baseball cap on.

He didn't look up and he looked homeless.

And I was afraid to go in the park.

And I let my dogs run.

I let them come back and I left, thinking I was lucky.

'Cause I was scared.

- Right, right.

- But then I saw him again and I saw him again.

And I thought to myself, "what am I doing?"

You know?

It just didn't seem right.

And so I sat near him and I talked to him.

And we began having conversations and I heard about his life.

And that was how it started.

And one day, five years after we met, I said, "How would you like to write a book together?"

And I still remember his face of shock when I said that.

- Happy shock or uh-oh shock?

(Cathy laughs) - It was happy shock.

- Yeah.

- And we did write the book, but then after the book came out, we realized not everybody's going to read a book about homelessness.

And so with collaborating with a filmmaker, Daniel Cowan, we made an animated fourteen-minute show that draws on the same stories of the book.

And that is free to the public.

And you know, I spent seven years talking to people who lived in their cars, who lived on the streets, who lived in the forests, and in shelters, and the stories are based on that.

- Yes, indeed.

And we should mention Ross is the man in the dog park.

And your co-author.

- Ross Moore is the man in the dog park.

- Yeah, there you go.

- Sorry, you're right.

- The goal of all this, it would seem from a distance would be to get to know these people as people, correct?

- Yes, and with one more thing.

Because of all the stories that we could have drawn on, we picked the issue of stigma because it's really our attitudes that are affecting the day-to-day lives of and the day-to-day suffering really, of people who are living homeless.

And we picked stories about stigma and the effect of our own attitudes on them.

And so, the story also is kind of about us, and it's inviting us to look at our own attitudes.

- And you met with people at shelters, pawn shops, the HUD Housing Center, all sorts of places.

Was there a recurring theme with these interactions?

- The recurring theme is how hard it is to get out of homelessness.

I think that was one of the things I saw.

I think what the public can't see also is the resilience, the persistence, the ingenuity sometimes that it takes to live this way.

It isn't what you would normally what you expect.

And I really also saw the great number of reasons that people became homeless.

I know most of viewers are going to think it's alcohol, and drug abuse, and mental illness.

And it's not that those things don't exist, but a good question that arose for me in this is which comes first?

Does the homelessness really produce a lot of those problems?

And I saw so many people that were homeless because of medical bills.

Homeless because they were gay and the family threw them out of the house.

A wife that was abused that is seeking shelter.

- So when you came into this, did anything, obviously, you came into this with some preconceived notions, but I guess Ross kind of changed those around a little bit.

Anything surprise you?

- I think the surprises were, and this will sound strange maybe, but just that people are people, you know?

And that the people that I saw struggling with homelessness are really the same as the people that I see in my classrooms or in, you know, in other things that I do.

And that they deserve our willingness to get beyond the label of homelessness.

Because when we look at somebody homeless, that's all we can see.

And really, there's so many other things.

- Is that the message you want people to take from the film and the book?

- It is.

I hope that they would take that message that we need to humanize rather than politicize this issue.

And that I even hope that they would take maybe a next step toward bringing this issue closer to their radar.

One person who read the book wrote me that for the first time in their life, they said hello to a homeless person.

And they said what a difference it was for them.

And they know their name now.

- Well, job well done, Cathy Small.

Congratulations on that, "Man in the Dog Park."

Congratulations on that success and continued success.

Thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you.

(upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Catherine Anaya, host of "Horizonte."

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- [Interviewee 1] Native women are strong and resilient.

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- She's a warrior.

- It's about representing ourselves in the way we see ourselves.

- [Interviewee 3] We're scientists, we're engineers, we're doctors, we're doing things to make a difference in this world.

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- Latinos care about issues across the board just like everyone else.

- There's a lot of diversity in thought and opinion.

We just need to make sure parents understand the value in having multilingual students.

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- [Catherine] Stream episodes online at azpbs.org, YouTube, or on the PBS app.

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- So much fun.

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- [Harry] What will you tell the child when they ask where their dad is?

- There's a wall.

I'll tell them you're dead.

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They need to be explored.

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How can we learn from the past?

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I'm seeing the expansiveness of my history.

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(uplifting music) - "The Weight of a Feather" is a new documentary that focuses on Liberty Wildlife and its legacy of preserving nature and cultures.

The film aired on Arizona PBS and has brought worldwide attention to the work that's being done at Liberty Wildlife.

We recently spoke to those behind the making of the film.

Laura Hackett, she's the education coordinator at Liberty Wildlife and also Kristen Atwell Ford who directed "The Weight of a Feather."

They even brought a special feathered friend to join us on set.

The good to have you both here, we also have Tucker here, and we're going to talk about Tucker in just a second.

But let's talk about Liberty Wildlife, Laura.

What is Liberty Wildlife?

- Well, we are a non-profit wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, conservation, education organization.

So we have a lot in a small little group right there.

We're basically rescuing sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife with the hopes of rehabilitating them back to the wild and then educating the public on those that cannot be.

- And this documentary, basically on Liberty Wildlife, but in certain respects here, why'd you decide this was a good idea?

- Liberty Wildlife is part of the fascia of our community.

There are so many stories that relate to not only wildlife rehabilitation, but these intersections with other organizations like Arizona Game and Fish, and SRP, and APS, and the Verde Canyon Railroad, and Sunrise Native Recovery.

And the initial story that really drew us to Liberty Wildlife was their Non-Eagle Feather Repository.

Not only does Liberty Wildlife care for rehabilitated wildlife, but they provide feathers free of charge to Native Americans for use in their ceremonial purposes.

- And that's a big part of the film is that now you have a hoop dance, a nationally famous hoop dancer.

- [Kristen] Yes, Tony Duncan.

- Yeah.

- Yes, and his family.

- Yeah, and again, this particular aspect, this is more than just rescuing wildlife.

This is getting into culture.

- Exactly, it's an amazing connection that we have then where we use a tagline, we give life to feathers that can no longer fly.

So it's kind of like recycling and then also helping the Indigenous cultures around Arizona, around the country.

- Yeah, and how long has Liberty Wildlife been around?

- We've been around since 1981, so over 40 years.

We started off real small with just 80 animals.

And then last year we took in over 11,000 animals.

- [Ted] And how has that changed over the years as far as with Liberty Wildlife?

They've obviously grown, how much have you grown?

- Well, we did have to move from our small location, which was just over an acre.

It was our vet's backyard at the time, North Scottsdale.

And we, in 2016, moved to a six acre property just south of Sky Harbor Airport, so we could expand our hospital and also have an on-site education location so people can come and visit us and we can have field trips and tours.

- Oh, that's very nice.

Kristen, this project, how did this idea get started?

How was the project presented?

I mean, obviously Liberty Wildlife has a story.

Hoop dancers have a story, the feather program has a story.

How did it all come together?

- Well, it's really our executive producers, Melanie and Rob Walton really wanted this story told and wanted Native Americans to know throughout the country that the Liberty Wildlife Non-Eagle Feather Repository is available.

And once we got in the Quantum Leap team as to tell these stories, we realized that there's so many rich stories.

We discovered all of this wildlife that lives right here in the city with us.

It really returned my sense of wonder to work on this film.

- [Ted] And it's true.

You filmed, a lot of this was around Tempe Town Lake, correct?

- Absolutely, our cinematographer, Bill Davis, was up every morning at every sunrise and sunset to capture some amazing animals that live right here in the city with us.

You'll see that in the film tonight.

- When you're capturing these kinds of birds, and raptors, and these sorts, is that the time to get them?

Sunset, sundown, sunrise?

- Get them when they're hungry.

He would know they would come into the lake, and they would hunt, and they would interact, and you'd see different species.

It's amazing what Bill captured.

- [Ted] Well, I know I've seen a bald eagle at Tempe Town Lake, I saw one years ago.

I haven't seen much, but I haven't been down there recently.

They still down there?

- They are, we've documented it.

We have proof they're there.

- All right, let's talk about Tucker, 'cause Tucker really is just, that is a beautiful, beautiful bird.

- He is gorgeous, he is a great horned owl.

He's an amazing rescue story.

He is one that was living his life out in the wild and he was on the hunt one night when unfortunately, he got hit by a car.

And the people who hit him knew that they had hit something but couldn't find the owl.

So they went home, went to bed, woke up the next morning, and went to work, and tried to go to work, and found him in the grill of the car still alive.

So our rescue volunteers had to go out and remove the grill of the car and bring him into our hospital where we were able to rehabilitate some broken bones in his wings and help him with some head trauma.

He's determined non-releasable because of those injuries, so now he's become a part of our education team.

He's one of our education ambassadors so that he can talk to the public and let people get this close to an owl.

- And how does something like that handle captivity?

- He actually does really well.

He's one that transferred over to working with humans.

While we do have some that are non-releasable that don't want to be in front of bright lights or in front of the public, they can actually become foster parents and they'll be on our rehab side where they act as parents to some of the baby raptors that come in so that those baby raptors learn how to be an adult gray horned owl or whatever species it is.

- Well, he's done a great job.

Whoever's working with Tucker's doing a great job.

- This lady right here.

- Yeah, congratulations because that is a beautiful animal.

We've got about 20 seconds left.

How important is it that you're on PBS?

- [Kristen] It is a dream come true to tell this local story about the fabric of our community, and to be premiering it here on our hometown PBS station is as good as it gets.

- Well, it sounds great, congratulations on the project.

Congratulations on Tucker.

A continued success for you both.

- [Laura and Kristen] Thank you so much.

- You bet.

And that is it for now, I'm Ted Simons.

Thank you so much for joining us on this special edition of "Arizona Horizon."

You have a great evening.

(upbeat music)