What to Watch on WTTW for Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month, and WTTW has programming that honors the history, culture, and traditions of Indigenous peoples. This year, catch new programs, including shows on Indigenous elders and scientists exploring the interconnectedness of Lake Clark National Park, two families fighting for justice on behalf of their loved ones, the hidden history of Indigenous children forced into government-sanctioned boarding schools, and a movement by the Blackfoot people to re-establish the first wild buffalo herd on ancestral lands.

Click the schedule links for additional air times. 

K'etniyi: The Land Is Speaking to Us 

Sunday, November 2 at 12:00 pm on WTTW 
Through a seasonal cycle in Alaska’s Lake Clark National Park, Indigenous elders and park scientists explore the deep interconnections that run through everything. From the millions of salmon that energize entire ecosystems, to ancestral trails linking communities, to meadows dense with brown bears, this cinematic meditation shows how the land’s rhythms offer wisdom for all who listen carefully.

The American Buffalo

Sunday, November 2 at 1:00 pm on WTTW 
The dramatic story of how America's national mammal, which sustained the lives of Native people, was driven to the brink of extinction. Ken Burns recounts the tragic collision of two opposing views of the natural world.

Finding Your Roots: Fathers and Sons 

Tuesday, November 4 at 8:00 pm on WTTW 
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. meets actors LeVar Burton and Wes Studi, two men who grew up without their fathers. With few clues to guide him, Gates introduces them to ancestors they've never known, revealing connections to key moments in history.

Native America

Thursdays, beginning November 6 at 8:00 pm on WTTW Prime
This four-part PBS series challenges everything we thought we knew about the Americas before and since contact with Europe. It travels through 15,000-years to showcase massive cities, unique systems of science, art, and writing, and 100 million people connected by social networks and spiritual beliefs spanning two continents. The series reveals some of the most advanced cultures in human history and the Native American people who created it and whose legacy continues, unbroken, to this day. 

In The Wake of Justice Delayed 

Thursday, November 6 at 9:00 pm on WTTW
This new film explores the moving personal stories of two families in rural Alaska who fight for justice after the brutal murders of their loved ones. Alaska Native Billi Jean Miller seeks a final conviction after nearly six years of waiting for the trial of her twin sister’s murderer, while Amos and Eunice Lane seek justice for the unsolved brutal murder of their mother, Harriet Lane. Both stories reflect on the historical roots of generational trauma as a context for understanding this epidemic of violence and why delayed crisis response and legal restitution perpetuate continued violence.

Next at the Kennedy Center – Embracing Duality: Modern Indigenous Culture

Friday, November 7 at 9:00 pm on WTTW Prime
In bridging traditions from past to present, this episode explores the subtle and complex representation of the contemporary Indigenous experience. Featuring special performances and interviews by two-spirit writer and interdisciplinary artist Ty Defoe, Native and African American singer-songwriter Martha Redbone, and electronic music duo The Halluci Nation.

Uncovering Boarding Schools: Stories of Resistance and Resilience 

Sunday, November 9 at 1:00 pm on WTTW
This film chronicles present-day efforts by Klamath tribal members in their fight for justice for students forced into enrollment in unsafe institutions. The hour-long documentary follows their struggle to uncover the difficult and often hidden history of Indigenous children forced into government-sanctioned boarding schools across the western frontier, including some religious schools that were previously kept under the radar. In sharing these stories, Uncovering Boarding Schools aims to bring about community reconciliation and healing after decades of intergenerational trauma.

Little Bird

Tuesdays, beginning November 11 at 8:00 pm on WTTW Prime
In this drama, Bezhig Little Bird was adopted into a Jewish family at the age of five, being stripped of her identity and becoming Esther Rosenblum. Now in her 20s, Bezhig longs for the family she lost and to fill in the missing pieces. Her quest lands her in the Canadian prairies where she discovers that she was one of the generation of children forcibly apprehended by the Canadian government through a policy, later coined the 60s Scoop. Recap the episodes here. 

The Horse Relative

Tuesday, November 18 at 10:00 pm on WTTW Prime
This film explores the historic art of horse regalia and how the tradition is being revived and reinterpreted by Dakota communities for a new generation. Interviewees discuss the sacred relationship between the horse and the Dakota people, and the centuries-old tradition of dressing horses for ceremonies and celebrations. The film also looks at the efforts of artists, educators, and community leaders to preserve and restore the Dakota language, cultural traditions, and lifeways. 

Indigenize the Plate

Sunday, November 23 at 11:00 pm on WTTW Prime
Extraction, water displacement, and climate change have impacted food sustainability in Indigenous communities, and the combination of these challenges has also affected cultural sustainability. In Indigenize the Plate, a Dine woman travels from the Navajo Nation to a Quechuan community in Peru to see how they address these issues in their region. The program tells the stories of Indigenous people across the world and shows viewers how their communities are working together to address some of the many challenges that the world faces collectively.

Bring Them Home 

Monday, November 24 at 9:00 pm on WTTW 
This documentary tells the story of a small, determined group of Blackfoot people striving to re-establish the first wild buffalo herd on ancestral lands since the species’ near-extinction a century ago. The film evocatively captures the decades-long efforts to restore buffalo along with the land, re-enliven traditional culture, and bring much needed healing to the Blackfeet community. Narrated and executive produced by Oscar nominee and Blackfeet / Nez Perce actor Lily Gladstone, the film has screened at over 40 film festivals, earning multiple awards and playing as an audience favorite.

Little Bird: Wanna Icipus Kupi (Coming Home)

Tuesday, November 25 at 10:00 pm on WTTW Prime
Coming Home takes viewers behind the scenes of the production of the much-anticipated dramatic series Little Bird and the groundbreaking movement for Indigenous narrative sovereignty as experienced through the series’ Indigenous creatives, crew and ’60s Scoop advisors.