We’re Making a Movie: “Resilience Inside”

Puyallup Elder and former Tribal Chairwoman Ramona Bennett being interviewed in her home on November 12

We have partnered with the University of Washington’s Washington Prison History Project to produce a 30-minute documentary movie regarding the fight for incarcerated Indigenous people’s religious freedoms. The working title of the movie is, “Resilience Inside: The Ongoing Fight for Indigenous Religious Freedom in Washington Prisons.” 

As we explain in our movie treatment:

How do Indigenous religious practices help Native people not only survive prison but transform the world? Resilience Inside pays tribute to the elders and relatives who have fought to protect and maintain their traditional religious freedom and cultural heritage in Washington’s prisons over the past half century. Using interviews with participants and archival materials, the documentary largely follows a three-act structure: the historical rise of incarceration as a form of Indigenous assimilation and land dispossession through the rise of the Red Power movement in the 1960s and 1970s; the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978 and its effect; and the ongoing struggles of Indigenous people behind bars in our state.

Chronicling the fight for incarcerated Indigenous people’s religious freedoms in Washington state since the 1960s, we will honor the participation of local Treaty and Indigenous rights warriors like Ramona Bennett (Puyallup) and Janet McCloud (Nisqually).

Heather Dew Oaksen is directing the movie.  Our Indigenous production team includes Gabe Galanda (Round Valley) and Lynn Dennis (Lummi), TVW Board member and former owner of MyTribe TV.

Production began in Seattle last month. With a total $98,000 production budget, we are seeking philanthropic funding for the production. If you are interested in supporting the production, please email us at info@huycares.org.