Search - Our Spirits Don't Speak English: Indian Boarding School on DVD

"Our Spirits" Speaks Truth about Tragedy and Triumph

Mary BT | Michigan | 07/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Our Spirits Don't Speak English" masterfully moves you from disbelief through outrage to resolve as it focuses the light of truth on one of darkest periods of cultural genocide in American history. The Indian Boarding School concept is a perfect example of good intentions gone awry and bad intentions gone amuck. Using interviews, photos, and old film clips, Gayle Ross gently but purposefully exposes the practice of assimilating indigenous children into a foreign white culture, and the devastating effects on these young people as well as on generations of Native Americans to follow. Some of the survivors' interviews are painful to witness, but you can't look away as you're drawn in by their raw courage -- to tell the truth, to relive the trauma, and to ultimately triumph over tragedy. It is a MUST SEE for all who are willing to stare America the Beautiful's ugly little secret in the face. The movie speaks to our spirits in a very clear language about accountability, forgiveness, and the need to move forward together."

Incredible eye opener!

Karl J. Tipre | 07/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was a heart wrenching documentary that had me on the edge of my seat. Everyone should be required to watch this film. What an eye opener! You will not be disappointed"

A vivid reminder that America, land of the free, was not so

Midwest Book Review | Oregon, WI USA | 10/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Our Spirits Don't Speak English: Indian Boarding School is a DVD documentary of the true-life stories of Native American children who were forcibly taken from their homes and families and educated in boarding schools, as part of a governmental policy to "kill the Indian and spare the man". From 1869 through the late 1960's, more than 100,000 Native Americans had been compelled to attend Indian Boarding School. Our Spirits Don't Speak English tells of growing up in a harsh world of strict rules, where speaking tribal languages was severely punished. A vivid reminder that America, land of the free, was not so free for some of its citizens until relatively recently in its history. 80 minutes, closed captioned."

Important piece of history...

~ wren ~ | In the Sierras... | 06/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Indian Boarding School experience is something rarely taught in our schools and yet it is a very important piece of US history. The systematic removal and brainwashing of Indian children in these schools has led to the historical trauma that still resonates through their families today. If we are to right the wrongs of the past, we must first acknowledge that they took place. "Our Spirits Don't Speak English" goes a long way to that end..."