Lander Filmmakers Host Screening of Home From School: The Children of Carlisle

The Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming is home to the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes. Despite its close proximity to the town of Lander, many non-Native Landerites don’t understand the issues affecting their indigenous neighbors. Lander-based Caldera Productions worked closely with tribal members to produce Home From School: The Children of Carlisle in part to help remedy this. The feature documentary explores the troubling legacy of Native American boarding schools and the ways this legacy continues to affect members of the Northern Arapaho community. A staff member at Caldera approached LOR with a request to help bring the film to the people of Lander at no cost, and to follow the showing with an educational Q&A. With funding from LOR to cover speakers’ honoraria and marketing costs, they were able to host a free screening at the community center, followed by a public conversation with Northern Arapaho Tribal Chairman Jordan Dresser and two directors of the Northern Arapaho Tribal Historic Preservation Office, Yufna Soldier Wolf and Crystal C’Bearing.

This project was fiscally sponsored by the Lander Community Foundation.

Impact

The film was screened in Lander and in Riverton; both screenings brought in capacity audiences (145 & 155 participants each). Audiences were highly engaged during the panel Q&As. The screening of Home From School, which went on to win multiple awards, was an important step in an ongoing journey toward promoting greater understanding and awareness among two neighboring communities in Wyoming.