American Indian Culture and Research Journal

As video technology becomes more accessible to individuals and communities, people are exploiting its communication potential. Native Americans, for instance, are pursuing the cultural, informational, political, economic, and entertainment potentials of video and film through a new subgenre of documentary: indigenous documentary. An indigenous documentary is one made by members of an indigenous community or in close interaction with the community; it is a video produced or coproduced by members of the group that it is about. Communities can document, preserve, or even revitalize local practices through media. Showing the programs outside of the local area communicates cultural beliefs seen as important by community members; practices shown in the videos identify the group for the wider public. But indigenous films and videos also communicate within a group and increase group affiliation. They both reserve knowledge for future generations and communicate the group's identity to the wider public. Native Americans explain that their own awareness of the power of visual imagery lies deep in the past. Pueblo petroglyphs of spiritual significance that date from 18,000 years ago reveal this deep belief in the power, even sacredness, of visual imagery. Since the early twentieth century, many Indian people, including those in the most traditional and conservative households, have used photographs to evoke memories and narratives of the past? Visual imagery has played and continues to play a central role in many Native American communities.