Educational Media Reviews Online

“It’s very easy to become invisible in this country,” says one Native American woman in the opening minutes of Audrey Geyer’s documentary Our Fires Still Burn: The Native American Experience. Geyer is doing everything she can to ensure that doesn’t happen, as evidenced in her film that explores the current issues and concerns of contemporary Native Americans living in Michigan. Told through short thematic segments, her interview subjects are varied: a journalist, a behavioral health administrator, a tech inventor, a native artist/designer, tribal leaders, a youth advocate, and a Native firekeeper, to name a few. Many share their thoughts on what it means to live in two worlds while trying to preserve tribal cultures and languages. For some, emphasis has shifted from combating the old stereotypes of drunkenness and drug abuse to combating new stereotypes of Native Americans flush with cash from tribal casinos. For others, the educational system that contributed to the assimilation of Native peoples and the subsequent loss of cultural identity is of primary importance. Geyer draws on archival and family photos to enhance these themes. Some interview subjects are subtitled in English, an odd choice since everyone speaks in English and no one has a particularly heavy accent; aside from this, the director’s choices don’t distract from the film. Our Fires Still Burn: The Native American Experience will be useful in school, public, and academic libraries, particularly for people interested in contemporary Native American history and the ongoing impacts of the Boarding School Era.