Educational Media Reviews Online

In Sisters Rising, six Native survivor-activists expertly draw the link between Native sovereignty and ending violence against Native American women. The six women, affiliated with a variety of tribes and nations (including Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Muscogee Creek, Anishinaabe and Sioux) and roles (including tribal police officer, lawyer/professor, radio host, self-defense instructor, counselor) all share expertise from their advocacy work. Some also share the story of their own survivor experiences, offering a particularly valuable range of survivor-activist perspectives for students and professionals.

The filmmakers present beautiful imagery of landscapes, with mothers playing with children, horseback riding and beautiful tribal flags, contrasted with the scar of oil drilling and the plasticity of disposable commercial signs and construction barricades. The landscape thereby illustrates how the racist colonial mindset persists today: that Native women and Native land are available to be taken, with no accountability, as tribes do not have jurisdiction over non-Native Americans. The film shows how this lack of accountability amplifies the harm of violence against women and contributes to intergenerational abuse: daughters who see their mothers abused with no legal or mental health intervention are often abused themselves, and in turn see their own daughters abused or trafficked.

The film is highly recommended for public libraries and colleges, particularly for how well it frames self-determination and sovereignty as the avenue for healing both for individuals and for tribal nations. Sisters Rising complements other recent documentaries well (such as Amá and Dawnland), deepening our understanding of the harms perpetrated against Native women and families, with a focus on Native solutions. Directors O’Feral and Heck artfully make space for each survivor-activist to share both personal painful insights and expert perspectives for healing and legal accountability, all the while making a beautiful film, with a moving soundtrack by Allison Leialoha Milham. Sisters Rising is a must see for gender and women’s studies, legal studies, American/Native American studies, social welfare and public health.

Awards:
Honorable Mention Big Sky Award, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival; Best Film Award, Women's Voices Now Film Festival; Best Documentary Feature, American Indian Film Festival; Thaddeus Stevens Award, Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival

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