Little Wound’s Warriors

Little Wound’s Warriors 

Title: Little Wound’s Warriors  

Director: Seth McClellan  

Copyright Date: 2017  

Genre: Documentary  

Awards or Honors: None 

Reading Level: 13+  

Plot Summary: The film follows students from Little Wound High School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The students live on the reservation and like living there, but they acknowledge they face challenges. The story gives a history of The Battle of Wounded Knee and Battle of the Little Bighorn and the history of the Oglala before coming to the reservation. The film has lots of shots of the beautiful nature of the place and includes background of kids singing. They discuss challenges like drugs, gangs, lack of housing, and relationships between adults and teens. They also discuss their future and what they want to see changed as they become adults.  

Director Background: Seth McClellan is a director who lives in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He has an MFA in Independent Film Governors State University and a BFA in Acting from the Hartt School. He teaches communication and digital video at Triton College. He directed King in Chicago, a film about Martin Luther King and the Chicago Freedom Movement. He has also acted in commercial and film roles that have appeared in Sundance and elsewhere. His other films include Creative Writing, a film about a community college instructor, and Chicago Heights.  

Critical Evaluation: The film is a good and insightful look at life on a reservation for teens. Rather than having a narrator from the outside tell their story, the film allows the teens to create their own narrative and story through their words. All the first-person accounts are important and give the viewer an unvarnished view of Native teens. The shots of nature and historical landmarks makes the viewer feel like they are in South Dakota. The film is an honest and unique perspective on Native teens and their hopes and dreams for the future.  

Creative Use Library Program: I would use this film as a chance to teach others about Native American History Month in November. The movie does a good job of having the students and community members tell their story and narrative, rather than an outsider coming in and trying to tell their story. After watching the film, our students can talk about their understanding and knowledge of Native history. We can also have a discussion about the history of America and its genocide of Native people, an often overlooked and dismissed topic. Many aspects of American history are not known, and this is a discussion teenagers in the United States should know about.  

Book Talk: The Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota is an integral part of American history. Founded over 100 years ago, the area is home to the Battle of Wounded Knee, Badlands National Park and the current home of the Oglala. This film gives viewers the chance to hear teenagers from the reservation talk about their lives, challenges and dreams as Native people. This honest film about life for Native teens is important to understand teen life and the complexities of growing up.  

Potential Challenge Issues: There are no challenge issues at this time. Potential challenges would be for references to suicide, drugs and alcohol. I would defend it by saying this is a documentary and shows issues that teens face. The documentary is showing the lives of teens and nobody made this up or dramatized it for a story. It is also important to get diverse perspectives of teen life beyond a typical suburb in America.  

Reason for Inclusion: I included this film because it gives a compelling look at Native American teen life. Little Wound High School students face challenges and issues other students might be dealing with. It is also important to show different aspects of teen life for different groups of people. It can also lead to a good discussion and understanding of American history and the discrimination and racism in our history against Native people that still matter and are felt today. 

Little Wound’s Warriors. (2017). IMDb. Retrieved November 8, 2020 from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9723258/  

About. (2020). Thorn Creek Productions. Retrieved November 8, 2020 from http://www.thorncreekproductions.com/about.html