
The primacy of addressing of the social determinants of health and health disparities, violence against the Native community and people of color, and race related stress is unquestionable during this time. Dodging Bullets is an extraordinarily relevant film and an important resource for educators across disciplines to draw students into reflection and action about the impact of historical trauma. Rarely has a film been able to fully capture the complexity of these contemporary social justice concerns through historical accounts and personal narratives.”
George S Leibowitz, PhD
Stony Brook University
School of Medicine and Social Welfare
Dodging Bullets was a powerful and compelling documentary that revealed the injustices against Indigenous peoples including the characterization through mascots, and the relationship to mental health, self-worth, and identity in Indigenous youth. The film is tied together with deep themes in a modern way. It appeals to all ages. I showed it to my Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality students and Native American Studies students and they were deeply impacted. It resonated with them because so many come from backgrounds of Intergenerational Trauma. The film brilliantly wove together a positive path to healing through ceremony and cultural identity.”
Rain L. Marshall, JD, (Ihanktonwan),
Lecturer
Humboldt State University
The documentary feature Dodging Bullets breaks new ground in form and in its subject matter. The filmmakers offer a series of largely episodic stories, intimately documented, about Native American individuals who have been impacted by ethnic genocide in the United States… it is ultimately a story of resilience and hope as the filmmakers bring a nuanced perspective to a difficult topic, demonstrating the dignity of their subjects and offering the possibility of freedom from generations of inherited traumatic stress.
Jesse Roesler,
Dr. Morgan Adamson,
Rebecca Carpenter
MSIFF “Best of Fest” Film Jurors
Dodging Bullets gives a face to the present effects of historical trauma through telling individual stories of Native people and communities. It does an amazing job of not only showing the hardships, but also highlighting the beauty and resiliency within Indian Country today. The stories told were very relatable to our youth that we showed the film to, and sparked important discussion around intergenerational trauma and healing as a collective.
Payton Counts
Indigenous People’s Task Force
Keep the Fire Alive
Dodging Bullets was an eye-opening and influential documentary that exposed the effects of Historical Trauma against Indigenous peoples. As a regional campus, we have a unique mission to educate physicians dedicated to family medicine, to serve the needs of rural Minnesota and Native American communities. We held an open screening of the film to all students and members of our campus during Native American Heritage Month that was hosted by our student chapter of the Association of Native American Medical Students (ANAMS). It was crucial to share this film on our campus to better understand how Historical Trauma impacts the health and wellbeing of our Native American patients and Native American students.
Paula M. Termuhlen, MD
Regional Campus Dean and Professor of Surgery
University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus
Powerful. We will be unable to move forward in healing until we understand the traumatic damage our forefathers levied against the Indigenous people. The past brought to life by ‘Dodging Bullets’ makes this understanding possible. Everyone must see this film.
Sean Coffman
Executive Director, The Human Family,
North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival
America’s fickle love affair with Native Americans is limited to revisionist stories of passive Indian maidens like Pocahontas and Sacajawea or fierce doomed warriors like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Worse, the modern stereotype America has about Native Americans is limited to the oppressed drunkard or the fat casino cat, neither of which deserves understanding nor empathy. No matter what kind of image is evoked, you can’t win if you’re Native: A successful ‘Indian’ exploits the American way by not giving back his fair share and a downtrodden ‘Indian’ can’t pull himself up by his bootstraps no matter how much government assistance he’s given. Native Americans are blamed for not taking responsibility for the plight of their people and told that they don’t deserve help or money despite the fact that Native Americans have the highest poverty rates and the lowest access to health care of any race in the United States. Read Full Synopsis >
Click here to download a PDF of full Dodging Bullets press kit.
To interview a member of the cast or crew, please fill out the media request form.

We recommend using the “This Paint is Red, My Skin is Not” or “1855 Treaty Zone” photos because of their visual storytelling and relevance to the film’s subject matter. However, feel free to use any of the photos for media.
Click here to download all high resolution, print quality images as a zip file.
Click here to view all high resolution, print quality images on one web page (you may “right click” on the individual images to download them).
Click here to download a zip file archive of images of our Co-directors.
Embed code:
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Storytellers
Emmy May
Chy
Dirk Whitebreast
Melvin Lee Houston
Mike Her Many Horses
Leonard Thompson Jr.
Linda Eagle Speaker
Tall Paul
Joseph Marshall III
Cultural Experts
Richie Plass
Rick McArthur
Clyde Bellecourt
Bill Means
Director Browning Segment Kathy Broere
Director Duluth and Red Lake Segments Sarah Edstrom
Director Tall Paul Segment Jonathan Thunder
Director Lindy, NE, Treaty Rights and Wounded Knee, SD segments Bob Trench
Executive Producer Larry Long
Motion Graphics Jonathan Thunder
Logo Design Jonathan Thunder
Poster Graphics Lucie Skjefte
Location Sound Del Helmer
Director of Photography Bob Trench
“A” and “B” Camera Matt Myers
Location Camera Graham Nolte
Location Camera Julie Verano
Dakota Translation Vanessa Goodthunder
Editor Bob Trench
Dialogue Editor Steve Aram
Production Assistant Anthony Maroney
Production Assistant J. Maki
Production Assistant Sylvia Walker
Still Photography Dick Bancroft
Still Photography Bob Trench
Still Photography Thomas Casey
Original Music Keith Secola
There are three samples excerpts from the film Dodging Bullets available for download. 1080 Full HD, Zip Archives.
Melissa L. Walls, PhD discusses What is Historical Trauma?
Time 00:00:15:21
Rick McArthur discusses what happens when A Native get pulled over by a cop
Time 00:00:42:00
Leonard Thompson Jr. discusses what happens to Natives while exercising Treaty Rights (warning explicit)
Time 00:00:22:09
If you are a film critic or reviewer and would like to watch Dodging Bullets, click here to fill out our reviewers form.