Indigenous Youth Education
“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
College Education
“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
Indigenous Education
“Dodging Bullets shows pride of the people and their struggles without making Native people look easily influenced or weak. It also, does not display the angry undertone that those of us working within our tribes work so diligently to heal our people from. The message has been heard within this film. It was true to those involved while focusing on the strength, resilience and the pain, not the anger. It allows the non-native audience to truly hear and see the pain without blatant finger pointing or going the other direction by making it more palatable for non-natives tastes. This in turn has given them a different perspective to the anger they have seen that has turned them away from the truth in the past.”
“Pinagigi Dodging Bullets.”
Kimberly Whitewater Wakjexiwiga
Community Supportive Services Division Director
HCN Social Services
College Education
“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
Medical Education
“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
Public School Administration
“The Tomah Area School District used the documentary, Dodging Bullets, as a professional development opportunity to introduce the concept of historical trauma to our professional and support staff. Tomah is a community in which an Indian boarding school existed, where many Ho Chuck families reside, and where the school mascot was, up until 2007, the Indians. The documentary provided a powerful glimpse into historical trauma originating in this country and how the ripples of early actions continue throughout time. As a nation we must acknowledge the damage created by government policies, accept responsibility, and forge improved relations with the first inhabitants of this land. Dodging Bullets makes the case for this work.”
Cindy Zahrte, District Administrator
Tomah Area School District
Social Services
“The Dodging Bullets documentary was informative and emotionally powerful in its portrayal of historical trauma through moving personal stories and vignettes. We showed it at our annual conference for people working in the health and human services system. Participants found it incredibly valuable to learn how the historical treatment of Native peoples continues to impact individuals today and felt empowered to better support and address these topics in their work with clients in this population. Individuals also found parallels in the United States current treatment of immigrants at our border and racial injustice that are perpetuating or creating new trauma for individuals and families in these groups. It was very applicable to our audience, predominately social workers and counselors, but I would recommend Dodging Bullets to anyone interested in social justice and the history of the United States.”
Sharon Hollister
Director of Professional Development
Minnesota Social Service Association
Faith Youth Education
“Until our Mission Trip group screened Dodging Bullets, we had never understood the generational wounding that historical trauma has caused the Native American people. This powerful film opened our eyes to the plight that many tribal communities are experiencing and inspired us to work for positive change for our Native brothers and sisters”
Theo Chalgren
Assistant Director for Youth Formation
St. Victoria Catholic Church
