Voice Over in Alyssa Pretty On Top’s voice:
This is our home, the home of the Salish, Pend d’Oreille and Kootenai people for too many generations to count.
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Camera is flying low over a lake bordered by wetlands. Large mountains are in the background. A flock of birds swirls by the camera.
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Voice Over continues:
I have grown up on this land, like my Sileʔ and his grandpa and his grandpa before that.
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A line of teepees in a grassy meadow. Hills and a low sun in the background.
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My name is Alyssa Pretty On Top, and I live on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
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Close up of Alyssa Pretty On Top’s face, a girl about 12 or 14 years old. View shifts to Alyssa and her mother, who is beading a pair of baby moccasins.
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Each year we gather along the banks of the Flathead River for Fall Hunting Camp.
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Camera is flying above a large river as it passes a group of teepees on the river’s bank.
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When we hunt deer or elk or harvest the bitterroot for our feast, we are continuing our traditional way of life.
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A group of children and an adult man with bows and arrows. The man shoots his bow and the group walks toward the target.
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It’s hard to describe, but there is a softening influence of being in nature.
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Alyssa standing meditatively next to a teepee.
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These plants and animals are important because they have always been there for us to nourish and to make our lives good.
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A group of buffalo with a large bull buffalo in the front that has just raised a cloud of dust.
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This year, my brother harvested his first deer. He told his story around the fire. We were all proud of him.
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A group of buffalo with a large bull buffalo in the front that has just raised a cloud of dust.
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My grandpa says we are dreams and the prayers of our ancestors and that we have a responsibility to leave this world a better place.
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Grandpa seated now and singing softly to a baby held by Alyssa, the baby staring intently at him. As he finishes his song, Grandpa claps and then ends it with a soft “Whooo! Whooo!” He laughs
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He thinks children today are like buffalo born behind the fence with little awareness beyond their modern trappings.
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Children running playfully along a river trail.
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He says our ancestors knew the lines and the trails and curves of the hills as intimately as the lines and curves of their mothers’ faces.
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Grass covered hills with shadows cast by clouds moving across them
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We have to learn how to be in relationship with the Earth again and how our generation can protect it.
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Back to scene of Alyssa and her mother sitting by the river, both beading a baby moccasin.
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We do it for our baby brothers and sisters, for our little cousins and for everyone that we will love that hasn’t been born yet.
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Alyssa’s mother hands her a baby swaddled in a beaded buckskin cradle board.
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In the distance I hear the constant coal trains rushing by, and I know there are many choices ahead of how to live on this Earth.
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Alyssa’s family is seated at a camp table eating dinner, a line of teepees in the background. Scene changes to Alyssa’s mother combing and braiding Alyssa’s long dark hair in preparation for a pow-wow.
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Sometimes it feels overwhelming, but I do believe we can hold on to our traditions.
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Alyssa’s mother tying Alyssa’s beautifully beaded moccasins.
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This dream isn’t new. It’s been lived since the beginning of time…and we’ve made it this far.
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Alyssa standing in a beautiful traditional dress adorned with beadwork, a teepee in the background.
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Perhaps like my YaYa’s beadwork, we can make a life that is strong and beautiful one little step at a time, joining many little steps together.
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Alyssa walking toward the dance arena, then dancing with other girls. Scene changes to aerial view of river with hunting camp on the bank.
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The following credits in white text over a black background:
SKCLivingLandscapes.org
Project Partners
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Salish Kootenai College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
FEATURING
in order of appearance
Alyssa Pretty On Top
Ellen Rose Bigcrane
Dillon Pretty On Top
Johnny Arlee
With special thanks to Johnny Arlee
A STORY ROAD FILMS PRODUCTION
By Justin Lubke
Produced by
Germaine White and David Rockwell
Music By
Kyle Sorenson
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