Indigenous Media
Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples produces and digitally distributes documentaries uplifting the environmental and climate justice stories of California Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples--- highlighting how the violence of colonization continues to affect Native American tribal communities in California.
Our Water Ways (2024)
A feature-length documentary funded by Patagonia that highlights Tribes from California’s forest, urban, desert, and coastal lands and the critical ways they protect sacred water.
Bodies of Water: Paayme Paxaayt (2023)
Showcases the voices of Tongva, Chumash, Gabrielino-Shoshone, and Acjachemen tribal folx along with representatives from local BIPOC environmental justice (EJ) organizations. This film celebrates the Tribal and BIPOC EJ advocacy for protecting the health of Paayme Paxaayt (the L.A. River) and what this sacred waterway means to their communities.
California Indigenous Perspectives on Water (2022)
A historical overview of the Acjachemen, Tongva, and Chumash California tribes and their historical relationship to water. The documentary highlights recommendations for environmental organizations and local and state governments on how to form respectful and reciprocal relationships with the tribes.
Cadiz Inc. (2018)
Explores the Cadiz, Inc. corporation's proposed Cadiz Water Project--a project slated to pump billions of gallons of water from an ancient aquifer in the Mojave Desert to consumers in Southern California. Tribal nations and environmental groups have long opposed the project.
The Indians Reply (2024)
Produced by SPI’s Indigenous Media Team and directed by Spenser Jaimes, this documentary complements the Reclaiming El Camino: Native Resistance in the Missions and Beyond exhibition at the Autry Museum, curated by Deana Dartt of the Coastal Chumash Nation
Saving Payahüüpü: The Owens Valley Solar Story (2014)
The film focuses on the ways in which a 1200-acre industrial-scale solar energy development project proposed by the L.A. Department of Water and Power would cause severe and irreparable harm to Paiute cultural sites and to the integrity of the Manzanar National Historic Site located in the Owens Valley.
Media Team Awards/Honors
2023 US Water Prize in the SPI Indigenous MediaTeam Artist, United States Water Alliance
Cal Humanities, California Documentary Project R&D Grant
