Standing on Sacred Ground

Standing on Sacred Ground

4 Episodes

Indigenous communities around the world and in the U.S. resist threats to their sacred places--the original protected lands--in a growing movement to defend human rights and restore the environment.

In this four-part documentary series from the producer of IN THE LIGHT OF REVERENCE, native people share ecological wisdom and spiritual reverence while battling a utilitarian view of land in the form of government megaprojects, consumer culture, and resource extraction as well as competing religions and climate change.

Narrated by Graham Greene, with the voices of Tantoo Cardinal and Q'orianka Kilcher, the series exposes threats to native peoples' health, livelihood, and cultural survival in eight communities around the world. Rare verité scenes of tribal life allow indigenous people to tell their own stories--and confront us with the ethical consequences of our culture of consumption.

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Standing on Sacred Ground

4 Episodes

  • Pilgrims and Tourists
    56:33
    Pilgrims and Tourists
    Episode 1

    Pilgrims and Tourists

    Episode 1

    Directed by Christopher McLeod • Documentary • 2014 • 57 minutes

    In the Russian Republic of Altai, traditional native people create their own mountain parks, to rein in tourism and resist a gas pipeline that would cut through a World Heritage Site. In northern California, Winnemem Wintu girls gr...

  • Profit and Loss
    56:42
    Profit and Loss
    Episode 2

    Profit and Loss

    Episode 2

    Directed by Christopher McLeod • Documentary • 2014 • 57 minutes

    From New Guinean rainforests to Canada's tar sands, PROFIT AND LOSS exposes industrial threats to native peoples' health, livelihood and cultural survival. In Papua New Guinea, a Chinese-government owned nickel mine has violently r...

  • Fire and Ice
    56:35
    Fire and Ice
    Episode 3

    Fire and Ice

    Episode 3

    Directed by Christopher McLeod • Documentary • 2014 • 57 minutes

    From Ethiopia to Peru, indigenous customs protect biodiversity on sacred lands under pressure from religious conflicts and climate change. In the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia, scientists confirm the benefits of traditional stewardshi...

  • Islands of Sanctuary
    56:39
    Islands of Sanctuary
    Episode 4

    Islands of Sanctuary

    Episode 4

    Directed by Christopher McLeod • Documentary • 2014 • 57 minutes

    Native Hawaiians and Aboriginal Australians resist threats to their sacred places in a growing international movement to defend human rights and protect the environment. In Australia's Northern Territory, Aboriginal clans maintain ...

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