Oscar-Winning® Singer-Songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie Honored in New 'American Masters' and Other Indigenous Stories Recognized in PBS SoCal and KCET Native American Heritage Month Programming Lineup This November
Press Contact
Chelsea Grosbeck
cgrosbeck@pmgsocal.org
747.201.5202
kcet.org/nativeamerican and pbssocal.org/nativeamerican
Los Angeles, Calif. – October 19, 2022 – PBS SoCal and KCET, Southern California’s flagship PBS stations as well as the home for award-winning, original local content, announced today specially curated programs to celebrate Native American Heritage Month. Several new Native American Heritage Month offerings will debut throughout the month of November including a new special from AMERICAN MASTERS: “Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On.” The program details the Oscar-winning® Indigenous artist’s rise to prominence in New York’s folk music scene and throughout her six-decades long, groundbreaking career as a singer-songwriter, social activist, educator and artist. The special also features never-before-seen archival material, new performance footage and interviews with Joni Mitchell, Sonia Manzano, John Kay, Robbie Robertson, Jackson Browne and more. AMERICAN MASTERS: “Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On” airs Tues., Nov. 22 at 9 p.m. on PBS SoCal and Wed., Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. on KCET.
Another highlight of the local PBS stations’ Native American Heritage Month schedule includes the KCET Original Emmy® award-winning special, TENDING NATURE “Indigenous Land Stewardship” that will return for an hour-long broadcast of the documentary that features multiple perspectives and voices from Indigenous communities across California striving to keep the practices of their heritage alive. TENDING NATURE “Indigenous Land Stewardship” will air on Sun, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. on KCET and encores on Wed., Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. on PBS SoCal. Viewers can catch up on the special’s precursor, the KCET Original series TENDING NATURE (produced in partnership with the Autry Museum of the American West) which transports viewers across the state of California to hear first-hand from Native communities how traditional practices can inspire a new generation to find a balance between humans and nature. Starting on Sun., Nov. 13, KCET will premiere two, 30-minute episodes of TENDING NATURE back-to-back at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. as well as the following Sun., Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on KCET in Southern California.
Kicking off the month of related content on PBS SoCal is NOVA “Nazca Desert Mystery” which investigates another one of the world’s greatest ancient mysteries, the giant desert symbols or the Nazca lines. Robert Redford narrates THE MYSTERY OF CHACO CANYON that uncovers the prehistoric findings of buildings astronomically aligned over the wide desert area of New Mexico.
Additional related content airing in November on the two Southern California flagship PBS stations includes four episodes of the acclaimed series NATIVE AMERICA and broadcasts of PEOPLE’S PROTECTORS, ROADTRIP NATION: NATIVE WAY FORWARD and the INDEPENDENT LENS film “Attla.” There’s even something for younger viewers, with the PBS Kids series MOLLY OF DENALI which airs most weekdays on PBS SoCal at 7 a.m.
The station’s month-long line up of streaming and digital editorial content at kcet.org/nativeamerican and pbssocal.org/nativeamerican will be paying homage to the rich culture and heritage of America’s Indigenous people who have deeply enriched the quality and character of Southern California. The content offers a broad array of topics from Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian community perspectives as well as insight into the career of Oscar-winning® Indigenous activist Buffy Saint Marie.
Programs for Native American Heritage Month will be telecast as follows (subject to change):
NOVA: “Nazca Desert Mystery” – Wed., Nov. 2 at 9 p.m. on PBS SoCal and Sun., Nov. 6 at 10 p.m. on KCET
Investigate who created one of archaeology's greatest enigmas, the Nazca lines, and why. Recent finds of long-hidden lines and figures etched into the Peruvian desert offer new clues to the origins and purpose behind these giant desert symbols.
NATIVE AMERICA: “From Caves to Cosmos” – Thurs., Nov. 3 at 9 p.m. on PBS SoCal and Sun., Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. on KCET
Ancient wisdom and modern science try to uncover the 15,000-year-old question of who were America's First Peoples. The answer hides in Amazonian cave paintings, Mexican burial chambers, New Mexico's Chaco Canyon and waves off California's coast.
NATIVE AMERICA: “Nature to Nations” – Thurs., Nov. 3 at 10 p.m. on PBS SoCal and Sun., Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. on KCET
Explore the rise of great American nations. Investigate lost cities in Mexico, a temple in Peru, a potlatch ceremony in the Pacific Northwest and a tapestry of shell beads in upstate New York whose story inspired our own democracy.
PEOPLE’S PROTECTORS – Sat., Nov. 5 at 11 p.m. on KCET
Meet four Native American veterans who reflect on their experiences in the military during the Vietnam War and how their communities helped them carry their warrior legacy, even as they struggled with their relationship to the U.S. government.
TENDING NATURE “Indigenous Land Stewardship” – Sun, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. on KCET and Wed., Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. on PBS SoCal
The special honors the Indigenous knowledge in a broader context: as a way of life. This way of life centers around resilience, revival, renewal.
NATIVE AMERICA: “Cities of the Sky” – Thurs., Nov. 10 at 9 p.m. on PBS SoCal and Sun., Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. on KCET
Explore the creation of some of the ancient world’s largest and most splendid cities including American urban centers that bloomed from the Mexican jungle, a massive multi-cultural city in Central Mexico that is among the largest urban centers in history and the capital of South America’s greatest empire.
NATIVE AMERICA: “New World Rising” – Thurs., Nov. 10 at 10 p.m. on PBS SoCal and Sun., Nov. 27 at 8 p.m. on KCET
Discover how resistance, survival and revival reveals Native American cultural continuity in the face of genocidal warfare and history’s worst demographic devastation. Native Americans tap 10,000 years of beliefs to fight and survive the forces of Conquest.
AMERICAN MASTERS: “N. Scott Momaday” – Sat., Nov. 12 at 10 p.m. on KCET
Delve into the enigmatic life and mind of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and poet N. Scott Momaday, best known for "House Made of Dawn" and a formative voice of the Native American Renaissance in art and literature.
ROADTRIP NATION: NATIVE WAY FORWARD – Sun., Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. on KCET
Follow three rising Native leaders as they explore what's possible for their futures—and illuminate the path forward for Native youth everywhere.
TENDING NATURE: “Guarding Ancestral Grounds with the Wiyot” – Sun., Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. on KCET
The Wiyot Tribe from present-day Humboldt County have fought a long and hard battle for recognition and restored access to their land, including regaining ownership of traditional ceremonial grounds on Tululwat, an island in Arcata Bay.
TENDING NATURE: “Preserving the Desert with NALC” – Sun., Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. on KCET
Native peoples have long lived in the desert and their understanding of the desert’s fragility has made them one of the region’s most outspoken protectors.
WITHOUT A WHISPER - KONNON: KWE – Mon., Nov. 14 at 2:30 p.m. on KCET
The untold story of how Indigenous women influenced the early suffragists in their fight for freedom and equality. Mohawk Clan Mother Louise Herne and Professor Sally Roesch Wagner shake the foundation of the established history of the women's right movement in the United States. They join forces on a journey to shed light on the hidden history of the influence of Haudenosaunee Women on the women's rights movement, possibly changing this historical narrative forever.
INDEPENDENT LENS: “Attla” – Wed., Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. on KCET
Discover the inspiring true story of Alaska Native dogsled champion George Attla, who, with one good leg and fierce determination, rose to international fame. His racing prowess and ability to identify and train exceptional dogs made him a legend.
BATTLE OVER BEARS EARS – Wed., Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. on KCET
The battle over how the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah is protected and managed; issues include the Western themes of federal verses state control, sacred rights to the land and stewardship.
THE MYSTERY OF CHACO CANYON – Wed., Nov. 16 at 11 p.m. on PBS SoCal
Narrated by Robert Redford, the discoveries documented in the film have transformed scientific understanding of this site in northwest New Mexico-- one of the most elaborate and mysterious of ancient Native-American ruins -- and are revolutionizing perceptions of the Chacoan civilization.
GROUNDWORKS – Sun., Nov. 20 at 4 p.m. on KCET
An intimate profile of four California Native co-creators of the Groundworks project - an immersive, year-long media collaboration that culminated with a performance on Alcatraz Island on San Francisco's first official Indigenous Peoples Day in October 2018.
TENDING NATURE: “Reclaiming Agriculture with the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation” – Sun., Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. on KCET
For the Yocha Dehe people, who have lived in California’s Capay Valley for more than 15,000 years, local food production and deep knowledge of plant diversity sustained them for millennia. Using olives, a fruit of Spanish colonization, the Yocha Dehe people are combining ecological knowledge with modern science to rethink community-centered agri-business using sustainability practices that include high-efficiency irrigation.
TENDING NATURE: “Cultivating Native Foodways with the Cultural Conservancy” – Sun., Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. on KCET
The commodification of food has led to a bottom-line approach that has disconnected people from their food sources entirely, as modern, genetically modified foods put seed diversity at great risk. The Cultural Conservancy, an inter-tribal organization headquartered on Ohlone land in modern-day San Francisco, is revitalizing indigenous knowledge by inviting people to re-engage with the land, honor heirloom seeds, grow clean food and medicines, and decolonize their foodways.
SEARCHING FOR SEQUOYAH – Mon., Nov. 21 at 5 p.m. on PBS SoCal
The film chronicles the legacy of legendary 19th century Cherokee syllabary inventor Sequoyah through the oral stories of 5 modern day descendants by retracing his final journey to Mexico and his mysterious death.
AMERICAN MASTERS: “Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On” – Tues., Nov. 22 at 9 p.m. on PBS SoCal and Wed., Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. on KCET
Discover the groundbreaking ascent of Indigenous artist Buffy Sainte-Marie as she rises to prominence in New York's folk music scene and blazes a path as an Oscar-winning singer-songwriter, social activist, educator and artist.
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About PBS SoCal and KCET
PBS SoCal and KCET are both part of the donor-supported community institution, the Public Media Group of Southern California. PBS SoCal is the flagship PBS station for diverse people across California and delivers content and experiences that inspire, inform and educate. PBS SoCal offers the full slate of beloved PBS programs including MASTERPIECE, NOVA, PBS NewsHour, FRONTLINE, and a broad library of documentary films with works from Ken Burns; as well as educational content including PBS KIDS programs like DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD and CURIOUS GEORGE. KCET showcases the best of PBS and is a leading source for arts, culture, and news in Southern California. Through innovative storytelling, KCET explores and expresses our dynamic local communities helping residents understand and connect with the region's diverse communities and ideas. For additional information about both KCET and PBS SoCal productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org and pbssocal.org KCET Originals and PBS programming are available to stream on the FREE PBS App on iOS and Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, and Chromecast. KCET is also available to watch live on YouTube TV.