Saints and Indians

Summary:

Winner of the 2006 Edward R. Murrow Award for best national news documentary, Saints & Indians tells the story of a program that placed thousands of Navajo children in Mormon foster homes.

Website:

http://homelands.org/worlds

Additional Credits and Funding:

Edited by Deborah George. Part of the Worlds of Difference series by Homelands Productions. Major funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Tones:

Contemplative, Emotional, Sound Rich

Language:

English

Description:

Between 1954 and 1996, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sponsored a program for American Indian children. The Indian Student Placement Program had two aims: to provide Native children with an education and to help the Church fulfill one of its central prophecies.

According to Mormon teachings, American Indians are descendants of the ancient House of Israel and Church members have a responsibility to help bring them back to the Kingdom of God.

More than 20,000 children from more than 60 tribes were baptized and enrolled in the Placement program. For some, it was a chance to overcome the stresses of reservation life. For others, it was a repudiation of their identity. For everyone, it was a life-changing experience.

Producer Kate Davidson spent a year talking with people involved in Placement. The story that emerged is a complicated one -- about culture, power, identity and belief.

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