Remaining Native

[MUSIC BEGINS]  

Close-up on a young boy in an archival black and white photograph of him standing alongside many other boys.  

KU STEVENS (in voiceover): Imagine you’re eight. That might be the first time that they beat you.  

Close-up on an archival photograph of a child shielding their face from the camera with an open hand.  

Close-up on the lap of a person holding a thin stick.  

STEVENS: They’ll leave scars on your body that will stay with you for the rest of your life.  

Close-up on an archival photograph of a young boy with big cheeks.  

STEVENS: They tell you that, “Boy, if you ever run away again, you’re going to feel the wrath of God.”  

Close-up on an archival photograph of a young boy standing in front of a wall outside covered in empty vines.  

STEVENS: You know you think to yourself, I just gotta try. I gotta be back. I gotta be back with my family because that’s where I belong. With my people.  

A black and white photo of an older woman sitting on a rock outside of a thatched hut. 

Archival image of a long road through two fenced areas.  

STEVENS: My great grandfather tried to run away again, but he didn’t make it out this time.  

[DOG BARKING]  

An archival black and white photo of a man standing in the background behind massive trees in the yard of a home.  

An archival photo of four people on their knees, only their upper legs and hips visible in the image.  

[FAINT DRUMMING BEGINS BENEATH THE DRONE OF THE MUSIC, BECOMING STRONGER AND LOUDER]  

STEVENS: He was waiting there, for days.  

Archival photograph of students sitting in a classroom.  

STEVENS: Days turned into weeks.  

Faster cuts between archival photographs of students in various classes (sewing, carpentry, standard classrooms), standing in rows outside, two girls in front of tiny cribs for baby toys, three children seated in front of tiny models of churches, girls dancing around a maypole and participating in Easter activities.  

STEVENS: And those weeks turned into months. Dropped in an endless loop.  

[THE DRUMMING IS LOUDER AND SOUNDS ALMOST LIKE A HEARTBEAT]  

Cut to the modern day, and Ku Stevens, a Native teenager, stands on a racetrack with his hands above his knees, breathing and preparing to race.  

[SHOT RINGS OUT. MUSIC STOPS.]  

Stevens runs down the racetrack.