“Native Spirit & The Sun Dance Way will be a valuable addition to the materials used in my World Religions class. It is a beautifully crafted documentary, which is both accurate in its content and respectful of the underlying meaning of Native American religious traditions.”
—James S. Cutsinger, Professor of Theology and Religious Thought at the University of South Carolina

---

“Native Spirit & The Sun Dance Way is an informative and moving documentary which treats its subject with the appropriate sensitivity and respect. It communicates a real sense of the grandeur, beauty and nobility of the spiritual heritage of the Plains Indians. Drawing heavily on the words of the late Sun Dance Chief, Thomas Yellowtail, it gives an authentic account not only of the Sun Dance rite but of the whole spiritual economy of which it is the central expression. Native Spirit brings this traditional wisdom to the attention of Indians and non-Indians alike, and will contribute to the preservation of modes of experience and understanding which are so urgently needed in the modern world.”
—Harry Oldmeadow, La Trobe University, Australia

---

“The Crow-Shoshone Sundance film conveys great dignity and spiritual power.”
—James Alexander Thom, author of Follow the River; The Long Knife; and The Red Heart

---

“The films can serve as a comprehensible way to help students understand some of the most central yet difficult concepts in Native American life. The movies help students truly understand Native Americans’ deepest ideas about their religion and culture. By seeing the rituals carried out in the films, students see with their own eyes how those traditions have functioned within plains indian culture and are alive in America today. By hearing the powerful words of Native Americans and the clear interpretations of a strong narrator’s voice, students hear many of the central messages of Native American oral traditions. The movies also prompt students to reflect on Native American traditions and want to learn more. Many of my students, who were from around the country and world, found the film to be helpful and very interesting.”
—Dr. John Buggeln, American Studies Coordinator, Culver Academies

---

“The two-disc DVD set, Native Spirit and the Sun Dance Way, will appeal to those broadly interested in American Indian spiritual life as well as those with more specific questions about the history of religious change among First Peoples on the Missouri River Plains of North America. This is a beautifully and lovingly photographed statement of American Indian life in the late 20th and early 21st century which brings Native American voices to the fore. My personal entry into this rich collection of material is through the Sundance disc which I use in my classes at Yale University. In courses on religion and ecology I attempt to bring students into extended reflection on the integral connections of religious life with economic, social, ecological, and political realities. This excellent overview in Native Spirit and the Sun Dance Way assists students in Native American Studies to understand those relationships without reducing or exploiting the diverse spiritual visions of living communities.”
—John Grim, Yale University, series editor of World Religions and Ecology