BOZEMAN — Over the past two years, Shauna White Bear, founder and owner of White Bear Moccasins in Bozeman, has been filming a documentary about connecting with her Native American culture.
The film, “Are You Native?” is premiering at an international film festival next month.
“I have always wanted to share my story,” said Shauna White Bear.
WATCH: 'Are You Native?' Documentary Explores Identity Beyond the Reservation
White Bear grew up in Puyallup, Washington. Her family moved to Three Forks in 2001.
“I’m considered an urban Native,” said White Bear. “So, I was not connected to my culture, and I had a lot of distance from my Indigenous family that was all based in North Dakota.”
It wasn’t until she attended her first Pow Wow at the age of 22 and a Native fashion show at the Emerson that she became entrenched in learning about her culture.
“That was my first foot in the door… but I have still felt kind of like a little outsider,” said White Bear.
Then, the pieces started coming together. At a Visit Montana shoot in Billings, White Bear met producer Erin Brender, who was interested in helping her tell her story.
They applied for a Big Sky Film Grant and received some funding. From there, they got to work on a documentary about White Bear’s life.
“I think there are a lot of films that talk about people who live on the reservations and the trauma they go through… but then people don’t talk about the urban Natives, the people who didn’t grow up in that world,” said White Bear.
“It kind of tells a story about why I was so disconnected with my Indigenous family, and it came from the lack of relationship I had with my father,” she also said.
To direct and edit the documentary, White Bear recruited filmmaker Victoria Cheyenne, whom she met through TikTok.
“Part of the connection of our friendship is that we’re both mixed Indigenous women who have had complicated connections with our identity,” said Cheyenne.
Cheyenne says the film was filmed in Washington, North Dakota, and Montana.
“Everyone who knows me knows that I’ve gone a little bit mad making this film just because it meant so much,” she said.
Now, the film has officially been selected for the Seattle International Film Festival, where it will have its world premiere in May.
“We’re an official selection in competition, which is an Oscar-qualifying festival, so it’s a real honor to be able to start the journey there,” said Cheyenne.
For both Cheyenne and White Bear, the film means the world.
“We’re really honored to be able to share it with people,” said Cheyenne.
“It’s a reminder, like, you can reconnect with your culture, and you can give back to your community, and you can continue to learn at any age,” said White Bear.
