Premieres Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV / Stream with KPBS+
This film chronicles Blackfeet tribeβs effort to return buffalo to the wild and reclaim centuries of Indigenous tradition
"Bring Them Home: / "AiskΓ³tΓ‘hkapiyaaya," the acclaimed new feature documentary executive produced and narrated by Academy Awardβnominated actress Lily Gladstone, will make its exclusive U.S. national television debut on PBS.
The film tells the powerful, urgent story of the Blackfeet Nationβs decades-long effort to return wild buffalo (βiinniiβ in Blackfeet) to their ancestral lands, and with them, a critical part of Blackfeet identity, spirituality, and sovereignty. The film is directed by Daniel Glick and Ivan and Ivy MacDonald, a brother and sister filmmaking team who are members of the Blackfeet Tribe. Blackfeet tribal members were involved in telling the story at every level of the process and the film was made in close consultation with a Blackfeet Tribal Member Advisory Board.
βThe Blackfeet effort to return wild buffalo to the native lands where they once thrived is a story of extraordinary perseverance against the malignant forces of natural and cultural eradication. As the Blackfeet reclaim and revitalize a central part of this heritage, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities can draw from this initiative a powerful lesson about the importance of reconnecting with nature through conservation,β said Glick and the MacDonalds in a joint statement.
The 54-minute documentary for PBS broadcast was excerpted from an 85-minute theatrical version, both of which chronicle the decades-long initiative by members of the Blackfoot Confederacy to bring wild buffalo back to the Blackfeet Reservation. A thriving wild buffalo population would not only reconnect Blackfeet with a central part of their heritage, spirituality and identity, but would provide economic opportunities and healing for the community. Along the way, however, the initiative faces obstacles from ranchers who see the buffalo as a threat to the cattle ranches that dominate the land and are a legacy of colonization.
"Bring Them Home" examines the deeply meaningful role that buffalo played in Blackfeet life prior to the arrival of settlers who nearly eradicated wild buffalo in an effort to eradicate the Blackfeet people. For Blackfeet, the buffalo are seen not only as fundamental to a healthy ecosystem, but as spiritual relatives. Their removal from the land meant the loss of the Blackfeet way of life, the trauma of which still reverberates today.
In the present day, the film focuses on three main protagonists who are at the heart of the effort to reclaim these traditions through wildlife conservation: Ervin Carlson, director of the Blackfeet Buffalo Program; Paulette Fox, co-creator of the Iinii Initiative; and Leroy Little Bear, a leading tribal elder and educator involved in the Iinii Initiative. They join forces with non-native conservation groups, such as the Wildlife Conservation Society of New York City, who recognize the buffalo as a keystone species not only for Blackfeet lands, but for North Americaβs ecological stability. Ultimately, they strive to return to the wild a herd of buffalo that are direct descendants of the buffalo that originally inhabited their land.
The documentary recently received the Big Sky Award at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Montana, recognizing its artistic achievement in honoring the character, history, tradition and imagination of the American West. It also screened at the Salem Film Fest in March 2024, where it was met with critical and audience acclaim.
As part of the national debut, the producers of "Bring Them Home" have developed a robust public impact campaign in consultation with the Blackfeet community and in partnership with numerous conservation organizations that will include screenings and panel discussions across the United States. The initiative, anchored in the themes of reciprocity, education, action and advocacy, will expand learning on the importance of buffalo to Blackfeet culture and build support for returning more wild buffalo to Indigenous land.
More information on the film and impact campaign is available at thunderheartfilms.com.
Credits: A production of Thunderheart Films and The Redford Center. Directed by Ivan MacDonald, Ivy MacDonald and Daniel Glick. Produced by Daniel Glick, Ivan MacDonald, and Sarah Clarke. Cinematography by Zane Clampett, Kier Atherton and Daniel Glick. Executive produced by Melissa Grumhaus, Sarah Clarke and Lily Gladstone. Narrated by Lily Gladstone.
β'Bring Them Home' is a monumental film depicting a monumental achievement. We are thrilled to bring this powerful documentary to public media and the general public. It beautifully tells of the hard-earned efforts of the Blackfeet to restore not only their land, but also their cultural identity and relationships by returning wild buffalo to their natural home,β said Derek Roberto of WETA
