Remaining Native
(USA, 87 min.)
Dir. Paige Bethmann
Prod. Jessica Epstein, Paige Bethmann, Judd Ehrlich
Kutoven Stevens runs like wind. But “Ku,” as everyone knows him, runs into the headwinds of history. He carries the weight of a fateful run his grandfather made years ago. As Ku explains in the documentary Remaining Native, his grandfather Frank, like many Indigenous children in North America, was placed in a residential school. Ku unfolds a moving story about Frank’s repeated attempts to escape the school that sought not to educate him, but to extinguish his connection to his people, culture, and language. On the third try, Frank ran 50 miles without looking back. Ku credits that endurance for the life he has today. It’s no coincidence that he just loves to run as the wind flows through his hair. With every stride, Ku soars with the freedom instilled within him by Frank’s journey.
The 17-year-old Stevens hopes to do his family proud by translating his passion for running into a championship title. However, growing up and training on the plains of Yerington Paiute reservation in Nevada, Ku and his parents know that the rez won’t give him a competitive edge. Ku excels running solo up and down the dusty roads, but an aspiring champion needs other runners on his heels to teach him how to be the best.
Remaining Native, directed by Paige Bethmann in her feature directorial debut, observes Ku as he strives to take his cross-country running skills to the next level. Ku’s parents, Delmar and Misty, accompany him to track meets where he smokes the competition. As he shaves numbers off his personal bests, people notice him. This includes track coach Lupe Cabada, who agrees to take on Ku. It’s the leap of faith the runner needs to secure his dream of being admitted to the University of Oregon. All the runners who inspire him have their names in U of O’s alumni rosters.
Bethmann crafts a confident character study that explores the escape from generational trauma as Ku runs with a purpose. Remaining Native adds an American perspective to the growing body of films about the history of residential schools in North America, or “boarding schools” in the U.S. context. Bethmann intercuts the energetic shots of Ku running determinedly with archival images of Indigenous children stiffly posed in the western uniforms of the school system. The film acknowledges the violence these children faced amid a cultural genocide. However, Remaining Native focuses less on the trauma and more on the healing. Since Ku finds inspiration in his grandfather’s run, he continues that philosophy of looking forward while being informed by the past.
However, amid Ku’s training, news emerges about the 2021 discovery of unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C. Although the events happen many miles away, the devastating discovery of remains of approximately 215 children shakes Ku and his community. Running a few seconds off the clock in training assumes a new light in this context.
Instead, Ku finds a renewed motivation. Where the residential schools sought to erase history, Ku brings it into the spotlight. He sets up a Remembrance Run and plans to trace his grandfather’s steps in a 50-mile course with his parents. It’s not a traditional path. Frank’s escape route charts rocky terrain. It zigs and zaps. It cuts through water as Frank sought to shake potential captors off his tail. However, news of the run expands within the community and a personal mission becomes an act of collective healing. Bethmann, who shot the doc with cinematographer Shai Ben-Dor, has a great eye for capturing the sweat that beads down from the runners amid the desert heat, as if they expel grief from their bodies with each stride along Frank’s path.
The film observes what it means to be a leader and confront the past to break cycles of trauma. Moreover, there’s a nice parallel between young Stevens’ outlook as a runner and Bethmann’s own positive framing of this story as the doc mirrors its star’s forward-looking eye towards healing. This assured portrait finds an inspiring story in one individual who learned from his elder’s perseverance. It’s a sure-fire crowd-pleaser, but one that confidently carries the responsibility it holds.
