Drowned Land
“If you go back to any industry or anybody coming to this valley, the only thing they’ve been after is natural resources. It was never to build something here. It was always to take something…”
“If you go back to any industry or anybody coming to this valley, the only thing they’ve been after is natural resources. It was never to build something here. It was always to take something…”
When President Andrew Jackson and Congress enacted the Indian Removal Bill, the Choctaw people were the first to be removed from their ancestral land. They were relocated by force to the Kiamichi River valley in Oklahoma. Jackson promised that Native Americans would possess their land “as long as the grass grows and the river runs.” Now in present day, the Choctaw Nation, the energy industry is threatening to stop that flow of water by creating a dam on the Kiamichi River. This puts the rural community and the delicate ecosystem of the valley at great risk. Water is life and changing the flow risks relocating the Choctaw people just like their ancestors had been years before.
Directed by Colleen Thurston, Drowned Land handles a serious subject with delicacy. The breathtaking beauty of the Kiamichi River valley is put on display with some amazing drone footage. Wisdom of the Choctaw members and the concerned locals shines through. The film serves as both a nature documentary and one about Native American history. Drowned Land is a true gem of a film.
Drowned Land is part of 2025 SIFF’s cINeDIGENOUS festival program.
