Looking for something good to watch this Native American Heritage Month?
We’ve got you covered. The streaming services have caught on to what our community has known for a long time: Native stories are some of the best stories out there. But not every “Native American movie” list gets it right.
So here’s our take. These are 15 films we’d actually recommend to our powwow family, with an honest word on each.
Most are written, directed or led by Native people. A couple are big Hollywood productions that earned their spot (with a few caveats we’ll be upfront about). You’ll find heartfelt comedies, a basketball movie, a Predator movie, documentaries that will stay with you, and yes, one about a powwow fancy dancer.
Each pick includes the official trailer and where you can stream, rent or buy it right now.
1. Fancy Dance (2023)
Directed by Erica Tremblay (Seneca-Cayuga) · Starring Lily Gladstone, Isabel Deroy-Olson
We had to start here. Lily Gladstone plays Jax, a woman scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma and raising her niece Roki after Roki’s mother goes missing. The two hit the road, and the destination is a state powwow, where Roki hopes to dance alongside her mom.
Our take: This is the movie for powwow people. The dance arena isn’t set dressing here; it’s the heartbeat of the story. It also takes on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) without turning into a lecture. Gladstone is quiet and fierce, and newcomer Deroy-Olson holds her own. Bring tissues.
Where to watch: Streaming on Apple TV+
2. Smoke Signals (1998)
Directed by Chris Eyre (Cheyenne and Arapaho) · Written by Sherman Alexie · Starring Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard, Gary Farmer
Victor and Thomas grew up together on the Coeur d’Alene reservation in Idaho, but they couldn’t be more different. When Victor’s estranged father dies in Arizona, storytelling Thomas pays for the trip, on one condition: he comes along.
Our take: If you only watch one movie on this list, make it this one. It was the first feature written, directed and co-produced by Native Americans to get a wide release, and it’s now in the Library of Congress National Film Registry. It’s also genuinely funny. “Hey Victor!” is still quoted at powwows and in group chats a quarter century later.
Where to watch: Streaming on Paramount+. Free with a library card on Kanopy. Rent or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV and Google Play.
3. Rez Ball (2024)
Directed by Sydney Freeland (Diné) · Co-written with Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee) · Produced by LeBron James
The Chuska Warriors, a high school basketball team on the Navajo Nation, lose their star player and have to pull together to chase a state championship. It’s based on the book Canyon Dreams, about the real-life Chinle Wildcats.
Our take: Anyone who has packed a gym on a Friday night in Indian Country knows rez ball is its own thing: fast, loud, and the whole community in the stands. This movie nails that energy. It follows the familiar underdog sports formula, but the details (the families, the humor, the grief) are ours.
Where to watch: Streaming on Netflix
4. Frybread Face and Me (2023)
Written and directed by Billy Luther (Navajo, Hopi and Laguna Pueblo) · Executive produced by Taika Waititi
It’s the summer of 1990. Benny, a city kid from San Diego, gets sent to his grandmother’s sheep ranch on the Navajo Nation, where he’s paired up with his tough, no-nonsense cousin Dawn, nicknamed Frybread Face.
Our take: A small, sweet movie that feels like somebody’s family memories (because it is; Luther based it on his own summers). Grandma Lorraine, who speaks only Navajo, steals every scene. It’s a great pick for families with older kids, and it’ll have you calling your own grandma.
Where to watch: Streaming on Netflix
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5. Powwow Highway (1989)
Directed by Jonathan Wacks · Starring Gary Farmer (Cayuga), A Martinez
Buddy Red Bow, a hot-headed Northern Cheyenne activist, needs to get to Santa Fe to bail his sister out of jail. His ride is Philbert Bono, a gentle giant on a spiritual quest, behind the wheel of a beat-up Buick he calls his war pony.
Our take: With a name like that, how could we leave it off? It’s a cult classic road movie from before most of the films on this list were possible. Some of it hasn’t aged perfectly, but Gary Farmer’s Philbert is one of the great Native characters ever put on screen, and the mix of humor and politics paved the way for Smoke Signals.
Where to watch: Streaming on The Criterion Channel. Available on DVD.
6. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
Directed by Martin Scorsese · Starring Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro
In 1920s Oklahoma, oil makes the Osage Nation some of the wealthiest people in the world. Then Osage people start dying, one after another. Based on David Grann’s bestselling book about the Osage murders.
Our take: This one sparked real debate in Indian Country, and that’s worth knowing going in. Some Osage viewers felt the story leans too heavily on the white killers’ point of view. Others praised how closely the production worked with the Osage Nation on language, regalia and ceremony. Either way, Lily Gladstone’s performance as Mollie Burkhart earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, and this is history every American should know. Fair warning: it runs nearly three and a half hours.
Where to watch: Streaming on Apple TV+. Rent or buy on Prime Video.
7. Prey (2022)
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg · Produced by Jhane Myers (Comanche/Blackfeet) · Starring Amber Midthunder
It’s 1719 in the Comanche Nation. Naru, a young woman determined to prove herself as a hunter, discovers that the thing stalking her people isn’t a bear or a mountain lion. It’s a Predator.
Our take: Who saw this coming? A Predator movie became one of the best Native-led action films ever made. Amber Midthunder is a legit action hero, the cast is almost entirely Native and First Nations, and Comanche producer Jhane Myers made sure the culture was handled with care. Our tip: switch on the full Comanche-language dub. It was the first feature film ever dubbed entirely in Comanche.
Where to watch: Streaming on Hulu (Comanche dub available)
8. Sugarcane (2024)
Directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat (Secwépemc/St’át’imc) and Emily Kassie · Documentary
An investigation into abuse and missing children at St. Joseph’s Mission, a residential school in British Columbia, sets off a reckoning in the nearby Sugarcane Reserve. Co-director NoiseCat turns the camera on his own family’s history along the way.
Our take: Not an easy watch, but an essential one. It won the directing award for U.S. documentaries at Sundance and was nominated for an Oscar. What makes it stand out is how personal it gets: survivors, and their kids, sitting with what happened and deciding what to do with it. Have a conversation ready for afterward.
Where to watch: Streaming on Hulu and Disney+
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9. Wind River (2017)
Written and directed by Taylor Sheridan · Starring Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham (Comanche), Graham Greene (Oneida)
A wildlife tracker and a rookie FBI agent team up to solve the murder of a young Native woman found frozen in the snow on Wyoming’s Wind River Reservation.
Our take: Yes, the leads are non-Native, and yes, it’s a Taylor Sheridan movie. But Wind River brought the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women to a mainstream audience before most people had heard the term. Gil Birmingham’s performance as a grieving father is the reason to watch. It’s tense and violent, so it’s not for the kids.
Where to watch: Streaming on Netflix. Free with ads on Plex. Rent or buy on Prime Video and Apple TV.
10. Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (2017)
Directed by Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana · Documentary
From Link Wray’s power chords to Robbie Robertson of The Band, this documentary traces the Native musicians who shaped blues, jazz and rock and roll, often without credit.
Our take: This is the feel-good doc on the list. You’ll learn that the guitar riff that influenced a generation of rockers came from a Shawnee musician, and you’ll leave with a brand-new playlist. It won a Special Jury Award at Sundance and is a great pick for music lovers who might not watch a “Native film” otherwise.
Where to watch: Free with a library card on Kanopy and Hoopla. Rent or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV and YouTube.
11. Four Sheets to the Wind (2007)
Written and directed by Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee) · Starring Cody Lightning, Tamara Podemski
After his father’s death, Cufe Smallhill, a quiet young Seminole man from small-town Oklahoma, heads to Tulsa to stay with his sister, who’s struggling in ways of her own.
Our take: Love Reservation Dogs? This is where Sterlin Harjo got started. His first feature has the same mix of grief, dry humor and Oklahoma rez life that made Rez Dogs a hit, just quieter. It premiered at Sundance and is an easy one to find for free.
Where to watch: Free with ads on Tubi. Also available on Prime Video.
12. Bones of Crows (2022)
Written and directed by Marie Clements (Métis/Dene) · Starring Grace Dove
Aline Spears, a Cree girl, survives Canada’s residential school system and grows up to serve as a code talker for the Canadian Air Force in World War II. The story follows her family across 100 years.
Our take: Most people know about the Navajo Code Talkers, but far fewer know about Cree code talkers. This epic connects that wartime service to the residential schools and to what families still carry today. It’s heavy, but Grace Dove’s performance carries you through. Pair it with Sugarcane.
Where to watch: Streaming on Hulu. Rent or buy on Prime Video and Apple TV.
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13. Night Raiders (2021)
Written and directed by Danis Goulet (Cree-Métis) · Starring Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers · Executive produced by Taika Waititi
It’s 2043. After a war, a military government controls North America, and children are taken by the state to be raised in its academies. A Cree mother joins an underground band of resisters to get her daughter back.
Our take: Sci-fi with a message that hits close to home. Goulet takes the history of residential schools and the Sixties Scoop and projects it into the future, and it’s chilling how little she had to change. It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s a bold one, and it’s in Cree and English. A great pick for fans of The Hunger Games.
Where to watch: Free with a library card on Kanopy. Rent or buy on Prime Video and Apple TV.
14. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001)
Directed by Zacharias Kunuk (Inuk) · In Inuktitut with English subtitles
An ancient Inuit legend comes to life in the Canadian Arctic: a rivalry, a murder, and a man who runs naked across the sea ice to escape the people who want him dead.
Our take: A true landmark. It was the first feature film written, directed and acted entirely in Inuktitut, and it won the Caméra d’Or for best first feature at Cannes. It’s long (almost three hours) and slow by Hollywood standards, so pick a snowy night. That run across the ice is one of the most unforgettable scenes in film.
Where to watch: Rent or buy on Apple TV. Check your local library for the DVD.
15. Dances with Wolves (1990)
Directed by Kevin Costner · Starring Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene (Oneida), Rodney A. Grant (Omaha)
A Union Army lieutenant posted alone on the frontier slowly befriends a band of Lakota and comes to see the world through their eyes.
Our take: We know. It’s the classic “white guy finds himself among the Indians” story, and lots of folks in our community roll their eyes at it. But it belongs on any honest list. It won Best Picture, put Graham Greene in the Oscar conversation, and was one of the first big Hollywood films to have Native characters speak long stretches of Lakota. It changed what audiences expected to see. Watch it, then watch number 2 on this list.
Where to watch: Streaming on MGM+. Rent or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV and Google Play.
What Did We Miss?
Fifteen picks barely scratches the surface. Native filmmakers are telling more stories than ever, from Reservation Dogs and Dark Winds on TV to the short films coming out of Sundance’s Indigenous Program every year.
Tell us your favorite Native movie in the comments, and let us know which one you’d add to this list. We read every one.
And when the credits roll, there’s nothing like the real thing. Find a powwow near you on the PowWows.com Calendar.
Streaming availability was checked in November 2026 for viewers in the United States and changes often. If a title has moved, a quick search on JustWatch will show where it’s playing now.
