Trama

Thousands of voices of the past present one universal story of New Mexico's Native American Women. From the creation stories through the invasions of Spain, Mexico and the United States. The power of Native American women remains strong.

From the proverb, "It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story," the voices of strong tribal women mingle, leading us through the history of Spanish, Mexican, and United States invasions of the American Southwest. Past the era of boarding schools, the reaffirmation of the beauty, strength and vigor sustains the culture and languages of New Mexican tribes today. This feature-length film, "A Thousand Voices", focuses on women who carry forth the collective memory, traditions and beliefs of their ancestral families, clans and tribal communities. Each woman, though not speaking for her tribe, tells a story deeply rooted to her culture. . . and the "thousand voices" that precede her. The documentary brings us Native women who have chosen lifestyles carrying them into modern life and different arenas, from writing poetry about the ordinary lives of Native people to running a construction company that remodels traditional homes at a Pueblo. This eye-opening film shatters stereotypes and features interviews with women from the Navajo Nation, Mescalero Apache Tribe, Jicarilla Apache Tribe, Kiowa Tribe, Pueblo de Cochiti, Ohkay Owingeh, and Pueblos of Acoma, Laguna, Jemez, Santo Domingo, Pojoaque, Santa Clara, Taos, Nambe, and San Ildefonso.—Anonymous

From the proverb, 'It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story,' this is a documentary that builds from thousands of voices of the past to present one universal story of New Mexico's Native American Women. From the creation stories of the beginning of time, through the invasions of Spain, Mexico and the United States. The power of Native American women remains strong and grounded and their story continues to the present day through their enduring courage and wisdom.