He survived a school designed to kill the Indian in him. 58 years later, he finally remembered why.
Walter Littlemoon attended a federal Indian boarding school in South Dakota sixty years ago. The mission of many of these schools in 1950, was still to “kill the Indian and save the man.” The children were beaten, humiliated or abused if they spoke their language or expressed their culture or native identity in any way. The trauma led many to alcoholism and violence in adulthood. At age 58, Walter began writing his memoirs as a way to explain his own abusive behaviors to his estranged children, but he could not complete the project without confronting the “thick dark fog” of his past so he could heal.
Direction
Vasquez lets Walter's silence speak louder than words.
Editing
Archival photos cut like wounds—then heal slowly.
Director
Randy Vasquez
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'thick dark fog' references actual boarding school syndrome—now recognized as complex PTSD specific to Indigenous survivors of forced assimilation.
Walter's hands shaking as he holds his childhood photograph is unscripted; Vasquez kept rolling for 11 minutes.
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