★★★★1/2

One of the best documentaries at the 51st Seattle International Film Festival, Paige Bethmann’s Remaining Native not only looks at a young man’s athletic ambition and prowess, but also the deeply personal reasons why he pursues his passion of cross-country and long-distance running.

Kutoven “Ku” Stevens is a member of the Yarington Paiute Tribe in Yerington, Nevada, and his talents are unmistakable. “It’s hard to push yourself when you have no competition,” mentions his running coach and Ku is easily the best runner in the state, and the only member of his school’s cross-country team.

However, with his future on the horizon and college ambition presenting itself, Ku is conflicted on leaving behind the land he was raised on. Bethmann’s film unearths intergenerational pain and trauma and has a deeply personal connection to its subject. Ku’s great-grandfather, Frank Quinn, was removed from his family and taken to a residential school and program for Indigenous children.

As the 2024 Oscar-nominated documentary Sugarcane brought to light, these schools and programs, organized by the United States government and local church agencies, resulted in harrowing stories of physical and sexual abuse of Native and Indigenous children, with many children going missing or found dead. Quinn, a student of these schools, attempted to runaway on multiple occasions. And on his third attempt, at the age of 8, he successfully ran 50 miles from his school and returned home.

That story is motivation for Ku, both as a pursuit of his collegiate future and as a connection to the heritage he feels he cannot leave behind. This push-and-pull is deeply felt, as Ku narrates many of his thoughts and feelings around the complicated emotions he is fighting as he decides on next steps. He has all the support he needs academically and athletically, has interest in and from the University of Oregon, but sees his talents for something more personal. He organizes a 50 mile run that mirrors the path run by his great-grandfather from those decades before.

As more and more stories from Indigenous and Native peoples find screens big and small, we are learning and revisiting important historical markers that have long been ignored and swept away. Films like Sugarcane and Remaining Native shed light on more and more of the atrocities suffered by Indigenous people in the United States. And with a wonderful subject like Ku walking us through the stories of his family and the resilience that he channels every time he steps on the track and plans for his future, Remaining Native stands as a powerful testament to heritage, legacy, and finding new meanings of endurance and perseverance.

Highly recommended.

Remaining Native screened as part of the 51st Seattle International Film Festival.