In this cinematic and poetic short documentary, filmmaker Brit Hensel, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, looks at notions of tradition, nature, art, language, and gratitude through the lens of the Cherokee people and their expressions of reciprocity. Filmed in North Carolina and Oklahoma and narrated by Cherokee elder Thomas Belt, ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught) has a soothing visual and aural style. At the same time, this short film stuns in its compact runtime, reminding us that “This world doesn’t belong to us. Everything was here before we were”—a message that feels more urgent than ever given the climate crisis rapidly threatening to change our planet forever.  BD  

Filmmaker Q&A available

Closed captioning available

This film is only available to viewers in the United States