Michelle Hernandez is a Wiyot tribal member and grew up on the Table Bluff Reservation. She has a soon to be released film titled DOUK, about a family that faces the abduction of their daughters to one of the many Native boarding schools in early 20th century America.
Douk is a historical fiction drama based in the 1910’s era. It tells the story of a young Native girl, Irene, who deals with a difficult reality of her and her sister being taken away from their family and sent to boarding school, where they will be assimilated into the western culture. This means that once this happens, they will no longer be able to practice their language, culture, and traditions.
In order to prevent this from becoming a true actuality, Irene’s parents hatch a plan to save them.
In Native boarding schools, Native children were ripped from there homes and forced to assimilate into western culture. There many children faced sexual, physical and verbal abuse. Douk is film that touches on these subjects.