A few weeks ago I passed along an announcement on my blog about 4 Hopi film screenings at the Museum of Northern Arizona. One of these films was Hopi Youth Return to Mesa Verde. This film examines a group of Hopis who traveled to a Hopi migration settlement called Mesa Verde in Colorado. As you watch the film, take note of the similarities that the youth bring up between Hopi ancestral ways and the practices of today’s Hopi people. Their remarks on the continuity of Hopi culture is an important theme in the film.
Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert
Beyond the Mesas 
Excellent film. Having visited Mesa Verde as an outsider a few years ago, it was very refreshing to see young people today contemplating and working with the footprints and “hand prints” of their ancestors in that powerful place. In the film (on You Tube, 17 minutes) students listening and exploring as a group seemed very mindful of what they were listening to,seeing, touching, and walking on. To any teacher this film is a welcome sight of young people considering their past. Very educational, a strong example of the value of national funding. I would recommend this film for any classroom.
As this is a student film, it seems a more authentic film result than a very expensive media production likely done by non-Hopi filmmakers. The key here is Hopi (youth) return to Mesa Verde and all of the visuals and audio support this idea.
And as a collaborative film effort with young students, elders, teachers, park rangers, Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, with Northern Arizona University staff and resources– the result is a calm, educational,well produced, and interesting documentary film of young people learning of their important ancestors. From this film, Hopi Youth Return To Mesa Verde, we all learn something important about ourselves and this planet.