Join us for a screening of Seven Generations of Hope followed by a panel discussion and reception.

When Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican youth return to their ancestral homeland, an unexpected partnership with Catholic sisters transforms both groups—proving that healing intergenerational trauma begins with choosing hope over history. Together, they find common ground in the seven generations principle: the idea that decisions made today should allow seven generations in the future to thrive.

170 years after forced removal from their ancestral homeland, nine members of the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation return to New York’s Hudson Valley. Welcomed by the Dominican Sisters of Hope at the Center at Mariandale, they discover an unexpected partnership with the very institution that historically sought to erase Indigenous culture through the federal boarding school system. The sisters, who have embraced Indigenous wisdom and eco-spirituality, demonstrate that institutional healing is possible when people choose to listen rather than impose. The youth reconnect with their language, their ancestors, and a land that still remembers their voices. Inspired by the sisters’ commitment to Earth stewardship and future generations, the youth return home energized to plant seeds—in gardens, in language revival, in their communities. They walk forward with their ancestors behind them and their descendants in mind, embodying the Indigenous principle of seven generations thinking.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring representatives from the Westchester Land Trust, the New York Community Trust, the Dominican Sisters of Hope, Joe Plante (filmmaker), and Tribal Members of the Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohicans.

Directed and Produced by Joe Plante New Media Storytellers