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What Was Ours

Name: What Was Ours
Director: Mat Hames
Released: 2016
Duration: 79 min

Representation Score

6.9/10

Good

2016

Director

Mat Hames

Runtime

79 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

What Was Ours is a restorative documentary that reconfigures the power dynamics between indigenous communities and Western institutions. It moves beyond simple inclusion by centering the ability to act of the Arapaho and Shoshone people in their own historical recovery. The film successfully challenges colonial frameworks by treating Native American culture as a living entity rather than a static relic. By focusing on the pursuit of ancestral artifacts, it shifts the narrative authority from museum curators to the indigenous subjects themselves. While the film lacks specific focus on LGBTQ+ or disability narratives, it provides a profound exploration of cultural sovereignty and the intersection of memory and institutional accountability.

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Category Breakdown

Does What Was Ours have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film focuses on tribal lineage and kinship rather than diverse gender identities. It maintains a neutral stance without relying on assumptions about straight relationships.

How does What Was Ours portray gender?

Good

Women play a central role in the story, driven by a teenage powwow princess and a young journalist. These roles highlight their intellectual and cultural leadership.

How racially and ethnically diverse is What Was Ours?

Excellent

The documentary excels by presenting the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes as active participants in their history. It centers indigenous voices to disrupt the traditional museum-centric perspective.

How does What Was Ours represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The narrative adopts a post-colonial lens to critique Western institutional power. It frames the reclamation of material culture as a vital step toward indigenous sovereignty and healing.

Does What Was Ours include disability representation?

Minimal

There are no specific depictions of visible or invisible disabilities within the film's narrative.

Present on Screen

Strong emphasis on indigenous ability to act and self-determination.
Effective critique of Western institutional ownership and colonial collecting practices.
Elevates female leadership through the central roles of the journalist and powwow princess.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit representation or focus on LGBTQ+ identities.
Provides no visible or invisible depictions of disability.

Official Synopsis

Like millions of indigenous people, many Native American tribes do not control their own material history and culture. For the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes living on the isolated Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, new contact with lost artifacts risks opening old wounds but also offers the possibility for healing. What Was Ours is the story of how a young journalist and a teenage powwow princess, both of the Arapaho tribe, travelled together with a Shoshone elder in search of missing artifacts in the vast archives of Chicago’s Field Museum. There they discover a treasure trove of ancestral objects, setting them on a journey to recover what has been lost and build hope for the future.

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