Kutoven Stevens pictures himself running for his life as his great-grandfather once did at eight years old. Stevens’s great-grandfather, Franklin, was among hundreds of children who resisted assimilation by running away from federally funded, church-run boarding schools across the United States.

In “Remaining Native,” director and first-time feature filmmaker, Paige Bethmann, relates Stevens’s coming-of-age story as a 17-year-old Native American navigating dreams of becoming a collegiate athlete while grappling with the history of his ancestor’s escape.

On May 27, 2021, the discovery of 215 unmarked graves at a former residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia, was released by the Tk’emlups te Secwépemc First Nation. The deceased children are believed to be as young as three years old.

“When the news broke, it brought up a lot of emotions, especially because of the stories I grew up knowing,” Bethmann said. “A friend of mine, who’s Paiute, shared an article about Ku and his plans to retrace his great-grandfather’s 50-mile escape from the Stewart Indian School in Nevada. I was moved and felt compelled to reach out.”

Taught to hone his craft from a young age with the help of his father, Stevens had strong inclinations to broaden his horizons and run for the University of Oregon. Growing up on the Yerington Paiute Reservation in western Nevada, Stevens lacked a formal coach and team. With hardly any Native collegiate runners to look up to, this dream seemed far from attainable.

Upon reaching out to the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, a national strategy aimed to increase public awareness and cultivate healing for traumas experienced by Natives resulting from the adoption and implementation of the Boarding School Policy across the United States in 1869, Bethmann relocated from New York City to Reno, Nevada.

“I wanted to ensure they were on board with me pursuing this film,” Bethmann said. “They’re on the forefront of advocating for survivors and descendants, and if “Remaining Native” wasn’t in service of the work that they do every day, then I didn’t want to do it.”

The “She Carries Her House” production, in association with the RandomGood Foundation’s “The Denovo
Initiative,” concluded after nearly four years of filming.

“Production moves at the speed of trust,” Bethmann added. “This story, and relationship, was one that I had to be vulnerable for.”

Stevens’s story is one of resilience and remembrance. “Remaining Native” channels the concept of tapping into ancestral muscle memory, showcasing how Stevens’s great-grandfather’s tenacious spirit courses through him whilst training on historic land.

“The experience of a boarding school is not something that you talk about,” Stevens said. “It’s trauma. It hurts. Despite that pain, he became a man of great respect within his community. He was able to love after such an inhumane experience.”

The documentary highlights the creation of the Remembrance Run, a 50- mile journey over a course of two days, retracing the escape route Stevens’s great-grandfather attempted numerously to escape the compulsory boarding school. What started off as an effort towards community involvement has amassed hundreds of Natives and non-Natives from across the United States.

“Nearly 150 people showed up to the first Remembrance Run,” Bethmann said. “People traveled from out of state to be there. We had attendees from Denver, Washington, Arizona, and California. This run captured a lot of attention.”

Bethmann, a Haudenosaunee Native, is the descendant of a survivor. Her great-grandmother was taken from the St. Regis Mohawk reservation as a young girl and brought to a Catholic boarding school where
she suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.

“This film is not meant to speak for anyone else’s experiences,” Bethmann said. “Remaining Native is about how this history is ever-present in our lives today through the eyes of this teenager who’s navigating the world as a modern Indian, using the strength of his community to bring him closer to his
dreams.”

“It’s not so much about running, but about creating spaces for healing,” Bethmann added.

“Remaining Native” won the Special Jury Award and Audience Award at the SXSW Film and TV Festival last Spring. The documentary received the Special Jury Mention for Cinematography at the 2025 Dallas International Film Festival, the Emerging Documentary Jury Award from the Milwaukee Film Festival, and the Young Cineastes Award at the 2026 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

In conjunction with nationwide screenings of the film, the documentary’s widespread appreciation has garnered the support of athletic companies like Nike to sponsor its 5k runs. Over 17 runs have been hosted at select film festivals and community screenings.

With the last Remembrance Run held in 2022 and 2023, the Stevens family, in collaboration with Remaining Native’s Impact Campaign, has returned to host this year’s Remembrance Run.

Beginning on Aug. 14 at the Yerington Paiute Tribe, the non-competitive journey will consist of overnight camping and storytelling at Sunrise Pass and conclude on Aug. 16 at the Stewart Indian School to honor survivors and the children who never returned home.

“We need more young leaders like Ku,” Bethmann said. “My grandmother instated Rochester’s first Native American education program to fight against this notion of losing one’s identity. I’ve felt a resurgence to uphold this legacy and lean to it. It’s never too late to come back to our communities and surround ourselves with those things that make us who we are.”

“My great-grandfather ran back for his family,” Stevens said. “He ran back for the love of his people, his culture, and his life. He was running for me.”

To attend or host a screening for “Remaining Native” near you, visit remainingnativedocumentary.com.