Film: Pensoyungkum—People with the Pencil

Tuesday, 10/13/2026
5:00 - 7:30

Suitable for:

Adults

Hopi filmmaker Duwawisioma (Victor Masayesva) honors the Hopi 19 while fostering understanding of Indigenous sovereignty, cultural resilience and the legacy of federal assimilation policy through his documentary film Pensoyungkum: People with the Pencil.

In 1894 nineteen Hopi men from the village of Hotevilla were arrested by the U.S. Military and charged with sedition for refusing to send their children to government boarding schools. After a 65-mile forced march, they were transported by train to San Francisco and imprisoned at Alcatraz for ten months, never formally charged, before being returned to Hopi land and reunited with their families.

Film screening to be followed by discussion by Hopi elders and youth.

NR, 58 mins., 2023. No closed captions provided.

Film & Video

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Native American and Indigenous Heritage Interest

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Spotlight

This program is sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

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This program will be conducted in English unless otherwise noted.

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