The documentary film Dawes County, U.S.A. takes place in Northwestern Nebraska where we become acquainted with the lives of generational ranchers. As economic and cultural realities make this way of life increasingly difficult to sustain, the film explores the layered history of the region, where pioneer settlement and Native displacement remain intertwined. The presence of this history is followed in the truck stop cafe, the historical museum that once served as a military base, through ranchers who inherited land from initial settlers, and through the animals who inhabit the land themselves. Here, the camera listens without an aim to posit opinion but to understand and question. By staying awhile in this place where an inch of rain is a blessing, where trees are sparse, where a state border divides the same landscape that used to be free; if we spend time with its inhabitants, what can we learn about the past and future contained in the present? What does it mean to belong to a place that cannot truly be owned.

The runtime of the film is 35 minutes and will be followed by a Q&A discussion with the filmmaker Kate Peddicord, local ranch historian Steve Cleveland, and Lakota author Tracy Hauff. The talk will be moderated by Chadron State College Assistant Professor of History, Sam Herley.

This community screening is presented free of charge in partnership with the Dawes County Historical Museum and the C.F. Coffee Gallery. Refreshments provided by C.F. Coffee Gallery.