Winner of “Best Documentary Short” 2005 American Indian Film Festival

“Award of Distinction” 2005 Indian Summer Film and Video Image Awards

"This engaging film conveys the purpose and exquisite beauty of the Salt Song Trail with simplicity and grace. This glimpse into the world of the Salt Songs leaves us craving to experience the journey alongside these traditional singers." Jilann Spitzmiller, Philomath Films, award-winning documentary filmmaker

The 20 minute documentary film entitled, “The Salt Song Trail – bringing creation back together,” is about the sacred Salt Songs (Asi Huviav Puruakain) of the Southern Paiute (Nuwuvi) people. The songs are used in memorial ceremonies, for cultural revitalization and as a spiritual bond for the Southern Paiute people living in the Southwest.

Through the beautiful landscape of the Colorado Plateau, painted deserts and river valleys, the Salt Song Trail traces the journeys of ancestral peoples to historic and sacred sites. The film also documents a healing ceremony at the Sherman Institute – a former Indian boarding school where Indian children where forcibly taken from their homes and forbidden to practice their traditional cultures. The singers return to the school years later to sing for the children who never came home.

The film is a collaboration between The Cultural Conservancy and The Salt Song Project of the Southern Paiute Nation. Original idea and content by Vivienne Jake (Kaibab Paiute) and Matthew Leivas, Sr. (Chemehuevi), Salt Song Project Directors. Executive producers Melissa Nelson and Philip M. Klasky, directed and edited by Esther Figueroa (Junaroa Productions), with sound and music by Colin Farish (Stillwater Sound) and John-Carlos Perea (Apache)

"Setting Spirits Free "