NEW YORK – The Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center was packed Wednesday night for a movie premiere, but it wasn’t filled with the usual sparkling gowns and tuxedos.
Instead, attendees wore ribbon skirts, beadwork, full regalia and other Native-made designs.
The sold-out world premiere of “Nine Little Indians,” a documentary about the nine Charbonneau sisters’ experiences of abuse at a Native boarding school in South Dakota, was equal parts a celebration and a somber affair. Handshakes and greetings said "Congratulations" and "I'm sorry" at the same time.
Screenings of the film in South Dakota are being planned for later this year.
Premiere mixes Hollywood with South Dakota
During the premiere, executive producers Tony Robbins and George DiCaprio, father of actor Leonardo DiCaprio, rubbed shoulders with members of various tribes in South Dakota, some of whom made their first trip to New York City.
One young girl, with two braids in her hair and wearing a flashy red and yellow ribbon skirt, excitedly bounced up to the box office window to collect her ticket, proudly stating "I'm in the movie!" She was one of several Native children hired to star in recreations of the sisters' experience at the school.
When attendees were seated, it became clear that the following several hours would be much heavier than the light, excited and anticipatory atmosphere outside the theater.
Lakota historian and Oglala Lakota College instructor Darrell Red Cloud performed a ceremonial prayer song before the film began.
"We sing this song whenever we're starting our ceremony, asking the Great Spirit to look down upon us and have pity upon us as we struggle in this life upon Mother Earth," Red Cloud said before he began.
In a striking a display of solidarity, every person in the theater stood for the entirety of Red Cloud's performance, which lasted for about three minutes. He ended the song by saying "Mitákuye Oyás'iŋ," a Lakota phrase that means "all my relations" or "we are all related."
Documentary tackles generational trauma, legal battles
The film spans decades of the Charbonneau sisters' lives. It begins with the story of their childhood at the Yankton Sioux Tribe's Marty Indian School, with gripping, devastating recreations of traumatic events layered over the sisters' own storytelling.
Later, their ongoing battle in the South Dakota legal system takes the forefront, as their former attorney, Gregory A. Yates, explains their attempted civil lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls and the passage of HB 1104 in 2010. That was legislation passed surrounding the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse that effectively killed the sisters' case.
Then, the documentary plants itself firmly in the present day as Marsha Small continues an active search for graves at the school.
The film also features several members of the Catholic faith, including former abbott of the Blue Cloud Abbey Thomas Hillenbrand. The abbey provided priests to the school that the sisters attended, including those whom they said abused them. Hillenbrand expressed sympathy for the sisters and said that the church should be willing to rectify its mistakes.
Get South Dakota news and information in a free email on weekdays. Cancel any time.
In a panel discussion after the showing, director Shannon Kring said that an important aspect of the film was demonstrating how the sisters – and their families – have a desire to find accountability and healing through the film.
"The trauma has passed from generation to generation due to what has happened in the Indian boarding school system," Kring said. "But so, too, has the strength and the desire for there to be some healing, and that's what was really easy to capture."
Three of the six living Charbonneau sisters attended the premiere: Yvonne, who spoke in the panel, Geraldine and Francine. They clung tightly to each other throughout the evening.
During the panel, Kring asked the sisters to stand and be acknowledged for their bravery after Yvonne named her eight sisters: Joann, Mary Lou, Francine, Roberta, Geraldine, Louise, Barbara and Laurette.
A thunderous applause and standing ovation of more than a minute followed as Francine and Geraldine held each other in a tight embrace.
Although the film may not necessarily have a happy ending – Small is still searching for graves, and the sisters' case has never been resolved – an undercurrent of hope hung in the air after the film's end. Yvonne said that she thinks the film will help carry on the sisters' fight for justice, and that despite the challenges, she and sisters still see a bright future.
"You have to have hope. You have to," Yvonne said during the panel. "If you don't have hope, then you just stay where you are and you don't move forward. So that hope brings you to a place where you need to be. And it's a journey every single day."
Molly Wetsch
More photos from the premiere of "Nine Little Indians"
Left to right: Director of "Nine Little Indians" Shannon Kring and executive producer Tony Robbins, Kring speaking with attendees outside the Walter Reade Theater, executive producer George DiCaprio speaking with attendees outside the Walter Reade Theater on May 27, 2026, in New York. (Photos: Molly Wetsch/South Dakota News Watch)
Left to right: Executive producers of "Nine Little Indians." Skirts that say "Nine little girls," the Charbonneau sisters' advocacy group that works for justice for boarding schools survivors. A ticket to the premiere of "Nine Little Indians" on May 27, 2026 in New York. (Photos: Molly Wetsch/South Dakota News Watch)
Molly Wetsch is South Dakota News Watch’s Native and rural communities reporter. Wetsch was born and raised in South Dakota and is a descendant of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Her maternal grandfather attended Indian boarding schools in South Dakota: the Holy Rosary Mission School (now Maȟpíya Lúta) on the Pine Ridge Reservation and St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain.
South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, donate and subscribe for free at sdnewswatch.org. Contact reporter/Report for America corps member Molly Wetsch: 605-531-7382/molly.wetsch@sdnewswatch.org.
