Searching for Sequoyah (2021)
LeAnne was the writer and a producer of the 2021 PBS documentary SEARCHING FOR SEQUOYAH, the first documentary feature to chronicle the legendary accomplishments and mysterious death of the famed Cherokee visionary, Sequoyah, whose English name was George Guess. While much is known about Sequoyah’s many accomplishments, very little is known about the man himself. The greatest mystery is not that he created the Cherokee writing system, or syllabary, but rather the details of his final journey to Mexico and the circumstances of his death. After the removal from their southeast homelands some Cherokees migrated as far as Mexico. Sequoyah set out late in life to reunite the Cherokee people in Mexico with their brethren in the new Cherokee capitol, Tahlequah – Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). From Tuskegee, Tennessee to Zaragoza, Mexico – SEARCHING FOR SEQUOYAH takes viewers on a journey retracing Sequoyah’s final quest, the mystery surrounding his death and the legacy he left behind.
The film can be purchased here.
Indian Country Diaries: Spiral of Fire (2006)
LeAnne was the screenwriter and on-camera narrator for the 90-minute PBS documentary INDIAN COUNTRY DIARIES: SPIRAL OF FIRE, which aired nationally on PBS in 2006. Part memoir, part tribal history, the film takes Howe (Choctaw) to the North Carolina homelands of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. There she discovers how their fusion of tourism, community, and cultural preservation is the key to the tribe’s health in the twenty-first century. Along the way, Howe seeks to reconcile her own identity as the daughter of a Cherokee father she never knew. LeAnne worked with filmmaker and Director of Photography James M. Fortier (Ojibway).
