The Fort Peck 7th grade class at Poplar Middle School has released its 2024-2025 Buffalo Unity Project, a 12-minute student-directed documentary that celebrates a year of growth, learning, culture, and community.
Students spent the school year planning, interviewing, filming, and editing. Their teacher, Joseph Hammar, said the project serves as a powerful spotlight on the importance of Indian Education for All.
Brianna Juneau reports - watch the video here:
“The project itself always brings a lot of attention through Montana OPI, just because of the things that does for Indian Education, for All. It's good to see that this project is spreading.”
Hammar said the project has become a defining part of the 7th-grade curriculum because it gives students ownership over both the learning and the storytelling. “Indian Education for All is about inclusion, representation, and truth,” he said. “This project lets students see themselves in the narrative while learning to use their voices.”
The most recent project was filmed by last year’s 7th grade class. As it makes its way through the community and online, the new 7th-grade class has already begun working on their own version of the Buffalo Unity Project.
Hammar said the continuation of the project is one of the most meaningful parts. “Every year, a new group of students puts their own spirit into it,” he said. “They all got brand new cameras here like two weeks ago, so the footage is just insane. The quality of film is going to be insane compared to what we've had.”
For Poplar Middle School, the Buffalo Unity Project has become more than an annual tradition. It’s a hands-on film workshop and a reminder of unity, identity, and the strength carried forward by the next generation.
