In January, Ryan Flynn’s documentary “You’re No Indian” was abruptly removed from the 2025 Palm Springs Film Festival lineup because of “scheduling errors.” Six months later, the film, about the controversial practice of removing Indigenous people from tribal roles called tribal disenrollment, will finally debut at the Dances With Films Festival on June 28.
In the film, Flynn explores how tribal disenrollment has stripped over 11,000 Native American people of their tribal membership, thereby erasing their identities, rights and connections to their communities. Fueled by casino profits, political power and personal vendettas, some American tribal governments, according to the doc, are using fear, violence and legal loopholes to erase their own members.
“We are watching tribal disenrollment move like a tidal wave through Indigenous communities throughout this country,” says Flynn. “The fewer members that are in your tribe, the larger piece of the pie you get from casinos.”
In April, Indigenous actors Wes Studi and Tantoo Cardinal signed on to executive produce “You’re No Indian.”
“This is a powerful and important story that needs to be told,” said Cardinal, best known for her roles in “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Dances with Wolves.” “Our people are being erased by systems with no accountability. I am committed to helping bring awareness to this injustice.”
It took Flynn seven years to complete “You’re No Indian.” Several of those years were spent earning the trust of various disenrolled tribe members who are featured in the doc.
“Disenrollment lives in darkness and in the shadows when people don’t talk about it,” says Flynn. “But what I learned is that if people start talking about it, it puts a target on their back. So, everyone who appeared in front of our cameras took a significant risk and faced retaliation. It has been heartbreaking, but they knew that this was an important project. They weren’t just thinking about themselves when they decided to participate. They were thinking about their children, their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren, because that’s what disenrollment does. It doesn’t take out one person or one family. It takes out an entire generation.”
Flynn says that the rising practice of disenrollment in tribal communities across the country often occurs without legal protection or due process, disproportionately targeting the most vulnerable tribal members. “There is a civil war going on right under our noses that no one is talking about,” he says.
Variety spoke to Flynn ahead of the June 28 Los Angeles debut of “You’re No Indian” at the Dances With Films Festival.
How did you first learn of tribal disenrollment?
I am a curious person, and I go down Google rabbit holes all the time. One day, I was curious to learn about how Indigenous people make money from their casinos. The answer I found was that it varied from tribe to tribe. That’s also when I started to read about tribal disenrollment, which at the time, I knew nothing about. I was shocked that it existed.
Why do you think that tribal disenrollment isn’t being talked about in the mainstream media?
There is an active racial reconciliation happening in this country, and Indigenous people are not part of that. I looked at [Native American] casinos as reparations in a way. A way to bring a tribal nation out of abject poverty. A way to benefit all Indigenous people, but it didn’t turn out that way. Instead, there is a very small percentage of Indigenous people who are actually getting payments from the casinos.
Why do you think “You’re No Indian” was taken out of the Palm Springs Film Festival lineup earlier this year?
It was very odd. We were last-minute cancelled despite having booked sold-out screenings. [The festival] kept telling us it was a scheduling issue, but there was no other film playing on that block. We offered to find other venues because so many people had bought tickets, but they told us there was nothing we could do. It was reported to me anonymously that there was tribal involvement, like threats of pulling sponsorship.
Any fear that Dances With Films will drop the doc last minute?
Yes. But so far, so good. We have heard firsthand that some festivals are afraid to screen this film because they are afraid of retaliation from casino sponsorships or whatever. So, having this Dances With Films program this doc sends a message.
