Remaining Native - Beyond The Finish Line
Film
Remaining Native had its World Premiere at SXSW 2025
For most people, running is just another sport—a test of endurance, speed, and willpower. For Kutoven (Ku) Stevens, a 17-year-old Paiute runner from Yerington, Nevada, it’s something much deeper. Running is history, remembrance, and a testament to the spiritual and cultural endurance and resilience of his ancestors. Paige Bethmann's feature length directorial debut, Remaining Native is a moving documentary that highlights this tribute from Ku to the countless Native American children who suffered in "Indian Boarding Schools". Schools that served to forcefully assimilate Native Americans into "White society" by erasing their culture, identity, and essence of being. Ku's own grandfather, Frank “Togo’o” Quinn, was forced into one of these schools, the Stewart Indian School, and ran away three separate times. His third escape, at 8 years old, resulted in a 50 mile run back home to the Paiute reservation. In Remaining Native, we witness how each stride Ku takes is both an act of defiance of cultural oppression, remembrance of ancestral pain, and a step toward a brighter future.
Bethmann's emotionally poignant documentary excels in its clear and focused storytelling, skillfully balancing Ku’s dream of running for the University of Oregon—a world-class track and field program—with the painful legacy of the boarding schools. Archival photos from Stewart, often with lingering shots, create a stark contrast between the abuse that Ku's grandfather and countless others faced and Ku's relentless training. Whereas one generation ran to survive, to escape, Ku runs to honor and become an inspiration for those around him.
Ku often serves as a narrator, as well as the subject, driving the message of the film from a much more personal perspective. While his narration adds an intimate and emotional layer, it sometimes fails to build upon the story presented, creating more of a speed bump that causes pacing issues. Especially in the first half of the film, which can be too slow in establishing Ku's full story. It can be appreciated that Remaining Native has a singular focus in Ku's story but could benefit from more interview testimonials from other members of the community to provide an expanded scope of the reservation's traumatic history. Not to mention, moving Ku from narrator to a more prominent subject role, putting his story in front of the camera as opposed to behind it would provide additional visual translations of his emotions.
However, the visuals of Remaining Native are simply superb. The camera crew does a phenomenal job capturing the remote roads that constitute Ku's training grounds, while the editing from Stephanie Khoury and Eric F. Martin deliver electrifying moments during Ku's competitions. It makes sense that the film picks up the pace when Ku is running in the Arcadia Invitational, striving to run a sub-nine minute 3200 meter race in order to garner attention from Oregon recruiters. Quick cuts between the race and those dusty dirt roads Ku trains on give not only goosebumps, but extraordinary contrast between where he comes from and where he hopes to go, through hard work, determination, and a reverence to his roots.
With Remaining Native, Bethmann delivers not just another sports story, but a powerful reckoning with history, identity, and perseverance. Ku's journey is one of honoring the past while chasing the future—a future shaped by resilience, remembrance, and the unbreakable spirit of his people.
Froth
I've often wondered what people like to drink after running, especially with the prominence of brewery run clubs around Seattle. Maybe I'll have to check them out in order to do some "market research" but if I had to throw my choice out there, it'd be something nice and light while refreshing as all hell. Lucky Envelope Brewing makes a Pilsner that checks all of those boxes and is delicious on top of it. It's a German-style Pilsner so it has a nice light body and a decent spiciness along with subtle bitterness that all comes together delightfully. There's a solid amount of carbonation which I think adds to the refreshing factor, especially after a run, not to mention at a cool 4.8% ABV it's light drinkability is a completely welcome attribute.
