Carol Cornsilk, a graduate assistant in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications has two major premieres looming this fall. "Indian Country Diaries: Spiral of Fire," a two-part documentary film Cornsilk directed and co-produced is making its debut..

"Indian Country Diaries: Spiral of Fire," will make its Washington, D.C. premiere at the National Museum of the American Indian on Friday, September 29th.

In November, the film will air nationally on PBS and will also be screened on opening night at the Native American Film Festival, November 30th, in New York City. Cornsilk, a Cherokee tribal member, will be on hand to discuss her film at both premieres.

Writer LeAnne Howe (Choctaw) travels to Cherokee, North Carolina to the home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in search of the father she never knew. Instead, the community she discovers leads her to ask crucial questions about identity, cultural preservation, health, capitalism, religion, assimilation. Photo: Indian Country Diaries

"Indian County Diaries: Spiral of Fire” takes author LeAnne Howe (Choctaw) to the North Carolina homeland of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to discover how the mix of tourism, community, and cultural preservation is the key to their tribe’s health in the 21st century.

Along the way, Howe seeks to reconcile her own complex identity as the illegitimate daughter of a Choctaw woman, fathered by a Cherokee man she never knew, and raised by an adopted Cherokee family in Oklahoma.

Howe’s search leads the viewer on a journey of discovery to one of the most beautiful places in America where Cherokees, living on lands they’ve inhabited for 10,000 years, manage their own schools, hospitals, cable company, tourist attractions and multi-million dollar casino.

"Indian Country Diaries: Spiral of Fire," debuts in Washington, D.C. and New York City before its PBS premier this fall. Photo: Indian Country Diaries

Despite these successes, diabetes threatens 40 percent of the population, racism undermines self-confidence, and greed threatens to divide the community. “Spiral of Fire” reveals the forces at work to restore health, prosperity and sovereignty to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

The two-part documentary was co-produced by Cornsilk's Adanvdo Vision production company in partnership with Native American Public Telecommunications. They will premiere on PBS this November.

The Washington premiere of "Indian Country Diaries: Spiral of Fire" will be at the Elmer and Mary Louise Rasmuson Theater (Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian).The film will be screened as part of the 13th Native American Film and Video Festival held in New York Nov. 30 – Dec. 3, 2006. The New York premiere will be at the Donnell Media Center at the New York Public Library on Nov. 30.