As seen on the local PBS affiliate OETA, the survival of the Chickasaw Nation as a thriving sovereign nation is a true testament of leadership, determination and cultural identity. Assimilation policies, allotment of tribal lands and attempts to dissolve tribal governments all took a devastating toll. In the 1950s, new federal policies regarding tribes began inspiring grassroots activism in urban America. At the same time in rural Oklahoma, the Chickasaw Nation continued its grassroots efforts to fulfill its own destiny with new challenges, but the same unconquerable spirit.

From the modernization of the Chickasaw constitution and the historic efforts of Governor Overton James to the first Chickasaw Nation-owned business, the expanded programs and services of the 1980s and the election of Governor Bill Anoatubby in 1987, economic progress and preservation of the Chickasaw Nation has progressed exponentially. Through centuries of struggle, the Chickasaw remained an unconquered people. In this Heartland Chapter regional EMMY® award-nominated director's cut of Winter Fire, see how an era of hope and momentum arrived with the development of countless economic, educational and cultural programs. And today, the Chickasaw Nation operates more than 100 diversified businesses in a variety of services and industries, including manufacturing, energy, health care, media, technology, hospitality, retail and tourism.