Phil Lucas, 65; longtime filmmaker told stories of Native Americans

Phil Lucas, 65, a film producer and director who focused on telling the stories of American Indians, died Sunday in Bellevue, Wash., of complications after heart surgery.

In his four decades as a filmmaker, Lucas wrote, produced or directed dozens of feature films, television series and documentaries in an industry that often stereotyped Indians.

Among his projects were “The Broken Chain,” about the Iroquois Confederacy, and “The Honour of All,” a documentary about how the Alkali Lake Indians in British Columbia became almost entirely sober in the 1980s after being completely alcoholic 20 years before.

Lucas, a Choctaw born in Phoenix, co-produced and co-directed the 2003 PBS series “Images of Indians,” about Hollywood stereotypes of American Indians, and directed the 1994 television documentary series “The Native Americans.”