Indigenous Issues and Culture - Part 3
National Film Board of Canada
This is the final post I have on the topic of indigenous issues and culture. These links follow-up to the previous two posts and contain a variety of videos that were created by the National Film Board of Canada or another organization in partnership with them. Films are of different lengths and filmed at different points in time and reflect different points of view.
I previewed many of the videos and suggest that if you wish to have younger people view them you either watch them together or preview them yourself. Some of the movies have emotionally challenging content while others reflect controversial issues.
Video descriptions are taken from the NFB website.
Building
the fire 4 min Billy shares with us
the source of his motivation; his role model Shawn Tomatuk, his late-brother.
Circle
of the sun 29 min This short documentary by Colin Low is an invitation to a
gathering of the Káínaa of Alberta - as the Sun Dance is captured on film for
the first time. The film shows how the theme of the circle reflects the bands'
connection to wildlife and also addresses the predicament of the young
generation, those who have relinquished their ties with their own culture but
have not yet found a firm place in a changing world.
Cold journey 1 hr 15 min Fifteen-year-old
Buckley (Buckley Petawabano) attends residential school, where he longs for his
home and dreams of fishing and hunting. Yet when he returns to the reserve for
the summer he feels like a stranger, unable to speak his Cree language or live
off the land like his father and brothers. Johnny (Johnny Yesno), an Indigenous
caretaker at the school, takes Buckley under his wing, introducing him to
Indigenous history, culture, and knowledge. After finding Buckley’s frozen body
in the snow, Johnny pieces together the events of the boy’s short life and
tragic death, which left him unable to find a place for himself between the
white and Indigenous worlds.
Featuring the soulful music of Willie Dunn, this film was
inspired by the true story of Charlie Wenjack, a young Anishinaabe boy who
froze to death running away from residential school in 1966. The film was made
with members of the Indian Film Crew and features Chief Dan George.
Finding
Dawn 1 hr 15 min Acclaimed Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh brings us
a compelling documentary that puts a human face on a national tragedy – the
epidemic of missing or murdered Indigenous women in Canada. The film takes a
journey into the heart of Indigenous women's experience, from Vancouver's skid
row, down the Highway of Tears in northern BC, and on to Saskatoon, where the
murders and disappearances of these women remain unsolved.
Freedom road :
Youth / Oshkaadiziig 14 min Shoal
Lake 40 youth share what it’s like to be forced to live away from their
close-knit families and community to attend high school in Kenora, Ontario. The
community’s school provides courses up to the Grade 8 level only, so there are
no other options for young people who want to continue their education. Some of
the young men are able to work on the construction of the road, a rare
opportunity to have a good job in the community. The pride of the youth in
doing this work is palpable, and they express the gratification that comes with
providing safety for their Elders and opportunities for future generations.
Despite the systemic and personal racism they’ve already experienced, Freedom
Road gives the youth a sense of optimism and instills hope in them for the
future of their community and their own ability to contribute.
Freedom Road Series is a five-part documentary series that tells the inspiring story of one First Nation’s battle to resolve a brutal colonial legacy that uprooted and transformed a self-sustaining community into an isolated island, only a short distance from the Trans-Canada highway.
Freedom Road Series is a five-part documentary series that tells the inspiring story of one First Nation’s battle to resolve a brutal colonial legacy that uprooted and transformed a self-sustaining community into an isolated island, only a short distance from the Trans-Canada highway.
Gene
boy came home 24 min This short documentary by celebrated filmmaker Alanis
Obomsawin is a portrait of Eugene "Gene Boy" (pronounced Genie Boy)
Benedict, from Odanak Indian Reserve (near Montreal, Quebec). At 17, he
enlisted in the US Marines and was sent to the frontlines of the Vietnam War.
This film is the account of his 2 years of service and his long journey back to
Odanak afterwards.
Niish
Manidoowag (Two-Spirited Beings) 5 min Four youth travel Bebamikawe Trail on
Wiikwemkoong Unceded First Nation Territory. Two of the youths are Two Spirited
and discuss the confrontations and acceptance that they have encountered within
their community and how it has affected their ability to experience and learn
their culture. Long before the settlers arrived to Turtle Island (aka North
America), there existed a Two Spirit Society in many tribal communities. The
Two Spirited people were revered and treated with respect and equality. They
were sought for their wisdom, healing and visions. Once a child had reached the
age of puberty, a special ceremony was held. The child would enter a lodge, and
pick either a basket or a bow. The item chosen helped to provide guidance on
whether the feminine or masculine role would be the path followed. The Two
Spirit Society was quickly abolished with the arrival of settlers. The Two
Spirit Society has been revived….Niish Manidoowag speaks to the real issues
that Transgender Youth encounter in their life’s journey. We honour all LGBQT
peoples everywhere.
No address
56 min Far from home and cut off from
family and friends, Montreal’s Indigenous homeless population is the focus
of No Address. Dreams of a better life in the big city can be met with
harsh realities, as the individuals in this documentary recount. Often trying
to flee circumstances created by colonialism and the effects of assimilation,
the First Nations and Inuit people in this work share frank stories about their
lives and the paths that took them to the streets of Montreal. Alanis Obomsawin
presents an honest, stark portrayal of endemic homelessness while giving voice
to those so often overlooked or made invisible on the streets of every city in
Canada.
Our
people will be healed 1 hr 37 min Our
People Will Be Healed, Alanis Obomsawin’s 50th film, reveals how a Cree
community in Manitoba has been enriched through the power of education. The
Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre in Norway House, north of
Winnipeg, receives a level of funding that few other Indigenous institutions
enjoy. Its teachers help their students to develop their abilities and their
sense of pride.
Places
not our own 57 min Part of the Daughters
of the Country series, this dramatic film set in 1929 depicts how Canada's
West, home to generations of Métis, was taken over by the railroads and new
settlers. As a result, the Métis became a forgotten people, forced to eke out a
living as best they could. At the forefront is Rose, a woman determined to
provide her children with a normal life and an education despite the odds. But
due to their harsh circumstances, a devastating and traumatic event transpires
instead.
Riel country
49 min This documentary from Martin Duckworth features young adults from two
distinct Winnipeg neighbourhoods on either side of the Red River who struggle
to overcome geographical and cultural barriers. High school students from the
predominantly Aboriginal North End and their peers from the Francophone
district of St. Boniface work together to produce a play on the origins of the
Métis.
Their collaboration raises questions about how these youths foresee their role and place within their respective communities and how these minority communities co-exist with the predominant culture. The film also tackles issues of intolerance, racism and discrimination.
Their collaboration raises questions about how these youths foresee their role and place within their respective communities and how these minority communities co-exist with the predominant culture. The film also tackles issues of intolerance, racism and discrimination.
The red dress 27 min Renowned Métis author and screenwriter Maria Campbell explores
themes of cultural identity, sexual assault and the familial impact of
colonialism in The Red Dress, echoing the themes of her seminal
memoir, Halfbreed.
Kelly is a Métis man without treaty or hunting rights, struggling to
sustain his traditional life. His daughter Theresa longs for a red dress from
France that she believes will give her power and strength, as the bear claw
once did for her great-grandfather Muskwa. When Theresa escapes an assault and
Kelly turns his back on his daughter, he realizes that he must reconnect with
his culture in order to make things right. Today, the red dress is a powerful
symbol recognizing over 1000 missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.
Trick or
treaty 1 hr 25 min Covering a vast swath of northern Ontario, Treaty No. 9
reflects the often contradictory interpretations of treaties between First
Nations and the Crown. To the Canadian government, this treaty represents a
surrendering of Indigenous sovereignty, while the descendants of the Cree
signatories contend its original purpose to share the land and its resources
has been misunderstood and not upheld. Enlightening as it is
entertaining, Trick or Treaty? succinctly and powerfully portrays one
community’s attempts to enforce their treaty rights and protect their lands,
while also revealing the complexities of contemporary treaty agreements. Trick
or Treaty? made history as the first film by an Indigenous filmmaker to be
part of the Masters section at TIFF when it screened there in 2014.
Urban.Indigenous.Proud:
Some Stories 8 min Some
Stories follows a group of Indigenous youth from the Nipissing (Nbisiing)
region who come together through the North Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre and
explore the importance and impact of stories in their lives.
https://www.nfb.ca/film/urban-indigenous-proud-that-old-game-la-crosse
7 min Long before Canada became a country, every nation on Turtle Island had
its own unique version of a stick-ball game. The most popular one on this
continent has always been lacrosse, a game that was gifted to the First Nations
by the birds and four-legged animals, and played for centuries as a medicine
game. This short film explores how the medicine game that has been passed down
from generation to generation by the Haudenasaunee at the Fort Erie Native
Friendship Centre is helping to revive their cultures and restore their
communities. Young people have always been at the centre of community for many
First Nations societies, and this documentary shares the wisdom of cultivating
the spirit of belonging in youth, revealing how this is helping to shape a new
future.
The gift 49 min This short documentary
examines the role of corn in the lives of Indigenous peoples in the Americas.
Before colonization, corn was widely used as a beverage, a food staple, an oil,
and a ceremonial object. It was respected and revered as a critical part of
creation. This film explores the powerful bond and spiritual relationship that
continues to exist between people and corn.
Combining interviews, dance, and song, The Gift captures the
traditional, spiritual, economic, and political importance of this sacred
plant.
Rice harvest
11 min This short documentary explores
how the First Nations staple of wild rice is exported as a luxury food thanks
in part to bush pilots. Follow the families of the Pauingassi band as they comb
the reedy shores with brooms, paddles and baskets for manomim (wild
rice).
Down north
29 min This short film serves as a report
on sub-Arctic developments in the 1.3 million square km District of Mackenzie.
In communities such as Hay River, Yellowknife and Port Radium, modern
technology and methods of winter transport opened up new possibilities in
mining, lumber, and other industries, and new opportunities for the local
populations.
Eye Witness No. 29 9 min This installment of the Eye Witness series focuses on
Indigenous children at Fort Simpson; a miniature naval battle between
radio-operated vessels attended by the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets in Montreal; a
drive-in theatre near Ottawa used to provide church services to passing
motorists; and how Toronto's subway system is starting to take shape.
Fragments of lost
history 50 min The yellowed pages of a travel journal, a letter unearthed
by chance, photographs recovered from a company's dusty archives: These are but
a few of the scattered materials used to reconstruct the fascinating and little
known adventure of Revillon Brothers, a Parisian merchant of elegant furs, who
came to Canada at the turn of the century to enter into the fur trade. But the
adventure comes to an end in 1936 when Revillon's great rival, the Hudson's Bay
Company, buys out the French company. Victorious, the Hudson's Bay Company, is
the only of the two to be remembered in the history books. In between the words
of the few remaining witnesses to a lost history, in the memories of descendants
of employees and in specialists' passion for the fragments recovered, a world
long thought vanished is recreated in front of our eyes. In French with English
subtitles.
Fort Good
Hope 47 min Shot during the Berger
Inquiry into the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, this short documentary brings us
the perspective of Canada’s First Nations communities. The majority feel that
the pipeline would destroy their ancient hunting grounds and upset the balance
of nature, and that Canada’s title to the land is far from settled. Though made
in the late seventies, Fort Good Hope seems more relevant than ever, and raises
important questions about northern development in general.
Last mooseskin boat 28 min This short documentary follows Gabe Etchinelle as builds a
mooseskin boat as a tribute to an earlier way of life, where the Shotah Dene
people would use a mooseskin boats and transport their families and cargo down
mountain rivers to trading settlements throughout the Northwest Territories.
Northwest frontier 29 min This short documentary depicts the vast expanses of the great
Northwest. It illustrates the old fur trade, new mining developments, the
importance of church missions, the welfare of Indian and Inuit peoples and the
role of air transportation in drawing this huge territory into the mainstream
of Canadian life.
Picturing a
People: George Johnston, Tlingit Photographer 50 min This documentary, by
filmmaker Carol Geddes, is a unique portrait of George Johnston, a photographer
who was himself a creator of portraits and a keeper of his culture. Johnston
cared deeply about the traditions of the Tlingit people, and he recorded a
critical period in the history of the Tlingit nation. As Geddes says, his
legacy was "to help us dream the future as much as to remember the
past."
Is the Crown at war
with us? 1hr 36 min In this feature-length documentary by Alanis Obomsawin, it's
the summer of 2000 and the country watches in disbelief as federal fisheries
wage war on the Mi'kmaq fishermen of Burnt Church, New Brunswick. Why would
officials of the Canadian government attack citizens for exercising rights that
had been affirmed by the highest court in the land? Casting her cinematic and
intellectual nets into history to provide context, Obomsawin delineates the
complex roots of the conflict with passion and clarity, building a persuasive
defence of the Mi'kmaq position.
Kwa'nu'te':
Micmac and Maliseet Artists 41 min This film profiles a number of Mi’kmaq
and Maliseet artists from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, showing their
similarities and differences, samples of their work and the sources of their
inspiration. It offers a remarkable look at Indigenous art and spirituality in
Atlantic Canada.
The Sacred
Sundance: The Transfer of a Ceremony 1 hr 9 min This feature-length documentary chronicles
the Sundance ceremony brought to Eastern Canada by William Nevin of the
Elsipogtog First Nation of the Mi'kmaq. Nevin learned from Elder Keith
Chiefmoon of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Alberta. Under the July sky,
participants in the Sundance ceremony go four days without food or water. Then
they will pierce the flesh of their chests in an offering to the Creator. This
event marks a transmission of culture and a link to the warrior traditions of
the past.
Augusta 16 min This
short documentary offers an intimate portrait of Augusta Evans, an 88-year-old
Secwépmec woman who has spent her life in the hills of the Williams Lake area
of British Columbia, where she lives alone in a log cabin without running water
or electricity. Born the daughter of a Chief, Augusta was forced to attend
residential school and lost her treaty status when she wed her non-Indigenous
husband. After seeing a woman lose her life in childbirth, Augusta taught
herself midwifery from a book and delivered many babies, including her own
daughter, whom she birthed alone in her cabin. Having lived through many losses
and now surviving on a $250 monthly pension that barely covers wood and
groceries, Augusta is a cherished member of her community, where she shares her
knowledge and songs, and laments that the young people are not learning their
language.
Bella Bella 27
min This documentary short is an introduction to the Bella Bella Indians of
Campbell Island, 500 km North of Vancouver on the Pacific Coast. Since the
coming of settlers, these fishing people have watched their ancient Heiltsuk
culture and their independence all but disappear. Today, in an energetic
attempt to become self-sufficient, they are regaining both - successfully
combining economic development with cultural revival.
Kevin Alec 16
min In the mountainous country near
Lillooet, British Columbia, eleven-year-old Kevin Alec of the Fountain Indian
Reserve learns to make fishnets with his grandfather, and skin and tan hides
with his aunt. He goes fishing with his grandmother and horseback riding with
his brother. Life is full of wonderful things to do and to learn. Will Kevin
eventually abandon his traditional way of life or will it be a source of
continuing enrichment? This film is part of the Children of Canada series.
The Nitinaht
Chronicles - Part 1 46 min The Nitinaht Chronicles is a searing portrait of a small
Indigenous community on Canada's west coast struggling to come to terms with a
legacy of sexual abuse, incest and family violence. Seven years in the making,
the film is a first-hand look at the extraordinary efforts of the people of
Nitinaht to overcome the cycle of physical and sexual abuse that touched the
lives of nearly all the members of the community.
Cree way 26 min This short documentary examines an innovative
educational program developed by John and Gerti Murdoch to teach Cree children
their language via Cree folklore, photographs, artifacts, and books that were
written and printed in the community.
Made as part of the NFB’s groundbreaking Challenge for Change series, Cree Way shows that local control of the education curriculum has a place in Indigenous communities.
Made as part of the NFB’s groundbreaking Challenge for Change series, Cree Way shows that local control of the education curriculum has a place in Indigenous communities.
Foster child 43 min An important figure in the history of
Canadian Indigenous filmmaking, Gil Cardinal was born to a Métis mother but
raised by a non-Indigenous foster family, and with this auto-biographical
documentary he charts his efforts to find his biological mother and to
understand why he was removed from her. Considered a milestone in documentary
cinema, it addressed the country’s internal colonialism in a profoundly
personal manner, winning a Special Jury Prize at Banff and multiple
international awards. “Foster Child is one of the great docs to come out
of Canada, and nobody but Gil could have made it,” says Jesse Wente, director
of Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office. “Gil made it possible for us to think
about putting our own stories on the screen, and that was something new and
important.”
For Angela 24 min This short film portrays the experiences of
Rhonda Gordon and her daughter, Angela, when a simple bus ride changes their
lives in an unforeseeable way. When they are harassed by three boys, Rhonda
finds the courage to take a unique and powerful stance against ignorance and
prejudice. What ensues is a dramatic story of racism and empowerment.
Freedom
Road: Women / Ikwewag 13 min Shoal Lake 40 women talk about their
struggles, and those of their parents and grandparents, in trying to raise
their families in a hazardous state of enforced isolation. Everyone in the
community has a harrowing story of a loved one falling through the ice while
trying to get across the lake, with pregnant women and new mothers fearing for
their babies and having no choice but to make the trek in dangerous conditions.
The film shows the key role of the community’s women in demanding funding for
the road from three levels of government, and how their reconnection to culture
and ceremony give them the strength to keep going.
Freedom Road Series is a five-part documentary series that tells the inspiring story of one First Nation’s battle to resolve a brutal colonial legacy that uprooted and transformed a self-sustaining community into an isolated island, only a short distance from the Trans-Canada highway.
Freedom Road Series is a five-part documentary series that tells the inspiring story of one First Nation’s battle to resolve a brutal colonial legacy that uprooted and transformed a self-sustaining community into an isolated island, only a short distance from the Trans-Canada highway.
Freedom
Road: Men / Ininiwag 16 min The men of Shoal Lake 40 tell the story of life
in the community from their perspective, in the lead-up to their annual powwow.
Lorne Redsky works the outdated pump house; there is no money to fix basic
systems and bottled water is required for everyday use. As Lorne focuses his
energy on the monumental task of getting clean water to the powwow, community
member Kavin Redsky prepares his regalia for dancing, a deeply personal process
connected to his healing journey. The two men embody the powerful gifts of community,
traditional culture, and medicines, which have given the people of Shoal Lake
40 the resilience to continue the fight for Freedom Road.
Freedom
Road: Elders / Gitchi-aya'aag 12 min
The Elders of Shoal Lake 40 prepare a feast as part of their annual Fall
Harvest, where they share traditional knowledge and teachings with the people
of the community. As they prepare bannock, fish and meat, they plaintively
recount traumatic experiences from their childhoods, including being hidden
from residential school and remembering those who lost or risked their lives
trying to cross the ice. When the Elders talk about their responsibility in
caring for community members and passing their knowledge on to the next
generation, they illuminate the powerful source of the community’s continued
endurance and strength.
How people
got fire 16 min This introspective
short animation takes place In the village of Carcross, in the Tagish First
Nation. Neighbourhood pillar Grandma Kay tell the local children the tale of
how Crow brought fire to people. As the story unfolds, we also meet 12-year-old
Tish, an introspective, talented girl who feels drawn to the elder. Here, past
and present blend, myth and reality meet, and the metaphor of fire infuses all
in a location that lies at the heart of this Native community’s spiritual and
cultural memory.
In the
beginning was water and sky 13 min In
this haunting and visually stunning fairy tale-drama, two First Nations
children struggle to find their way back to a home that may be lost forever.
Learning
Dene and the Tale of the Raven 5 min
Learning Dene can be quite difficult, but thankfully the children can
rely on their elders for storytelling in their native language.
A Place
Between - The Story of an Adoption 1 hr 14
min In this film, a cross-cultural
adoptee struggles to find balance between his families' different ethnicities
and traditions and discover how and where he fits into each world.
Following the tragic death of their younger brother in 1980, Curtis
Kaltenbaugh, 7, and his brother Ashok, 4, were removed from their birth
mother's care in Manitoba and adopted into a white, middle-class family in
Pennsylvania. This film follows Curtis' struggle with his biological family's
turbulent history and observes what happens when his biological and adoptive
families finally meet.
Richard
Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Métis Child 29 min Richard Cardinal died by
his own hand at the age of 17, having spent most of his life in a string of
foster homes and shelters across Alberta. In this short documentary, Abenaki
director Alanis Obomsawin weaves excerpts from Richard’s diary into a powerful
tribute to his short life. Released in 1984—decades before the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission—the film exposed the systemic neglect and
mistreatment of Indigenous children in Canada’s child welfare system. Winner of
the Best Documentary Award at the 1986 American Indian Film Festival, the film
screened at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2008 as part of an Obomsawin
retrospective, and continues to be shown around the world.
When
All the Leaves Are Gone 17 min
As the only First Nations student in an all-white 1940s school, eight-year old Wato is keenly aware of the hostility towards her. She deeply misses the loving environment of the reserve she once called home, and her isolation is sharpened by her father’s serious illness. When Wato’s teacher reads from a history book describing First Nations peoples as ignorant and cruel, it aggravates her classmates’ prejudice. Shy and vulnerable Wato becomes the target of their bullying and abuse. Alone in her suffering, she finds solace and strength in the protective world of her magical dreams.
As the only First Nations student in an all-white 1940s school, eight-year old Wato is keenly aware of the hostility towards her. She deeply misses the loving environment of the reserve she once called home, and her isolation is sharpened by her father’s serious illness. When Wato’s teacher reads from a history book describing First Nations peoples as ignorant and cruel, it aggravates her classmates’ prejudice. Shy and vulnerable Wato becomes the target of their bullying and abuse. Alone in her suffering, she finds solace and strength in the protective world of her magical dreams.
We can't
make the same mistake twice 2hr 43 min
The rights of First Nations children take centre stage in this
monumental documentary. Following a historic court case filed by the Assembly
of First Nations and the Child and Family Caring Society of Canada against the
federal government, Alanis Obomsawin exposes generations of injustices endured
by First Nations children living on reserves and their families. Through
passionate testimony and unwavering conviction, frontline childcare workers and
experts including Cindy Blackstock take part in a decade-long court battle to
ensure these children receive the same level of care as other Canadian
children. Their case against Canada is a stark reminder of the disparities that
persist in First Nations communities and the urgent need for justice to be
served.
Club
native 1 hr 18 min Tracey Deer grew
up on the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake with two very firm but unspoken rules
drummed into her by the collective force of the community. These rules were
very simple and they carried severe repercussions: 1) Do not marry a white
person, 2) Do not have a child with a white person.
Ikwe 58 min Part of the Daughters of the Country series,
this dramatic film features a young Ojibwa girl from 1770 who marries a
Scottish fur trader and leaves home for the shores of Georgian Bay. Although
the union is beneficial for her tribe, it results in hardship and isolation for
Ikwe. Values and customs clash until, finally, the events of a dream Ikwe once
had unfold with tragic clarity.
Indian
Relocation: Elliot Lake 30 min Vocational
and academic education programs are introduced as a way to prepare Indigenous
people for city life in this short documentary film. As families move out to
northern Ontario's Elliot Lake from neighbouring reserves, programs such as
these are used to integrate them into society. Through this film, we hear from
some of the families who stayed, and some who returned.
Kanehsatake:
270 Years of Resistance 2 hr In July 1990, a dispute over a proposed golf
course to be built on Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) lands in Oka, Quebec, set the
stage for a historic confrontation that would grab international headlines and
sear itself into the Canadian consciousness. Director Alanis Obomsawin—at times
with a small crew, at times alone—spent 78 days behind Kanien’kéhaka lines
filming the armed standoff between protestors, the Quebec police and the
Canadian army. Released in 1993, this landmark documentary has been seen around
the world, winning over a dozen international awards and making history at the
Toronto International Film Festival, where it became the first documentary ever
to win the Best Canadian Feature award. Jesse Wente, Director of Canada’s
Indigenous Screen Office, has called it a “watershed film in the history of
First Peoples cinema.”
Second
Stories - Deb-we-win Ge-ken-am-aan, Our Place in the Circle 22 min Lorne Olson's short
documentary presents a vision he had of two-spirited people dancing, laughing,
and smiling. His vision spurs him to rediscover the strength of the past to
better face the challenges of today. This funny and buoyant film documents his
touching journey.
Second Stories follows on the heels of the enormously
successful First Stories project, which produced 3 separate
collections of short films from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and
Alberta. Second Stories builds on that success by continuing the
training with 3 of the 12 Indigenous filmmakers who delivered such compelling
short documentaries. Produced in association with CBC, APTN, SCN, SaskFilm and
MANITOBA FILM & SOUND.
Urban elder 28
min In the last forty years, Canada has
seen a major population shift of Indigenous peoples to the urban centres like
Toronto which has become home to the largest urban Indigenous population in the
country (an estimated 65,000).
Today's urban Indigenous peoples (both those with a direct connection to land-based reservation life, and those who have always lived in cities) are developing an urban Indigenous culture. They are discovering ways to integrate important expressions of traditional culture into city life, including the tradition of the Elder: a person of great wisdom who dispenses advice, settles disputes, and acts as a model and arbitrator of acceptable behaviour.
Meet Vern Harper, Urban Elder, who walks the "Red Road" in a fast-paced, urban landscape. The camera follows Vern as he leads a sweat lodge purification ceremony, watches his 11-year-old daughter Cody at a classical ballet rehearsal, conducts a private healing ceremony, participates in a political march of 150,000 people, and counsels Indigenous prisoners at Warkworth Federal Prison.
In his own voice, Vern Harper tells the Urban Elder story of how he reaches into the past for his people's traditions, blending those old ways into the present so that the future can be a time of personal growth and spiritual strength.
Today's urban Indigenous peoples (both those with a direct connection to land-based reservation life, and those who have always lived in cities) are developing an urban Indigenous culture. They are discovering ways to integrate important expressions of traditional culture into city life, including the tradition of the Elder: a person of great wisdom who dispenses advice, settles disputes, and acts as a model and arbitrator of acceptable behaviour.
Meet Vern Harper, Urban Elder, who walks the "Red Road" in a fast-paced, urban landscape. The camera follows Vern as he leads a sweat lodge purification ceremony, watches his 11-year-old daughter Cody at a classical ballet rehearsal, conducts a private healing ceremony, participates in a political march of 150,000 people, and counsels Indigenous prisoners at Warkworth Federal Prison.
In his own voice, Vern Harper tells the Urban Elder story of how he reaches into the past for his people's traditions, blending those old ways into the present so that the future can be a time of personal growth and spiritual strength.
Birth of a family 1 hr 20 min In this deeply moving
feature-length documentary, three sisters and a brother meet for the first
time. Removed from their young Dene mother during the infamous Sixties Scoop,
they were separated as infants and adopted into families across North America.
Betty Ann, Esther, Rosalie, and Ben were only four of the
20,000 Indigenous Canadian children taken from their families between 1955 and
1985, to be either adopted into white families or live in foster care. As the
four siblings piece together their shared history, their connection deepens,
and their family begins to take shape.
Doctor, lawyer,
Indian chief 28 min A tribute to Indigenous
women everywhere, this short documentary focuses on 5 women from across Canada.
Of varied ages and backgrounds, they have achieved success in a variety of
careers: as the Yukon legislature's first Indigenous woman minister (Margaret
Joe), as a deck hand on a fishing boat (Corinne Hunt), as a teacher (Sophie
MacLeod), as a lawyer (Roberta Jamieson), and as a band council chief (Sophie
May Pierre - St. Mary’s Indian Band of the Ktunaxa Nation off the Ktunaxa
Nation).
Each of these women talks about how she got to where she is today while
emphasizing the importance of Indigenous culture - its values, art, and
spiritual beliefs - in helping her to develop a sense of self and seeing
through rough times, including residential school experiences.
The
invisible nation 1 hr 30 min The
Algonquin once lived in harmony with the vast territory they occupied. This
balance was upset when the Europeans arrived in the 16th century. Gradually,
their Aboriginal traditions were undermined and their natural resources
plundered. Today, barely 9,000 Algonquin are left. They live in about 10
communities, often enduring abject poverty and human rights abuses. These
Aboriginal people are suffering the threat to their very existence in silence.
Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie have decided to sound the alarm before
it's too late.
Okimah 51
min This documentary focuses on the
goose hunt, a ritual of central importance to the Cree people of the James Bay
coastal areas. Not only a source of food, the hunt is also used to transfer
Cree culture, skills, and ethics to future generations. Filmmaker Paul M.
Rickard invites us along with his own family on a fall goose hunt, so that we
can share in the experience.
Redskins,
Tricksters and Puppy Stew 54 min This feature documentary hilariously
overturns the conventional notion of the "stoic Indian" and shines a
light on an overlooked element of Indigenous culture: humour and its healing powers.
Featuring an engaging cast of characters, the film is an
in-depth, laugh-a-minute tour of complex issues like identity, politics, and
racism.
Tribe of one
39 min Featuring archival images and compelling
interviews, this documentary captures Rhonda Larrabee's quest to unearth the
Indigenous heritage her mother felt forced to hide from her. Now, as proud
Chief of the New Westminster Band, she works tirelessly to revitalize the
Qayqayt First Nations. Tribe of One was produced as part of Reel Diversity, an
initiative organized in partnership with CBC Newsworld.
Acts of
defiance 1 hr 45 min This
feature-length documentary recounts the events that surrounded and led to the
Oka Crisis of the summer of 1990. The film focuses on the Mohawk territory of
Kahnawake, in Quebec, but also reflects on the relationship between Canada and
Indigenous peoples at a particular time in history.
My Name Is Kahentiiosta
29 min This short documentary by
Alanis Obomsawin tells the story of Kahentiiosta, a young Kahnawake Mohawk
woman arrested after the Oka Crisis' 78-day armed standoff in 1990. She was
detained 4 days longer than the other women. Her crime? The prosecutor
representing the Quebec government did not accept her Indigenous name.
Rocks
at Whiskey Trench 1hr 45 min Stories
of resistance, strength and perseverance are laid bare in this examination of a
dark day in Canadian history. At the height of tensions at Oka, Quebec, in
1990, Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) women, children and Elders fled their community
of Kahnawake out of fear for their safety. Once past the Canadian Army that
surrounded their home, they were assaulted by angry non-Indigenous protesters
who pelted their convoy with rocks. This visceral display of hatred and
violence – rarely seen so publicly in Canada – shocked the nation and revealed
the severity of the dangers that faced the Kanien’kehá:ka in their struggle to
defend a sacred site.
This film is the fourth in Alanis Obomsawin’s landmark series on the Mohawk resistance at Oka that would become a pivot point in contemporary relationships between Indigenous nations and Canada.
This film is the fourth in Alanis Obomsawin’s landmark series on the Mohawk resistance at Oka that would become a pivot point in contemporary relationships between Indigenous nations and Canada.
Second Stories
- It Had to Be Done 23 min This short documentary
explores the legacy of residential schools through the eyes of two
extraordinary women who not only lived it, but who, as adults, made the
surprising decision to return to the school that had affected their lives so
profoundly. This intimate and moving film affirms their strength and dignity in
standing up and making a difference on their own terms.
Second Stories follows on the heels of the enormously
successful First Stories project, which produced 3 separate
collections of short films from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and
Alberta. Second Stories builds on that success by continuing the
training with 3 of the 12 Indigenous filmmakers who delivered such compelling
short documentaries. Produced in association with CBC, APTN, SCN, SaskFilm and
MANITOBA FILM & SOUND.
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