Augusta
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 …
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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.
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directorAnne Wheeler
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editingAnne Wheeler
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producerJohn Taylor
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executive producerPeter JonesJohn Taylor
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cameraRon Orieux
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soundRalph Parker
Warning: Smoking, use of the outdated term “Indian”
This documentary features a Secwépmec Elder from Williams Lake, BC. After viewing this film, students can delve deeper into learning about and understanding the legacy of residential schools, gender discrimination in the Indian Act, and what life was like for this First Nations woman. Traditional childbirth and child-rearing practices can be further researched in relation to August’s experience of becoming a local midwife. The character value of helping another without expecting a monetary reward can be further elaborated on through discussions. Students can also begin to think about the importance of language revitalization and the role that colonization practices, policies, attitudes and institutions such as residential schools played in diminishing Indigenous languages. Students can begin to consider why young people might not be interested in learning the language and traditional ways of their people.
