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#RockYourMocs (Ages 12-14)

8 films
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What do moccasins mean to you? They have a unique association, for instance, for J’net Ayayqwayaksheelth, the NFB’s Director of Indigenous Relations and Community Engagement. When faced with some health issues, she once had one of her urban Aunties tell her to “Walk in beauty, and don’t forget to wear pretty slippers.” Every year on November 15, Indigenous Peoples participate in #RockYourMocs, a social media campaign aimed at honouring their ancestors, their crafts, their cultures, and their nations worldwide. Pour visionner cette sélection en français, cliquez ici.

Up next: Now Is the Time
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#RockYourMocs (Ages 12-14)

What do moccasins mean to you? They have a unique association, for instance, for J’net Ayayqwayaksheelth, the NFB’s Director of Indigenous Relations and Community Engagement. When faced with some health issues, she once had one of her urban Aunties tell her to “Walk in beauty, and don’t forget to wear pretty slippers.”

Every year on November 15, Indigenous Peoples participate in #RockYourMocs, a social media campaign aimed at honouring their ancestors, their crafts, their cultures, and their nations worldwide.

Pour visionner cette sélection en français, cliquez ici.

Playlist

  • Now Is the Time
    Now Is the Time
    Christopher Auchter 2019 16 min

    On the 50th anniversary of the first new totem pole raising on British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii in almost a century, Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter steps through history to revisit the day that would signal the rebirth of the Haida spirit.

  • Button Blanket
    Button Blanket
    Zoe L. Hopkins  &  Dora Hopkins 2009 3 min

    This short impressionist documentary looks at the creation of a Button Blanket by integrating the performance of a traditional dance with the art of the West Coast Heiltsuk Nation.

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  • Basket
    Basket
    Alanis Obomsawin 1975 7 min

    A series of still images follows master Stl’atl’imx (Líl̓wat) basket maker Mathilda Jim, from the harvesting of materials to the creation of a functional work of art. Told in the Lil̓wat7úl language, this short documentary evokes the powerful connection between language, knowledge and culture.

    This short is part of the L’il’wata series. In the early 1970s, at the outset of her documentary career, Alanis Obomsawin visited the Stl’atl’imx (Líl̓wat) Nation, an Interior Salish First Nation in British Columbia, and created a series of shorts that provide personal narratives about their culture, histories and knowledge.

  • Kwa'nu'te': Micmac and Maliseet Artists
    Kwa'nu'te': Micmac and Maliseet Artists
    Catherine Anne Martin  &  Kimberlee McTaggart 1991 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.

  • Hands of History
    Hands of History
    Loretta Todd 1994 51 min

    In this acclaimed 1994 documentary, Loretta Todd, a leading figure in Indigenous cinema in Canada, profiles four contemporary female artists—Doreen Jensen, Rena Point Bolton, Jane Ash Poitras and Joane Cardinal-Schubert—who seek to find a continuum from traditional to contemporary forms of expression. Each artist reveals her practice and journey in her own words. The film is a moving testimony to the vital role Indigenous women play in nurturing Indigenous cultures.

  • The Canoe
    The Canoe
    Alanis Obomsawin 1972 5 min

    Utilizing engineering ingenuity that is centuries old, Atikamekw elders Agatha and Cézar Néwashish build a small-scale version of a birch-bark canoe. With their expert hands, a stunning work of art is created.

    This short is part of the Manawan series directed by Alanis Obomsawin

  • Snowshoes
    Snowshoes
    Alanis Obomsawin 1972 7 min

    The remarkable construction of the venerable snowshoe is demonstrated from start to finish. Atikamekw Elders Mariane and Athanas Jacob take us into the forest to select the tree that will become a fresh new pair of snowshoes.

    This short is part of the Manawan series directed by Alanis Obomsawin

  • First Stories - Patrick Ross
    First Stories - Patrick Ross
    Ervin Chartrand 2006 5 min

    In this short film, we meet 29-year-old Patrick Ross, an ex-prison inmate-turned-artist. Watch Patrick as he creates one of his extraordinary paintings while sharing his thoughts on his art, his time in jail, and his hopes for the future. First Stories is an emerging filmmaker program for Indigenous youth which produced 3 separate collections of short films from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Produced in association with CBC, APTN, SCN, SaskFilm and MANITOBA FILM & SOUND.