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First Nations Crafts (12)
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Basket - Lhk'wál'us (Salish Version)Alanis Obomsawin 1975 7 minA 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. -
BasketAlanis Obomsawin 1975 7 minA 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. -
César's Bark CanoeBernard Gosselin 1971 57 minThis documentary shows how a canoe is built the old way. César Newashish, a 67-year-old Atikamekw of the Manawan Reserve north of Montreal, uses only birchbark, cedar splints, spruce roots and gum. Building a canoe solely from the materials that the forest provides may become a lost art, even among the Indigenous peoples whose traditional craft it is. The film is without commentary but text frames appear on the screen in Cree, French and English.
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Métis Coat1979 1 minIn this short from the Canada Vignettes series, the Earl of Caledon of Tyrone, Ireland, acquires an elegantly tailored deerskin coat. The coat is trimmed with fringe and brightly dyed porcupine quill embroidery, in a fashion popularized by the Métis.
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Hands of HistoryLoretta Todd 1994 51 minIn 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.
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Ka Ke Ki KuRené Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1960 29 minThis early work from Pierre Perrault, made in collaboration with René Bonnière, chronicles summer activities in the Innu communities of Unamenshipu (La Romaine) and Pakuashipi. Shot by noted cinematographer Michel Thomas-d’Hoste, it documents the construction of a traditional canoe, fishing along the Coucouchou River, a procession marking the Christian feast of the Assumption, and the departure of children for residential schools—an event presented here in an uncritical light. Perrault’s narration, delivered by an anonymous male voice, underscores the film’s outsider gaze on its Indigenous subjects. The film is from Au Pays de Neufve-France (1960), a series produced by Crawley Films, an important early Canadian producer of documentary films.
Alexis Joveneau, a Catholic priest with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, worked in the Innu community of Unamenshipu (La Romaine) between 1960 and 1985, and appears in five NFB productions: Attiuk (1960), Ka Ke Ki Ku (1960), Le goût de la farine (1977), Le pays de la terre sans arbre ou le Mouchouânipi (1980) and La grande allure II (1985). Joveneau is seen in several scenes of Ka Ke Ki Ku, teaching Innu children and providing Innu-aimun/French translation.
In November 2017, during Canada’s National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, a number of Innu women from Unamenshipu testified that they had been sexually and physically abused by Joveneau, who died in 1992. Many other women subsequently came forward with similar allegations, and on March 29, 2018, a request for a class action was filed in Quebec Superior Court on behalf of the women against the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The class action was authorized on November 16, 2021. The Oblates named in the suit include Alexis Joveneau, Omer Provencher, Edmond Brouillard, Raynald Couture and Édouard Meilleur.” -
The Last Mooseskin BoatRaymond Yakeleya 1982 28 minThis 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.
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Making Primitive Stone ToolsDouglas Leechman 1950 11 minA demonstration of the method of chipping stones employed by Indigenous peoples to fashion tools and knives. An authority on Indigenous crafts selects from the bank of a British Columbia river typical stones used to make arrowheads, axes, knives and skin scrapers, and proceeds to show how this was done. Illustrations show the careful manipulation required to achieve a blade of the desired sharpness and strength.
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Objects in Our LivesAlanis Obomsawin & Keith Packwood 1975 6 minClose-up photographs of baskets, tools and utensils used in the past and still used today by the Stl’atl’imx (Líl̓wat). Printed notes describe the use of each item
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Standing BuffaloJoan Henson 1968 23 minThis short film from the late 1960s depicts a rug-making cooperative organized by the Sioux women of the Standing Buffalo Reserve in the Qu’Appelle Valley of southern Saskatchewan. The members of this band are descended from a tribe that migrated from Minnesota during armed clashes over a hundred years ago. The Sioux, noted for their distinctive, colourful designs, show off their handicraft in great detail.
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SnowshoesAlanis Obomsawin 1972 7 minThe 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 -
Waban-Aki: People from Where the Sun RisesAlanis Obomsawin 2006 1 h 44 minIn this feature-length documentary from Alanis Obomsawin, the filmmaker returns to the village where she was raised to craft a lyrical account of her own people. After decades of tirelessly recording others' stories, she focuses this film on her own.
