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Subjects (65)
History - Canada - Pre-1867 (22)

Western Canada (6)

  • Age of the Buffalo
    Age of the Buffalo
    Austin Campbell 1964 14 min
    A vivid recollection of the free west of the North American Indigenous Peoples and the vast herds of buffalo that once thundered across the plains. From paintings of the mid-1800s, the animation camera creates a most convincing picture of the buffalo hunt, both as the Indigenous People and, disastrously, the white hunters practised it.
  • The Ballad of Crowfoot
    The Ballad of Crowfoot
    Willie Dunn 1968 10 min
    Released in 1968 and often referred to as Canada’s first music video, The Ballad of Crowfoot was directed by Willie Dunn, a Mi’kmaq/Scottish folk singer and activist who was part of the historic Indian Film Crew, the first all-Indigenous production unit at the NFB. The film is a powerful look at colonial betrayals, told through a striking montage of archival images and a ballad composed by Dunn himself about the legendary 19th-century Siksika (Blackfoot) chief who negotiated Treaty 7 on behalf of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The IFC’s inaugural release, Crowfoot was the first Indigenous-directed film to be made at the NFB.
  • Fort Prince of Wales
    Fort Prince of Wales
    1978 1 min
    A Canada Vignette giving a humorous animated version of the history of Fort Prince of Wales from its construction to its capture by the French.
  • David Thompson: The Great Mapmaker
    David Thompson: The Great Mapmaker
    Bernard Devlin 1964 28 min
    This short film recreates the story of David Thompson – a man who, over the course of his lifetime, mapped a-million-and-a-half square miles of uncharted territory. His achievement remains unsurpassed.
  • Selkirk of Red River
    Selkirk of Red River
    Richard Gilbert 1964 28 min
    This film tells the story of the Red River settlement, now the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The pioneer venture of Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, to establish a colony brought opposition from the North West Company, the Hudson's Bay Company’s powerful rival. A fine cast of actors portrays the ensuing dispute.
  • The Voyageurs
    The Voyageurs
    1964 19 min
    This short film tells the tale of the men who drove big freighter canoes into the wilderness in the days when the fur trade was Canada's biggest business. The film recreates scenes of the early 19th century with a soundtrack by an all-male chorus.

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