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  • The Amendment
    The Amendment
    Kevin Papatie 2007 4 min
    In the Kitcisakik community, the Algonquin language is dying out, just four generations after the federal government's assimilation policy came into effect.

    Since 2004, Wapikoni Mobile has been giving Indigenous youth the opportunity to speak out using video and music.
  • Cold Journey
    Cold Journey
    Martin Defalco 1975 1 h 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, Cold Journey's narrative is similar to 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.
  • Cree Way
    Cree Way
    Tony Ianzelo 1977 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.
  • Eye Witness No. 29
    Eye Witness No. 29
    1950 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.
  • Youth / Oshkaadiziig
    Youth / Oshkaadiziig
    Angelina McLeod 2019 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.
  • The Great Departure
    The Great Departure
    Kevin Papatie 2008 5 min

    For the sake of his children, in 2001 an Algonquin father went back to school. Now, encouraged by his friends in the Kitcisakik community, he is going on to CEGEP.

    Since 2004, Wapikoni Mobile has been giving Indigenous youth the opportunity to speak out using video and music. This short film was made with the guidance of these travelling studios and is part of the 2007 Selection - Wapikoni Mobile DVD.

  • Hi-Ho Mistahey!
    Hi-Ho Mistahey!
    Alanis Obomsawin 2013 1 h 39 min
    In this feature-length documentary, Alanis Obomsawin tells the story of Shannen’s Dream, a national campaign to provide equitable access to education in safe and suitable schools for First Nations children. Strong participation in this initiative eventually brings Shannen's Dream all the way to the United Nations in Geneva.

  • Hi-Ho Mistahey! (Short Version)
    Hi-Ho Mistahey! (Short Version)
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    Alanis Obomsawin 2013 59 min
    In this feature-length documentary, Alanis Obomsawin tells the story of Shannen’s Dream, a national campaign to provide equitable access to education in safe and suitable schools for First Nations children. Strong participation in this initiative eventually brings Shannen's Dream all the way to the United Nations in Geneva.
  • The Lost Children
    The Lost Children
    Dalhya Newashish 2007 10 min
    Uprooted at age 5 or 6 to study in White schools, the children of the Wemotaci community are now scarred adults trying to recover their Atikamekw identity.

    Since 2004, Wapikoni Mobile has been giving young Aboriginals the opportunity to speak out using video and music. This short documentary was made with the guidance of these travelling studios and is part of the 2007 Selection - Wapikoni Mobile DVD.
  • Fisher River
    Fisher River
    Kevin Settee 2021 15 min
    This episode narrows in on stories of generosity and perseverance in Fisher River Cree Nation in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stories include the purchase and distribution of fish on a community and intra-community level, as well as stories of mothers who experienced unique challenges of their own while continuing to provide support and care to their families and communities.
  • Off to School
    Off to School
    1958 8 min
    This short film from 1958 compiles 3 short reportages on different ways kids are schooled in remote areas. To School by Boat follows children of isolated fishing hamlets along a stretch of British Columbia coastline as they travel to school by sea-going bus. In Classroom on Rails, we hop along a railway coach that brings school to children in a logging area of northern Ontario. Northern Schooldays introduces us to First Nations children educated in a residential school in Moose Factory.

  • Our People Will Be Healed
    Our People Will Be Healed
    Alanis Obomsawin 2017 1 h 36 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.
  • PowWow at Duck Lake
    PowWow at Duck Lake
    1967 14 min
    This powerful short documentary showing Indigenous youth resistance and emerging voices that will continue to define the landscape of Indigenous cultural and political activism for the next generation. Members of the National Youth Council, including Duke Redbird and Harold Cardinal, have a powerful exchange with a hostile white priest about the failures of the education system in relation to Indigenous people. The group tackles issues including segregated residential schools, the denial of citizenship rights, loss of language, and mass incarceration, many of which persist or continue to be stumbling blocks in the relationship between Indigenous people and the Government of Canada today.
  • Places Not Our Own
    Places Not Our Own
    Derek Mazur 1986 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.
  • Second Stories - It Had to Be Done
    Second Stories - It Had to Be Done
    Tessa Desnomie 2008 22 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.
  • Travelling College
    Travelling College
    Ernest Benedict 1968 9 min
    Produced by the Indian Film Crew (IFC) for showing to fellow Indigenous peoples across North America, this film demonstrates the concept of self-help of the Indian Travelling College, an educational venture designed to teach Indigenous students what they want to know, be it business knowledge, handicrafts or marketing of products.
  • To Wake Up the Nakota Language
    To Wake Up the Nakota Language
    Louise BigEagle 2017 6 min
    “When you don’t know your language or your culture, you don’t know who you are,” says 69-year-old Armand McArthur, one of the last fluent Nakota speakers in Pheasant Rump First Nation, Treaty 4 territory, in southern Saskatchewan. Through the wisdom of his words, Armand is committed to revitalizing his language and culture for his community and future generations.
  • To Wake Up the Nakota Language (Nakota Version)
    To Wake Up the Nakota Language (Nakota Version)
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    2017 6 min
    “When you don’t know your language or your culture, you don’t know who you are,” says 69-year-old Armand McArthur, one of the last fluent Nakota speakers in Pheasant Rump First Nation, Treaty 4 territory, in southern Saskatchewan. Through the wisdom of his words, Armand is committed to revitalizing his language and culture for his community and future generations.
  • Full Circle
    Full Circle
    Kristi Lane Sinclair 2018 8 min
    Since its inception in 1976, Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre has been a place in which the urban Indigenous community could feel safe, learn and grow. Council Fire uses cultural teachings and creates space to restore Indigenous identity, especially for its youth. At the core of Council Fire’s history and teachings is the drum, which they refer to as “our mother.” In Full Circle, we get to know the members of the Toronto Council Fire Youth Program as they embark on new journeys. We meet a drum group that lays down tracks at a professional recording studio and a group of young dancers who showcase their moves at a dance studio.
  • Places to Gather and Learn
    Places to Gather and Learn
    Darlene Naponse 2018 10 min
    A day in the lives of Indigenous students at N’Swakamok Alternative School, Places to Gather and Learn emphasizes the value and necessity of Indigenous alternative and community spaces.  This short follows students as they learn and share their stories, aspirations, obstacles and accomplishments. Run in partnership with the N’Swakamok Indigenous Friendship Centre, and as a satellite of Sudbury Secondary School, N’Swakamok Alternative School offers students a supportive and culturally activated space to gain life skills as they pursue their academic and personal goals.
  • Wandering Spirit Survival School
    Wandering Spirit Survival School
    Marvin Midwicki Les Holdway , … 1978 27 min
    This school, organized by concerned parents, broke with tradition by introducing subjects that are of particular relevance to its pupils. Traditional Indigenous stories, traditions, languages and crafts balance the program of academic subjects required by the Ontario Ministry of Education. The experience of the children at Wandering Spirit is contrasted with the very different life experienced by their parents, educated in the old residential schools.
  • We Were Children
    We Were Children
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    Tim Wolochatiuk 2012 1 h 22 min
    In this feature film, the profound impact of the Canadian government’s residential school system is conveyed through the eyes of two children who were forced to face hardships beyond their years. As young children, Lyna and Glen were taken from their homes and placed in church-run boarding schools, where they suffered years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, the effects of which persist in their adult lives. We Were Children gives voice to a national tragedy and demonstrates the incredible resilience of the human spirit.

    Warning: this film contains disturbing content and is recommended for audiences 16 years of age and older. Parental discretion, and/or watching this film within a group setting, is strongly advised. If you need counselling support, please contact Health Canada.
  • Writing the Land
    Writing the Land
    Kevin Lee Burton 2007 7 min
    In this short documentary, a Musqueam elder rediscovers his Native language and traditions in the city of Vancouver, near where the Musqueam people have lived for thousands of years.

    Writing the Land captures the ever-changing nature of a modern city - the glass and steel towers cut against the sky, grass, trees and a sudden flash of birds in flight and the enduring power of language to shape perception and create memory.
  • When All the Leaves Are Gone
    When All the Leaves Are Gone
    Alanis Obomsawin 2010 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.

    Inspired by personal experiences of writer and director Alanis Obomsawin, When All the Leaves are Gone combines autobiography, fiction and fable to create a deeply moving story about the power of dreams.