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Indigenous Peoples (14)
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CirclesShanti Thakur 1997 57 minIn the Yukon, an innovative program is bringing a traditional form of Aboriginal justice--circle sentencing--to the Canadian justice system. Sentencing circles don't focus on punishment. Instead, they bring together the perpetrator of a crime, his or her victims, and peers and family in an effort to bring healing to the community.
For many Aboriginal men in the North, going to jail was a natural extension of attending missionary-run schools. Brothers Harold and Phil Gatensby, who have both done their share of jail time, now participate in circles as a way to allow offenders to break the cycle of crime, court and prison. The program works so well that Aboriginals from the Yukon have helped set up similar programs elsewhere in Canada and in the US. The circle is a powerful alternative to prison terms imposed by courts--not only for Aboriginal people in the North but, potentially, for all communities. -
The Days of Whiskey GapColin Low 1961 28 minRousing tales of the North-West Mounted Police are brought to life through photos and artists' sketches. In 1873, the North-West Mounted Police were established to maintain law and order in the North-West Territories. They undertook a trek from Fort Dufferin, south of Winnipeg, to Fort Whoop-up, near present-day Lethbridge, Alberta. The force raised the flag and proclaimed the Queen's law, ensuring that the Canadian West would not become a lawless American-style frontier.
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A Family for MariaLina Gagnon 1992 5 minAn animated film for five- to eight-year-olds about international adoption and the difficulty of adapting to a new environment. The film also gives a glimpse into the problems of abandoned children in developing countries. In A Family for Maria/Une famille pour Maria, love triumphs over the insecurity of a little Latin American girl who finds a new family in North America.
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Finding DawnChristine Welsh 2006 1 h 13 minAcclaimed Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh brings us a compelling documentary that puts a human face on a national tragedy – the epidemic of missing or murdered Indigenous women in Canada. The film takes a journey into the heart of Indigenous women's experience, from Vancouver's skid row, down the Highway of Tears in northern BC, and on to Saskatoon, where the murders and disappearances of these women remain unsolved.
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The Federal Court HearingAlanis Obomsawin 2012 19 minAmid a severe housing crisis that made international headlines in 2011, the federal government imposed third-party management on the Attawapiskat First Nation. In response, the First Nation’s leadership filed a challenge in federal court, claiming the appointment was unreasonable, contrary to law and harmful to community members. Alanis Obomsawin documents the remarkable judicial review that ensued in April 2012 in this companion work to her feature documentary The People of the Kattawapiskak River.
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Honour of the CrownTom Radford 2001 47 minFrançois Paulette has devoted more than 25 years of his life to resolving a battle that is more than a century old. Senior negotiator for the Smith's Landing First Nation, Paulette is determined to see the Canadian government honour promises made to the Thebatthi (Chipewyan) people in an 1899 treaty. Shot in northern Alberta and Ottawa, Honour of the Crown is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the turbulent final years of this fight.
Plunged into seemingly endless negotiations, Paulette and his brother, Chief Jerry Paulette, struggle to reclaim nine tracts of land and $33 million in compensation. Featuring interviews with tribal, provincial and federal government representatives, this documentary provides a rare glimpse into one community's success in settling a 100-year-old treaty obligation of the Crown. -
Incident at RestigoucheAlanis Obomsawin 1984 45 minOn June 11 and 20, 1981, the Quebec Provincial Police (QPP) raided Restigouche Reserve, Quebec. At issue were the salmon-fishing rights of the Mi’kmaq. Because salmon has traditionally been a source of food and income for the Mi’kmaq, the Quebec government’s decision to restrict fishing aroused consternation and anger. Released in 1984, this groundbreaking and impassioned account of the police raids brought Alanis Obomsawin to international attention. The film features a remarkable on-camera exchange between Obomsawin herself and provincial Minister of Fisheries Lucien Lessard, the man who’d ordered the raid. Decades later, Jeff Barnaby, director of Rhymes for Young Ghouls, cited the film as an inspiration. “That documentary encapsulated the idea of films being a form of social protest for me... It started right there with that film.”
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Jordan River Anderson, The MessengerAlanis Obomsawin 2019 1 h 5 minAlanis Obomsawin's 52nd film tells the story of how the life of Jordan River Anderson initiated a battle for the right of First Nations and Inuit children to receive the same standard of social, health and educational services as the rest of the Canadian population.
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My Name Is KahentiiostaAlanis Obomsawin 1995 29 minThis short documentary by Alanis Obomsawin tells the story of Kahentiiosta, a young Kahnawake Mohawk woman arrested after the Oka Crisis' 78-day armed standoff in 1990. She was detained 4 days longer than the other women. Her crime? The prosecutor representing the Quebec government did not accept her Indigenous name.
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Six Miles DeepSara Roque 2009 43 minThis short documentary offers a portrait of a group of women who led their community, the largest reserve in Canada, Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve, in an historic blockade to protect their land. On February 28, 2006, members of the Iroquois Confederacy blockaded a highway near Caledonia, Ontario to prevent a housing development on land that falls within their traditional territories. The ensuing confrontation made national headlines for months. Less well-known is the crucial role of the clan mothers of the community who set the rules for conduct. When the community's chiefs ask people to abandon the barricades, it is the clan mothers who overrule them, leading a cultural reawakening in their traditionally matriarchal community.
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The Spirit WithinGil Cardinal & Wil Campbell 1990 51 minThis documentary looks at various Indigenous spirituality programs that run in western Canadian federal penitentiaries, as well as in some provincial institutions. These programs are led by elders, with assistance from liaison officers. They include workshops, ceremonies, and other traditional methods that help put the incarcerated back in touch with themselves, their culture, and their spirituality. A unique glimpse of the lives of Indigenous inmates.
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Two Worlds CollidingTasha Hubbard 2004 49 minThis documentary is an inquiry into what came to be known as Saskatoon's infamous "freezing deaths," and the schism between a fearful, mistrustful Indigenous community and a police force harbouring a harrowing secret. One frigid night in January 2000 Darrell Night, an Indigenous man was dumped by two police officers in -20° C temperatures in a barren field on the city outskirts. He survives the ordeal but is stunned to hear that the frozen body of another Indigenous man was discovered in the same area. Days later, another victim, also Native, is found. When Night comes forward with his story, he sets into motion a chain of events: a major RCMP investigation into several suspicious deaths, the conviction of the two constables who abandoned him and the reopening of an old case, leading to a judicial inquiry.
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We Can't Make the Same Mistake TwiceAlanis Obomsawin 2016 2 h 42 minThe rights of First Nations children take centre stage in this monumental documentary. Following a historic court case filed by the Assembly of First Nations and the Child and Family Caring Society of Canada against the federal government, Alanis Obomsawin exposes generations of injustices endured by First Nations children living on reserves and their families. Through passionate testimony and unwavering conviction, frontline childcare workers and experts including Cindy Blackstock take part in a decade-long court battle to ensure these children receive the same level of care as other Canadian children. Their case against Canada is a stark reminder of the disparities that persist in First Nations communities and the urgent need for justice to be served.
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You Are on Indian LandMichael Kanentakeron Mitchell 1969 36 minReleased in 1969, this short documentary was one of the most influential and widely distributed productions made by the Indian Film Crew (IFC), the first all-Indigenous unit at the NFB. It documents a 1969 protest by the Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) of Akwesasne, a territory that straddles the Canada–U.S. border. When Canadian authorities prohibited the duty-free cross-border passage of personal purchases—a right established by the Jay Treaty of 1794—Kanien’kéhaka protesters blocked the international bridge between Ontario and New York State. Director Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell later became Grand Chief of Akwesasne. The film was formally credited to him in 2017. You Are on Indian Land screened extensively across the continent, helping to mobilize a new wave of Indigenous activism. It notably was shown at the 1970 occupation of Alcatraz.
