Research and Communication

Suggested Films

The films listed below have been suggested by Alberta teachers as useful. The Suggested Films have been divided into two sections to indicate those films that have been authorized by Alberta Education and those that have not.

Note: The listing of unauthorized resources is not to be taken as explicit or implicit departmental approval for use. The titles have been provided as a service only, to help school authorities identify resources that contain potentially useful ideas. The responsibility to evaluate these resources prior to selection rests with the user, in accordance with any existing local policy. The user is also responsible for evaluating any materials listed within the resource itself.

Alberta Education Authorized Films

Mi’kmaq Family–Migmaoei Otjiosog. Dir. Catherine Anne Martin (Mi’kmaw). National Film Board of Canada, 1994 (33 min). The filmmaker explores her Mi’kmaw heritage at the community’s annual gathering in Nova Scotia.

The Little Trapper. Dir. Dorothy Schreiber. National Film Board of Canada, 1999 (24 min). Robert Grandjambe, Jr., is a 13-year-old with a passion to learn more about traditional Cree hunting and beliefs.

The Washing of Tears. Dir. Hugh Brody. National Film Board of Canada, 1994 (55 min). The Mowachahts of British Columbia express concern for their sacred whaling shrine, now housed in a major museum.

Today is a Good Day: Remembering Chief Dan George. Dir. Loretta Todd (Cree Métis). Moving Images Distribution, 1998 (44 min). This video presents an intimate view of legendary actor Chief Dan George.

Yuxweluptun: Man of Masks. Dir. Dana Claxton (Hunkpapa Lakota). National Film Board of Canada, 1998 (22 min). A portrait of Salish artist Yuxweluptun (Lawrence Paul).

Additional Films (not authorized by Alberta Education)

A Canoe for the Making. Dir. George Bloomfield. Produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 1995 (25 min.) Fiction. Through the wise intervention of an Elder, a young man is forced to confront his alcoholism. For distribution information, contact the Film and Video Center, NMAI.

Knowledge and Employability Studio Infusing FNMI Perspectives/Research and Communication English Language Arts/Social Studies Suggested Films 1/6 ©Alberta Education, Alberta, Canada (www.LearnAlberta.ca) 2020 A Nation Is... Dir. Cat Cayuga (Mohawk–Onondaga). V Tape, 1994 (7 min). A song pays tribute to the strength of generations of Aboriginal women.

Amarok's Song–Journey to Nunavut. Dir. Martin Kreelak (Inuit) and Ole Gjerstad. National Film Board of Canada, 1998 (75 min). Three generations of an Inuit family revisit the place they lived before being resettled by the Canadian government. Elders recall strong community ties and spiritual belief as well as hardship. Contemporary life is sketched in videos made by young people.

Appreciating the Three Sisters. Dir. Rich Brotman. Indigenous Peoples Communications Project, 1995 (8 min). Aboriginal agricultural projects at Cornell University concerned with sustaining indigenous plant varieties.

Bearwalker (formerly titled Backroads). Dir. Shirley Cheechoo (Cree). 2000 (83 min). Set on a fictional reserve in Canada in 1976, this dark drama explores conditions of racism and abuse that explode into the lives of four sisters. For distribution information contact the Film and Video Center, NMAI.

Borders. Dir. Gil Cardinal (Métis). Produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 1995 (25 min). A young Blackfoot boy learns the value of defending his sovereignty. For distribution information, contact the Film and Video Center, NMAI.

Buffalo Tracks. Dir. Gary Farmer (Cayuga). Produced in cooperation with Aboriginal People's Television Network (APTN). 2000 (55 min). A new culture series featuring Aboriginal performance, music and art in the first producing year of APTN, Canada's new all-Aboriginal television network.

Bursting with Fruit Flavour. Dir. Jamie Bruner, Tim Clothier, Vanessa Kenny, Eric Nepoose, Lianne Ashley (all First Nations). Lorna Thomas Productions, 1997 (17 min). Canada. Five Aboriginal teenagers from the inner city videotape each other as they visit places in which they feel comfortable—or uncomfortable—and along the way reveal their personal stories.

Chinook Winds: The First Aboriginal Dance Project 1996. Produced by the Aboriginal Dance Program, Banff Centre for the Arts. V Tape, 1998 (27 min). Canada. The Aboriginal Dance Program brought together dancers and musicians of many First Nations to create new works and led to a new style of contemporary dance.

Columbus Didn't Discover Us. Dir. Robbie Leppzer. Turning Tide Productions, 1992 (24 min). Aboriginal peoples from North, Central and South America speak of the impact the Columbus legacy has had. English and Spanish versions.

Cree Hunters of Mistassini. Dir. Boyce Richardson and Tony Ianzelo. National Film Board of Canada, 1974 (58 min). This video shows the conflicts produced by the James Bay development scheme between the Cree people and the dominant white culture.

Knowledge and Employability Studio Infusing FNMI Perspectives/Research and Communication English Language Arts/Social Studies Suggested Films 2/6 ©Alberta Education, Alberta, Canada (www.LearnAlberta.ca) 2020 Dancing: Dancing In One World. Dir. Geoff Dunlop. 1993 (57 min). This video shows dancers from the Pacific Rim area, including the United States (Afro-Americans, American Indians and Hawaiians), Polynesia, Australia and Indonesia.

Dancing Ducks. Dir. Lynn Whidden. Video Pool, 1994 (5 min). Ojibwe children in Ontario enact a lively trickster story and song.

Deep Inside Clint Star. Dir. Clint Alberta (Dene). National Film Board of Canada, 1998 (89 min). The filmmaker interviews six friends about topics such as sex, identity, racism, suicide and survival.

Earl's Canoe. Dir. Thomas Vennum. Produced by the Smithsonian Institution, Office of Folklife Programs. Documentary Educational Resources, 1999 (27 min). USA. Calling on knowledge of natural materials and traditional tools, Ojibwe Elder Earl Nyholm crafts a traditional birchbark canoe from start to finish, beginning with selecting a tree and giving thanks.

Edge of Ice. Dir. William Hansen. National Film Board of Canada, 1986 (56 min). This video shows how the Inuit depend on larger Arctic animals which in turn depend on smaller animals and ultimately on algae.

Episode 5: Angiraq (Home)–Nunavut (Our Land). Dir. Zacharias Kunuk (Inuit). V Tape, 1995 (29 min). In Inuktituk with English subtitles. People of Igloolik re-enact their ways of life in the Northwest Territories, circa 1945.

Finding My Talk: A Journey into Aboriginal Languages. Dir. Paul Rickard (Cree). Produced in association with Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). Shenandoah Film Productions, 2000 (48 min). Canada. This video chronicles the filmmaker's search for his own language roots and his subsequent discovery of the work being done by individuals across Canada to revive and preserve Aboriginal languages.

Glooscap Country. Dir. Margaret Perry. National Film Board of Canada, 1962 (13 min). The video tells the legend of the Mi’kmaw Indian god, Glooscap, who was believed to have lived in Nova Scotia.

Hands of History. Dir. Loretta Todd (Métis Cree). National Film Board of Canada, 1994 (52 min). Profiles of Native women artists in Canada explore issues of identity and creativity.

Haudenosaunee: Way of the Longhouse. Dir. Robert Stiles and John Akin. First Run/Icarus Films, 1982 (13 min). The video depicts contemporary Iroquois people in relation to their ancient and traditional system of government.

Knowledge and Employability Studio Infusing FNMI Perspectives/Research and Communication English Language Arts/Social Studies Suggested Films 3/6 ©Alberta Education, Alberta, Canada (www.LearnAlberta.ca) 2020 Healing the Mission School Syndrome. Northern Native Broadcasting Yukon (NNBY), 1995 (45 min). Native TV public affairs program broadcast by satellite to the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Alaska, dealing with the dislocation and cultural loss caused by the residential school system.

High Steel. Dir. Don Owen. National Film Board of Canada, 1965 (14 min). Profiles of steelworkers in New York from the Caughawaga Reserve in Quebec.

Holy Dog. Dir. Judith Norris. Video Out International Distribution, 1999 (7 min). CANADA. Poetry, traditional song and the Blackfoot language pay tribute to the Horse Nation on the land of the Similkameen Reserve.

House of Peace. Dir. Cathleen Ashworth. Produced by G. Peter Jemison (Seneca) for the Friends of Ganondagan. Friends of Ganondagan, 1999 (29 min). US. An authentic rendering of the town of Ganondagan’s tragic end through Seneca eyes and a celebration of the building of a Seneca bark longhouse at the site.

Hunters and Bombers. Dir. Hugh Brody and Nigel Markham. National Film Board of Canada, 1991 (52 min). Innu of Labrador protest low-level military flights and war games over their hunting territory.

Keepers of the Fire. Dir. Christine Welsh (Métis) and Ian Herring. Moving Images Distribution, 1994 (55 min). Profiles of "women warriors" in Canada, including artist Shirley Bear and women of Oka, Haida Gwaii and an urban women's shelter.

Kusah Hakwaan. Dir. Sean Morris. Alaskan Nomad Productions, 1998 (75 min). US. In a modern Tlingit community, an elder recounts the tale of two legendary brothers and the ancient Trickster Raven.

Legends: The Story of Siwash Rock. Dir. Annie Fraziér-Henry (Blackfoot-Sioux-French). Full Regalia Productions, 1999 (24 min). Canada. This drama adapts the Coast Salish myth of Siwash Rock to the story of a young Aboriginal man living in the inner city.

My Spirit Speaks. Dir. Melanie Printup Hope (Tuscarora). 1994 (10 min). The sewing of beadwork designs becomes an exploration of family heritage. For distribution information, contact the Film and Video Center, NMAI.

Nanook of the North. Dir. Robert Flaherty. 1922 (65 min). This film portrays the experiences of an Eskimo family.

Okimah. Dir. Paul M. Rickard (Cree). National Film Board of Canada, 1998 (51 min). The annual goose hunt in Moose Factory, northern Ontario, is a Cree tradition stretching back centuries. The filmmaker joins his family in a hunt in which his father serves as an okimah, or hunt leader, an important figure for passing on Cree culture, skills and values.

Knowledge and Employability Studio Infusing FNMI Perspectives/Research and Communication English Language Arts/Social Studies Suggested Films 4/6 ©Alberta Education, Alberta, Canada (www.LearnAlberta.ca) 2020 Qulliq (Oil Lamp). Dir. Susan Avingaq (Inuit), Madeline Ivalu (Inuit), Mathilda Hanniliqq (Inuit), Martha Maktar (Inuit), Marie-Hélène Cousineau. Produced by Arnait Video Productions (Women’s Video Workshop). V Tape, 1992 (12 min). Inuit women pay tribute to a staple of days gone by—the seal oil lamp.

Raven's Flight. Dir. Stephanie Alton. Raven's Eye Productions, 2000 (4 min). US. This video shows the world of the Gwich'in people of eastern Alaska and includes a traditional song performed by Gwich'in scholar Adaline Peter Raboff.

Stories from the Seventh Fire (The Four Seasons Series). Dir. Gregory Coyes (Metis). Filmwest Associates, 1999 (24 min). Canada. This animated video uses traditional artwork and computer imaging to preserve traditional stories for new generations of children.

Storytellers of the Pacific. Produced by Native American Public Telecommunications and Pacific Islanders in Communication. VisonMaker Video, 1996 (60 min each part, two parts). This video focuses on identity and sovereignty for Maori in New Zealand and Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Mexico, Australia, the USA, Hawai'i and Samoa.

T'lina: The Rendering of Wealth. Dir. Barb Cranmer ('Namgis). National Film Board of Canada, 1999 (51 min). This video examines traditional oolichan fishery and its great importance to the Kwakwaka'wakw and other First Nations people of the Pacific Northwest.

The Gift. Dir. Gary Farmer (Cayuga). National Film Board of Canada, 1998 (49 min). A film journey from the lands of the Haudenosaunee people of upstate New York and Canada to Chiapas, Mexico explores the spiritual, economic and political dimensions of the traditional plant, corn.

The Great Law of Peace. Dir. Pat Ferrero. 1998 (34 min). Produced for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh. US. A presentation of the central spiritual teaching of the Iroquois.

The Indian Speaks. Dir. Marcel Carrière. National Film Board of Canada, 1967 (40 min). This video shows the general culture of Indians in Canada and aspects of life on a reserve.

The Indians Were There First. Dir. Jean Claude Morin. Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 1985 (13 min). A description of the social and political cultures of various communities, especially the Iroquois.

The Law Is in the Seed. Dir. Veronika Soul. 1992 (3 min). A meditation on the meaning of corn in the philosophy of the Six Nations, interpreted by Mohawk poet Alex Jacobs. For distribution information, contact the Film and Video Center, NMAI.

Knowledge and Employability Studio Infusing FNMI Perspectives/Research and Communication English Language Arts/Social Studies Suggested Films 5/6 ©Alberta Education, Alberta, Canada (www.LearnAlberta.ca) 2020 The Man from Venus. Dir. James Diamond. Video Out International Distribution, 2000 (4 min). Canada. An experimental video evokes the isolation and confusion of a young First Nations man who finds that everything is negotiable, even his race and gender.

The Owl and the Raven: An Eskimo Legend. Dir. Co Hoedeman. National Film Board of Canada, 1973 (7 min). Animated sealskin puppets and Inuit songs are used to tell the story of why the raven is black.

Throw Away Kids. Dir. Muriel Miguel (Kuna-Rappahannock). Produced by the Aboriginal Dance Program, Banff Centre for the Arts. V Tape, 2000 (46 min). Canada. A dance theatre performance that combines modern and traditional styles to tell three interwoven stories: a creation story, a contemporary account of assault and a narrative about moving beyond survival to a spirit of celebration.

To Return: The John Walkus Story. Dir. Maureen Kelleher and Annie Fraziér-Henry (Blackfoot-Sioux-French). National Film Board of Canada, 2000 (46 min). The video focuses on the return of John Walkus Green to the village of Tsulquate, British Columbia, where he was born and then "adopted out" to a non-Aboriginal family as a child.

Tracks in the Snow. Dir. Shirley Cheechoo (Cree). 2001 (28 min). CANADA. Cree Elders lead a group of youngsters on a four-day trek into the bush to teach them about their traditional way of life. For distribution information, contact the Film and Video Center, NMAI.

Turnover. Dir. Byron Graves, Dustin Harris, Melanie May, Royce Graves, Frank Johns, Dwight Stately, Kuta Westerman. In Progress, 2000 (30 min). US. Conceived, directed and acted by youth of the Red Lake Ojibwe Nation in Minnesota. The story is of a basketball player whose ego becomes too big.

Vision Man: An Eskimo Hunter. Dir. William Long. Filmakers Library, 1997 (51 min). Produced for TV2/Denmark. An Eskimo man remembers his past way of life.

Where the Spirit Lives. Dir. Bruce Pittman. 1989 (98 min). A Blackfoot girl living in western Canada in 1937 is kidnapped and placed in a mission school that attempts to remove all traces of her culture.

Women and Men Are Good Dancers. Dir. Arlene Bowman (Navajo). Third World Newsreel, 1994 (6 min). Led by a Grass Dancer, young men and women of the Red Pheasant Reserve of Saskatchewan, Canada join the dance with various powwow dance steps.

Knowledge and Employability Studio Infusing FNMI Perspectives/Research and Communication English Language Arts/Social Studies Suggested Films 6/6 ©Alberta Education, Alberta, Canada (www.LearnAlberta.ca) 2020