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Last updated October 2001
The films and videorecordings listed below are owned by York University Libraries and available for academic use by the York University community.
Requests for these materials can be made in writing, by telephone, or in person to the
Sound & Moving Image LibraryFall/Winter Hours: Summer Hours: Monday - Thursday 9 am - 9 pm Monday - Thursday 9 am - 7 pm Friday 9 am - 8 pm Friday 9 am - 5 pm Saturday & Sunday noon - 5 pm Closed Weekends
Please note the following abbreviations:
MP : 16mm film
VC : VHS videotape
VC 3/4 : 3/4" videotape
ACTS OF DEFIANCE 105 min. 1992 VC #1588 National Film Board of Canada On the spot reportage details the 1990 standoff between the Mohawk people of Kahnawake, and the municipality of Oka, and the Quebec and federal governments. AGE OF THE BUFFALO 14 min. 1964 MP #2004 National Film Board of Canada Paintings of Frederick Remington and other artists recreate a buffalo hunt, both as the Indians practised it and as it was later perpetrated by white hunters. AMISK 40 min. 1977 VC #1500 National Film Board of Canada Music and dance performances from a week-long cultural festival organized to raise funds to support the Cree Indian case against the James Bay Hydro-electric Project. AS LONG AS THE RIVERS FLOW SERIES: National Film Board of Canada 1. TIME IMMEMORIAL 59 min. 1991 VC #0560 Presents the land claim struggle of British Columbia's Niska Indians. 2. TIKINAGAN 59 min. 1991 VC #0502 Describes the methods used at Tikinagan, a Canadian native child-care agency in Sioux Lookout, Ontario. 3. FLOODING JOB'S GARDEN 59 min. 1991 VC #0503 Cree Indians, in opposition to Phase II of the James Bay Great Whale project, join forces with environmental groups and Hydro- Quebec's American customers and win a political reprieve from the planned development. 4. STARTING FIRE WITH GUNPOWDER 59 min. 1991 VC #0504 National Film Board Looks at the role of the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation in Quebec, which is helping to preserve native culture, language and heritage. 5. THE LEARNING PATH 59 min. 1991 VC #0505 Three Native elders in Edmonton discuss how they use education to preserve aboriginal culture. ATTIUK 29 min. 1963 MP #3036 National Film Board of Canada Presents the ritual hunting dance of the Montagnais Indians who live on the Reserve of Olomanshibou (La Romaine) near the Strait of Belle Isle. BALLAD OF CROWFOOT 11 min. 1968 VC #0297 National Film Board of Canada Conflicts between Indians and the white man during the opening of the Canadian West seen from the perspective of a Canadian Indian. BEHIND THE MASKS 37 min. 1973 VC #1243 National Film Board of Canada Anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss undertakes a field trip to British Columbia to examine the masks of the Pacific Northwest Indians. BETWEEN TWO WORLDS 58 min. 1990 VC #2144 National Film Board of Canada Describes the legacy of Inuit dependency created by Canada'sexploitation of the North, focusing on the tragic story of Joseph Idlout, the respected Inuit hunter and leader who was pictured on Canada's $2 bill. BIG BEAR 183 min. 1998 VC Feature Home use - no classroom rights Gil Cardinal With the government and settlers staking claim to the Cree Indian ancestral lands and hunting grounds, the slowly starving Cree are forced from the land they call home. Torn between loyalty to their leader, Chief Big Bear and bitterness at the broken promises of the white man, the Cree are desperate. BLACK INDIANS: AN AMERICAN STORY 60 min. 2000 VC #5901 Rich-Heape Films Using family memories and historical highlights, explores what brought Native Americans and African Americans together, what drove them apart, and the challenges they face today. BLACK ROBE 100 min. 1992 VC Feature Alliance Communications Based on the novel by Brian Moore. A young Jesuit priest journeys to an Indian mission in the central Canadian wilderness during the early 1600's. BLOCKADE: ALGONQUINS DEFEND THE FOREST 27 min. 1990 VC #0927 National Film Board of Canada In a struggle to save their traditional hunting grounds, the community of Barriere Lake Algonquins barricaded logging roads, and insisted that the government address their concerns. BONES OF THE FOREST 90 min. 1995 VC #1942 Heather Frise & Velcrow Ripper British Columbia native and non-native elders, retired loggers and environmentalists, document the social and environmental consequences of short-sighted logging practices. BROKEN PROMISES: THE HIGH ARCTIC RELOCATION 52 min. 1994 VC #3709 Nutaaq Media Inc In 1953, Inuit from Port Harrison, now Inukjuak, Quebec, were relocated to Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord, in the Northwest Territories, only one of a series of relocations. Archival footage and interviews with survivors tell of the hardships the Inuit endured. CBC NEW IN REVIEW: OCTOBER 1991 55 min. 1991 VC #1716 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 2. Native Justice in Manitoba (16:01) CBC NEWS IN REVIEW: MARCH 1993 57 min. 1993 VC #2612 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 1. Davis Inlet: Moving from Misery (11:00) CHARLEY SQUASH GOES TO TOWN 4 min. 1969 VC #4218 Duke Redbird Based on an Indian comic-strip character created by Duke Redbird, telling the story of a young Indian who leaves the reserve to make his way in the city. CHINOOK WINDS: THE FIRST ABORIGINAL DANCE PROJECT 27 min. 1998 VC #5892 Banff Centre for the Arts Directors explain the aims of the company, and dancers comment on what they have gained, from native instructors of dance and drumming, from traditional ceremonies and their visit to a powwow. Shows the company in rehearal and performance. CIRCLE OF JUSTICE: A PERSONAL AND TRIBAL JOURNEY TO HEALING 27 min. 1994 VC #0596 New Vision Media Interviews individuals involved in the justice system. Discusses the choices for native Canadians: to develop a parallel system of native justice or seek accommodation with the Canadian system. CIRCLE OF THE SUN 30 min. 1960 MP #3119 National Film Board of Canada Pictures one of the last gatherings of the Blood Indians of Alberta celebrating the glory of their tribe. COPPERMINE 56 min. 1992 VC #0983 National Film Board of Canada The health consequences of two cultures, the Copper Inuit of Canada's Coronation Gulf and Victoria Island, and the Americans and British who moved into the area in the early 1900's. CREE HUNTERS OF MISTASSINI 58 min. 1974 MP #3141-3142 National Film Board of Canada Follows three Cree families as they practice traditional hunting rites in the James and Ungava Bay areas. CREE OF PAINT HILLS 57 min. 1974 MP #3143-3144 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Emphasizes the traditions that bind the community together, as the Crees are shown working together in the daily round, or inthe "walking-out" ceremony, when two-year-old children walk out of their tepees, unassisted for the first time. DANCING AROUND THE TABLE, PART 1 57 min. 1987 VC #2624 National Film Board of Canada Documents three of the four Canadian First Ministers Constitutional Conferences held between 1983 and 1985 to address the issue of aboriginal rights. DANCING AROUND THE TABLE, PART 2 50 min. 1987 VC #2625 National Film Board of Canada Documents the fourth Canadian First Ministers Constitutional Conference held in 1987 to address the issue of aboriginal self-government which concluded without an agreement. DAUGHTERS OF THE COUNTRY SERIES: National Film Board of Canada 1. IKWE 58 min. 1986 VC #1073 A Canadian Ojibwa woman is given by her tribe in marriage to an ambitious Scots fur trader who does not respect her cultural values. 2. MISTRESS MADELEINE 58 min. 1986 VC #1074 A Metis woman is torn between loyalty to her brother who defies the Hudson's Bay Company's fur trade monopoly and her common-law husband who works for them. 3.PLACES NOT OUR OWN 58 min. 1986 VC #1075 Arriving in the prairie town of Napinka in 1929 and forced to live as squatters, Rose Lesperance struggles for her family's survival and dignity despite the towns folk's prejudices against the Metis. 4. THE WAKE 58 min. 1986 VC #1076 The romance between a Metis woman and an RCMP officer is halted when he is implicated in the drowning death of some Metis youths. DEEP INSIDE CLINT STAR 89 min. 1999 VC #5436 National Film Board of Canada Explores the lives of several young native people. Deals with issues of identity, sexuality and intimacy and their feelings about five hundred years of oppression. DELGAMUUKW V. BRITISH COLUMBIA 720 min. 1997 VC #4934-4937 Government of Canada Supreme Court hearing on Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en claims to land in British Columbia. Deals with issues of aboriginal title, how it is protected, and what is required for its proof, as well as issues of procedure arising from the original court case and the appeal in the British Columbia Court of Appeal. DOCTOR, LAWYER, INDIAN CHIEF 29 min. 1986 VC #2014 National Film Board of Canada Profiles five Canadian native women who have achieved success in careers ranging from politics to fishing. DONALD AND WINIFRED MARSH'S MISSIONARY ENCOUNTER WTIH THE PADLIMIUT 44 min. 1996 VC #5759 National Film Board of Canada As a missionary team in the 1930's, the Marsh's lived among the Padlimiut Inuit of Eskimo Point. Through the words and paintings of Winifed Marsh and the photography and records of the late Bishop Marsh, the traditional ways of the Padlimiut are recorded. THE DRUM 31 min. 1982 VC #1893 Ojibway Cree Cultural Centre Interviews conducted at pow wows and drum workshops emphasize the significance of the drum in Cree culture. THE DRUMMAKER 27 min. 1978 VC #1882 Smithsonian Institute Ojibway Indian, William Bineshi Baker, Jr., from the Lac Court Oreilles Reservation in northern Wisconsin constructs a drum and comments on the tradition of craftsmanship. DRUMS 120 min. 1991 VC #1726 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Stories of Canada's aboriginal peoples produced by regional and native journalists reveal a renewed interest in native spiritual values and traditions. EAST OF CANADA: THE STORY OF NEWFOUNDLAND 1. VOYAGE TO THE HAPPY ISLAND 49 min. 1997 VC #4795 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Cabot's discovery of Newfoundland provided a new life to those who followed him but it led to a slow death for the Beothuk Indians who had lived here before his arrival. ENCOUNTER WITH SAUL ALINSKY 32 min. 1967 MP #3204 National Film Board of Canada Saul Alinsky, a community organizer, advises young Canadian Indians on strategy for improving their situation. ESKIMO ARTIST KENOJUAK 20 min. 1964 MP #2088 National Film Board of Canada Kenojuak is a wife and mother who makes her drawings when she is free of the duties of trail or camp. Discusses the source of her inspiration and the means by which her stone prints are reproduced at the cooperative art centre of Cape Dorset. EYE OF THE STORM 44 min. 1997 VC #4736 National Film Board of Canada Mining one of the largest deposits of nickel and copper at Voisey Bay, 50 kilometres from the Inuit community of Nain is clouded by the spectre of environmental damage, the unsettled question of Aboriginal land claims, and the social problems associated with an influx of newcomers. THE FIDDLERS OF JAMES BAY 29 min. 1980 VC #0918 National Film Board of Canada Two Cree fiddlers travel to Scotland's Orkney Islands, the birthplace of the music they learned from their fathers and grandfathers. THE FIRST AMERICANS 40 min. 1990 VC #2592 British Broadcasting Corporation Looks at when and where human activities first began in the vast American continent. THE FIRST AMERICANS 53 min. 1969 MP #3233-3234 National Broadcasting System Traces early man's migration from the Siberian tundra across the Bering Land Bridge into America. FIRST NATION BLUE 48 min. 1996 VC #4110 National Film Board of Canada Follows three police officers on patrol and in interviews while policing native lands. Two are themselves natives, and know the problems of aboriginal people at first hand. FIRST NATIONS: (THE CIRCLE UNBROKEN, PART 4) 66 min. 1993 VC #1782 National Film Board of Canada Contents: 1. EDUCATION AS WE SEE IT - alienation experienced by many students in residential schools is compared with life in contemporary schools run by First Nations communities; 2. LAST DAYS OF OKAK - an influenza epidemic, brought to Labrador ona missionary supply ship, devastated the Inuit community in 1918; 3. COMMANDOS FOR CHRIST - the Ayoreo of Paraguay sought out by missionaries fell prey to poverty and death. FORGOTTEN WARRIORS 51 min. 1996 VC #4464 Loretta Todd Recreates the stories of many of the aboriginal men and women who served, mostly in the Canadian Army during World War II. Many returned to find they had lost their band status, or that some or all of their reserves had been taken by the government to resettle non-native veterans. FOSTER CHILD 43 min. 1987 VC #4212 National Film Board of Canada Follows Gil Cardinal as he searches for his natural family and an understanding of the circumstances that led to his coming into foster care as an infant. GERONIMO AND THE APACHE RESISTANCE 60 min. 1996 VC #4573 WGBH Using archival photos and interviews with descendants of the Chiricahua Apaches, highlights the clash between Indian and white cultures and portrays the Indian societies as they are forced to face the loss of their land and traditions. THE GIFT 49 min. 1998 VC #5895 National Film Board of Canada Explores the powerful bond and spiritual relationship that exists between Indigenous peoples in the Americas and corn. The film captures the traditional, spiritual, economic and political importance of this sacred plant. GIVEAWAY AT RING THUNDER 15 min. 1982 VC #1886 Nebraska ETV Documents a giveaway held during the annual Ring Thunder pow wow on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. The giveaway is a way for a family to strengthen its ties to the community through sharing. THE GREAT POSSIBILITY: LOUIS RIEL AND THE METIS RESISTANCE 48 min. 1996 VC #4488 Gil Cardinal Story of Louis Riel, leader of the Metis people, from his early education to his final defeat at Batoche in 1885. Looks at the ill-fated attempts of the Metis to create their own country. THE GREEN CORN FESTIVAL 20 min. 1982-1987 VC #1780 Muscogee Creek Nation Records a performance of this ceremony and explains the significance of three stages: the ribbon dance, friendship dance, and application of herbs to ritual body scratches. HAIDA GWAII/THE QUEEN CHARLOTTES 57 min. 1989 VC #1913 Why Not Productions Looks at the conflict between the Haida Indians and British Columbia loggers over the resource management of the Queen Charlotte Islands. HALF A WORLD APART ... AND A LIFETIME AWAY 52 min. 1996 VC #4576 Vision TV In the summer of 1995, standoffs at Gustafsen Lake and Ipperwash Provincial Park made violence an issue for Indians leaders. Ovide Mercredi, Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, journeys to India, to meet Gandhians, disciples of the nonviolence. THE HERD 100 min. 1998 VC #5438 National Film Board of Canada Traces the true-life tale of 62-year old Andy Bahr's reindeer drive across 2,400 km of hostile and unmapped terrain. Bahr set out from Alaska in 1929 with a small team of Inuit and Sami herders and 3,000 reindeer, heading for the Northwest Territories. HIGH STEEL 14 min. 1965 MP #2126 National Film Board of Canada Describes the work of Indians from the Caughnawaga Reserve in Quebec as they erect the skyscrapers of New York. HOPIIT 14 min. 1982 VC #1887 Victor Masayesva Scenes of Hopi life are presented without narration. HUNTERS AND BOMBERS 54 min. 1990 VC #2147 National Film Board of Canada Documents the civil disobedience campaign of the Canadian Innu as they protest the disruptions to their lives caused by the low- level flying of NATO bombers across Labrador. IF ONLY I WERE AN INDIAN 80 min. 1995 VC #4138 National Film Board of Canada Three Native Canadians travel to the former Czechoslovakia to meet Czechs and Slovaks who have set up a community, inspired by the writings of Canadian naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton and the German novelist Karl May. IMAGINING INDIANS 56 min. 1992 VC #3282 Victor Masayesva Views of the disparity between the white culture's Hollywood-inspired perceptions of American Indians and their own self-perceptions. IN DOIG PEOPLE'S EARS 31 min. 1984 VC #0515 Daboidsh Productions Conveys the experiences of the Beaver Indians in the Peace River areas as they move from an economy based on hunting and trapping to modern industry. IN THE LAND OF THE WAR CANOES: KWAKIUTL INDIAN LIFE ON THE NORTHWEST COAST 47 min. 1914 VC #5143 Edward S. Curtis Saga of Kwakiutl Indian life on the northwest coast of America on Vancouver Island. IN THE REIGN OF TWILIGHT 87 min. 1995 VC #3922 Primitive Features Examines the changes to Inuit society following the economic and military development of Canada's north since the 1950's. IN THE WHITE MAN'S IMAGE 51 min. 1991 VC #0491 Public Broadcasting Service Looks at the education of American Indians in the Carlisle School for Indian Students founded by Richard Pratt in the early part of the 20th century. INCIDENT AT RESTIGOUCHE 46 min. 1984 VC #1297 Alanis Obomsawin Presents the conflict that occurred between the Quebec government and the Micmac people when the Quebec Provincial Police raided the Restigouche Reserve in 1981 over the issue of salmon fishing rights. INDIGENI: NATIVE WOMEN: POLITICS 25 min. 1994 VC #3498 Motion Visual Productions Surveys both individual and bandefforts towards self-government, and the hopes of native women in British Columbia for future band autonomy. THE INQUIRY FILM 87 min. 1977 MP #3322-3324 Inquiry Films Filmed report of the inquiry conducted by Justice Thomas Berger into the possibility of the Mackenzie Valley Oil Pipeline. IROQUOIS SOCIAL DANCES, PART 1 AND PART 2 25 min. 198? VC #1880-1881 Green Mountain Cine Works Includes commentary and performances of the Women's dance, Fish dance, Rabbit dance, Robin dance, Round dance, Stomp dance, Shaking the pumpkin, Smoke dance and Duck dance. IYAHKIMIX: THE BLACKFOOT BEAVER BUNDLE CEREMONY 60 min. 196? VC #0450 University of Alberta Documents a ritual transfer ceremony held by members of the Blood division of the Blackfoot tribe to mark the purchase of a sacred bundle of artifacts by the Provincial Museum of Alberta. JOURNEY TO NUNAVUT: THE KREELAK STORY 48 min. 1999 VC #5179 National Film Board of Canada Filmmaker Martin Kreelak and his older brother Morris symbolize two strands of modern Inuit life. Morris still lives by hunting, and remembers the stories and traditions of the old nomadic way of life. Martin, educated at a residential school, works for the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation, and looks forward to self government in the new territory. JUSTICE DENIED 98 min. 1989 VC #2011 National Film Board of Canada From the book Justice Denied by Michael Harris. A dramatic recreation of the events surrounding the controversial case of Donald Marshall Jr., a 17-year-old Micmac Indian arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for a murder he did not commit. JVC VIDEO ANTHOLOGY OF WORLD MUSIC AND DANCE SERIES: 27. THE AMERICAS I 55 min. 1990 VC #2106 Documents rituals from the Arctic Circle, the Northwest Coast of Canada and the Plateau Region of the United States. KANEHSATAKE: 270 YEARS OF RESISTANCE 120 min. 1993 VC #3000, #4617 and #4817 Alanis Obomsawin The 1990 armed standoff in Oka Quebec from the perspective of a native filmmaker who spent 75 days with the Mohawks. KEEPERS OF THE FIRE 55 min. 1994 VC #3743 National Film Board of Canada Presents the stories of aboriginal women who have participated in important aboriginal struggles in Canada. Maliseet women recall their eight year campaign that changed the Indian Act to accord status and rights to all Indian women. KWA'NU'TE': MICMAC AND MALISEET ARTISTS 41 min. 1991 VC #3788 Interviews with eight Maliseet and Micmac artists from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia who work with a variety of forms, from painting to quill-work to carved masks. LACROSSE, THE CREATOR'S GAME 25 min. 1994 VC #3704 Colbeck Research Associates Explores the history of lacrosse and its significance in the healing rituals of Indians in Canada. THE LAST DAYS OF OKAK 24 min. 1985 VC #3490 National Film Board of Canada After Moravian missionaries evangelized the Okak settlement on the northern Labrador coast, a deadly outbreak of Spanish influenza decimated the Inuit in 1919. Presents original testimonies of the relations between natives and missionaries, as well as the story of the epidemic. LEGEND 15 min. 1970 MP #2159 National Film Board of Canada A West Coast Indian legend in which a youth must perform certain feats to win a maiden. THE LONG WALK 48 min. 1998 VC #5190 Alan Bibby Follows Ken Ward, the first native Canadian to go public with his HIV diagnosis, as he visits jails, schools and communities across the Prairies promoting prevention and treatment. THE LONGHOUSE PEOPLE 24 min. 1951 MP #3392 National Film Board of Canada Portrays the everyday life and rituals of the Iroquois community. Depicts the rain dance, the corn dance for the condolence of a dead chief and the installation of a new one. LOON'S NECKLACE 10 min. 1948 MP #1186 Crawley Films Ceremonial masks carved by the Indians of British Columbia dramatize how the waterbird received his distinguishing neckband. LOYALTIES 96 min. 1986 VC Feature Anne Wheeler An English woman, forced to move to northern Alberta by her medical doctor husband, learns new values from her Indian neighbours when she hires a native woman as housekeeper. MAGIC IN THE SKY 57 min. 1981 VC #0129 National Film Board of Canada Inuit people in the Canadian Arctic attempt to counteract the negative impact of North American television on their culture by creating their own Inuit-language television network, Inukshuk. A MATTER OF RESPECT 30 min. 1992 VC #2898 New Day Films Different members of the Tlingit Indian society of Sitka, Alaska demonstrate how they have incorporated native cultural values in daily urban life. MERE DE TANT D'ENFANTS 58 min. 1977 VC #3775 Office national du film du Canada Un album de temoignages de femmes indiennes et inuit depeignant une societe matriarcale a qui, depuis des siecles, on a voulu imposer des habitudes et des coutumes etrangeres. THE METIS 27 min. 1978 MP #3437 McGraw-Hill History of the Metis people who trace their ancestry to both Indian and European roots. MI'KMAQ FAMILY 33 min. 1994 VC #3732 National Film Board of Canada Mi'kmaq filmmaker and mother, Catherine Anne Martin offers areflective journey into Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq society. She is looking to the ways of the past for guidance in raising her children. THE MIND OF A CHILD 60 min. 1995 VC #3935 National Film Board of Canada Documents the work of Vancouver School District First Nations education specialist Lorna Williams, who, having researched Reuven Feuertein's views on cognitive development and cultural transmission, has adapted his mediated learning theory and teaching methods for use by British Columbia teachers of aboriginal children. THE MISSION SCHOOL SYNDROME 59 min. 1988 VC #2892 Northern Native Broadcasting The role of mission schools in the education of native children from the 1920's to the 1980's is described and the problems that were met upon the students returning to their villages. MORE THAN BOWS AND ARROWS 59 min. 1982 MP #3452-3453 Cinema Association Describes the contribution of the American Indian to shaping various aspects of North American culture. MOTHER OF MANY CHILDREN 58 min. 1977 VC #0894 National Film Board of Canada Portrays a once proud matriarchal society who for centuries have been pressured to adopt different standards and customs, but who are fighting for equal status and opportunity. MOTHER TONGUE 24 min. 1991 VC #2556 Great Plains Productions Profiles Dr. Anne Anderson who has been working for over two decades to preserve the Cree language through teaching and writing a dictionary. MY NAME IS KAHENTIIOSTA 30 min. 1995 VC #2849 Alanis Obomsawin A Mohawk woman who participated in the 1990 armed standoff at Kanesatake recounts her experience of the crisis. MY PARTNERS, MY PEOPLE SERIES: Gemini Productions HEALTHY MOTHER, HEALTHY BABY 25 min. 1991 VC #2546 Describes the efforts of a Saskatchewan clinic to improve the health of low income pregnant women. MYSTERY OF THE FIRST AMERICANS 60 min. 20000 VC #6071 WGBH-TV The discovery of the Kennewick Man in 1996, on the banks of the Columbia River near Washington, threatens to rewrite the pre-history of the Americas. It has also sparked a legal battle between Native Americans who claim the bones for burial and scientists who want to study them. NANOOK OF THE NORTH 54 min. 1922 MP #3472-3473 and VC #0757 Robert Flaherty Shows the communal life of the Inuit and their harsh struggle for existence. NANOOK REVISITED 55 min. 1990 VC #4843 Claude Massot Revisits Inukjiak, the Inuit village where Robert Flaherty filmed Nanook of the North. Examines the realities behind the ground-breaking documentary and the changes since it was made 70 years ago. NATIVE JUSTICE 24 min. 1991 VC #2557 Great Plains Productions Follows the experience of tribal police forces in Alberta as they take over the work of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. NATURE OF THINGS SERIES: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ISLANDS AT THE EDGE 47 min. 1987 VC #0154 The Queen Charlotte Islands' commercial value to loggers poses a threat to its precarious ecology. JAMES BAY: THE WIND THAT KEEPS ON BLOWING 96 min. 1991 VC #1723 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Considers the environmental and social implications of the impending hydroelectric development in northern Quebec, the Great Whale Project and scrutinizes the notion that hydroelectricity is a cheap and clean source of energy. TEMAGAMI: THE LAST STAND 60 min. 1990 VC #0302 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Looks at the controversy surrounding the Temagami area in northern Ontario where the timber industry, environmentalists, the government and native people clash over the last stands of old pine in northeast North America. VOICES IN THE FOREST 95 min. 1991 VC #1725 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Loggers, foresters, native peoples, ecologists and citizen's groups present their views on forest management techniques, including the controversial clearcutting. NAVAJO TALKING PICTURE 40 min. 1986 VC #1849 UCLA American Indian Studies Center Documents the life of Arlene Bowman's grandmother on the Navajo Reservation in Lower Greasewood, Arizona. A NEW JOURNEY: THE NISGA'A TREATY 18 min. 1998 VC #4982 BBDO Communications Gives the background and history of the Nisga'a Indians land claim and the treaty signed in 1998, giving them title to their land. THE NEWCOMERS, PROLOGUE 56 min. 1977 MP #6079-6080 Imperial Oil Films Long before the Europeans settled in the new world, it was inhabited by many groups of Indian and Inuit people. This film tells how one of these groups selects a new chief. NISHNAWBE-ASKI - THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND 28 min. 1977 VC #0893 National Film Board of Canada Four communities illustrate the ways the Cree and Ojibway Indians of the Nishnawbe-Aski Region are responding to changes. NO ADDRESS 56 min. 1988 VC #2627 Alanis Obomsawin Examines the plight of native people in Montreal who searched unsuccessfully for jobs and have become part of the city's homeless population. NO TURNING BACK 47 min. 1997 VC #1180 National Film Board of Canada Documents the fact finding trips conducted by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, created by the Conservative government in 1991. THE NORTHERN LIGHTS 48 min. 1992 VC #3466 National Film Board of Canada Mankind's attempts to understand the mystery of the northern lights or aurora borealis, from Aristotle, through the myths and legends of the Vikings, Sami, Dene, and Inuit, to modern, scientific theories and research. NUNAVUT: CHANGING THE MAP OF CANADA 25 min. 1992 VC #0092 Image Projection Traces the land claim treaty negotiations between the Inuit people of the Eastern Arctic and the Canadian government which will result in the creation of a new territory called Nunavut, equivalent to one-fifth of the land mass of Canada. ON & OFF THE RES' WITH CHARLIE HILL 59 min. 2000 VC #6006 Upstream Productions Native American comedian Charlie Hill talks about his life and career, commenting on the art of stand-up comedy as well as giving insights into the world of Indian humor. OTHER SIDE OF THE LEDGER 42 min. 1972 VC #2626 National Film Board of Canada George Manuel, president of the National Indian Brotherhood, provides another perspective on the activities of the Hudson's Bay Company on the occasion of the fur trading company's 300th anniversary. OUR HOME AND NATIVE LAND 73 min. 1993 VC #2891 Great Plains Productions Follows the efforts of Ovide Mercredi, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, as he lobbies for full participation for Canadian native peoples in the discussions leading up to the 1992 national referendum. THE OWL WHO MARRIED THE GOOSE 8 min. 1974 MP #1129 National Film Board of Canada Sand animation and traditional Inuit throat chanting tell an Inuit legend. PAULINE: THE PAULINE JOHNSON STORY 43 min. 1999 VC #5642 Smoke Lake Productions Through pictures and interviews with scholars and First Nations people, recounts the life of Pauline Johnson, daughter of a Mohawk chief and an English mother, who became a poet and popular performer. PELTS: POLITICS OF THE FUR TRADE 56 min. 1989 VC #2129 National Film Board of Canada Presents the conflicting opinions of fur trade industry representatives, animal rights activists and native peoples on the ethical, environmental and economic issues associated with commercial fur trapping. PICTURE OF LIGHT 83 min. 1994 VC #0100 Peter Mettler Records a film crew's journey to Churhill, Manitoba to film the northern lights, and their encounters with people living there. PICTURING A PEOPLE: GEORGE JOHNSTON, TLINGIT PHOTOGRAPHER 50 min. 1997 VC #4501 Carol Geddes George Johnston, as recalled by his daughter and nieces, was a self-taught photographer who took his camera everywhere, recording the lives and events of the Tlingit people of the Yukon, before their traditional way of life was disrupted. POUNDMAKER'S: LODGE 29 min. 1987 VC #2628 National Film Board of Canada Tells the story of several people who have benefitted from this native peoples' treatment centre for substance abuse. POW WOW 10 min. 1982-1987 VC #1781 Muscogee Creek Nation Presents a Plains Indian pow wow, an inter-tribal display of Indian heritage and pride. POWER 76 min. 1996 VC #4371 National Film Board of Canada Behind-the-scenes story of the Cree Indians' five year battle against the Quebec government's expansion of the James Bay hydroelectric project. REAL INDIAN 7 min. 1996 VC #4811 Malinda M. Maynor A personal look at the meaning of cultural identity. Describes the complex world of the Lumbee Indian culture and questions the viewer's perceptions of Native Americans. REAL PEOPLE SERIES: KSPS-TV 1. A SEASON OF GRANDMOTHERS 29 min. 1976 VC #1904 Women from the Spokane, Coeur d'Alene and Nez Perce tribes recollect their experiences as they pass along sacred tales and traditional crafts to their grandchildren. 2. THE CIRCLE OF SONG, PART I AND II 58 min. 1976 VC #1905-1906 The Sijohn family from the Spokane reservation preserve the concept of the Circle of Life on which important events and the songs and dances associated with them are points. 5. AWAKENING 29 min. 1976 VC #1907 Documents the awakening process undergone by Johnny Arlee of the Flathead tribe, which took him from a time of personal crisis to becoming a leader on his Montana reservation. REDSKINS, TRICKSTERS AND PUPPY STEW 55 min. 2000 VC #1209 National Film Board of Canada Takes issues like Native identity, politics and racism, and wraps them up with one-liners, guffaws and comedic performances. Overturns the conventional notion of the "stoic Indian" and shines a light on a humour and its healing powers. ROCKS AT WHISKEY TRENCH 105 min. 2000 VC #5771 Alanis Obomsawin Recalls the events of August 1990, when the Mohawks of the Kahnewake Reserve blocked the Mercier Bridge into Montral. Members of the community recall the incident, and their feelings about it, then and now. THE SACRED CIRCLE 29 min. 1980 MP #6030 University of Alberta Describes the spiritual world view of the Plains Indians and the function of the sacred pipe, sweetgrass and vision quest. THE SACRED CIRCLE - RECOVERY 29 min. 1980 MP #3809 University of Alberta Examines the Plains Indians' self-inspired recovery of their spiritual identity. SACRED LAND, SCARRED LAND 28 min. 2000 VC #5835 Canadian Ecumenical Jubilee Initiative Records the effects on indigenous people in four countries, Philippines, Sudan, Canada and Colombia, of foreign investment for the exploitation of natural resources. SALT WATER PEOPLE 119 min. 1992 VC #1427 National Film Board of Canada Once teaming with life, the rivers and oceans of Canada's Pacific West Coast are now a fragile ecosystems. Aboriginal tribes bear witness to this destruction and describe the battles waged to protect the land. SAVAGERY AND THE AMERICAN INDIAN, PART 1: THE WILDERNESS 50 min. 1992 VC #2865 British Broadcasting Corporation Recounts how European settlers appropriated native land and reduced the indigenous population from 5,000,000 to 250,000 by 1900 through disease, starvation and genocide. SAVAGERY AND THE AMERICAN INDIAN, PART 2: CIVILIZATION 50 min. 1992 VC #2866 British Broadcasting Corporation Tells how the situation of Indians worsened as the government confined them to reservations, outlawed their language and religion, divided up communal land and sent their children to residential schools. THE SHADOW CATCHER: EDWARD S. CURTIS AND THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN 88 min. 1975 MP #4282-4283 and VC #5147 T. C. McLuhan A critical account of the life of Edward S. Curtis, a photographer and writer who worked among the Indians of the American Southwest for over 32 years. SHAMAN NEVER DIE 53 min. 1993 VC #0602 Groupe Multimedia du Canada Explores painting and sculpture in order to reveal the essence of Native American spirituality and richness inherent in their rituals and traditions. SHOOTING INDIANS 56 min. 1997 VC #4577 Ali Kazimi The filmmaker's stereotypical image of North American Indians begins to change when he meets Jeffrey Thomas, an Iroquois photographer, who documents contemporary aboriginal experience SILENT TEARS 27 min. 1997 VC #5124 Shirley Cheechoo Based on a true story, the hardships of a Cree family caught in the bush when the father falls ill with a lump on his neck. SINGING OUR STORIES 48 min. 1999 VC #5094 Annie Frazier Henry Using archival footage and personal interviews, examines the role of Indian women in the preservation and transmission of traditional songs and music. THE SMART ONE 25 min. 1995 VC #2272 Seaton Productions Profiles master Tahltan-Tlingit wood carver Dempsey Bob. SMOKE SIGNALS 89 min. 1998 VC Feature Home use - no classroom rights Chris Eyre Bittersweet comedy about two young Native-Americans, Victor and Thomas, who leave their small town for an adventure in self-discovery. SONGS IN MINTO LIFE 29 min. 1985 VC #1889 University of Alaska Tanana Indian elders sing songs they have created for various occasions as well as ancient, traditional songs. THE SPIRIT OF CRAZY HORSE 57 min. 1990 VC #2750 Parallex Productions Recounts the history of the Sioux from the lost battles for their land, to the internal divisions and radicalization of the 1970's and the recent revival of their cultural pride. THE SPIRIT WITHIN 51 min. 1990 VC #4215 National Film Board of Canada Spiritual elders offer counsel and conduct sweatlodge and sacred pipe ceremonies in Canadian prisons for the rehabilitation of native inmates. SPUDWRENCH: KAHNAWAKE MAN 58 min. 1997 VC 4734 Alanis Obomsawin Randy Horne is a high-steel worker from the Mohawk community of Kahnawake. As a defender of his people's culture, he was known as "Spudwrench" during the 1990 Oka crisis. THE STORY OF JOE AND ELISE 25 min. 1995 VC #4405 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation In 1986, after a drinking bout, Joe Attagutaluk beat his wife Elise to death. After serving 5 years for manslaughter, Joe returned to Igloolik, where family and community took him back. He is a community leader, grateful for their support and care. STRANGERS ABROAD SERIES: Central Independent TV 2. THE SHACKLES OF TRADITION 52 min. 1985 VC #1414 German geographer Franz Boas (1858-1942) mapped the coastline of Baffin Island in the 1880's and documented the cultures of the Inuit and North West Coast Indians. SUMMER OF THE LOUCHEUX: PORTRAIT OF A NORTHERN INDIAN FAMILY 28 min. 1983 VC #3355 Tamarack Films Portrays the life of one family of the Canadian Kutchin Indians. SUPER CHIEF 75 min. 1999 VC #5549 Nick Kurzon Follows the campaigning for tribal chairman at the White Earth Ojibwa Reservation in Minnesota. Major issues are the earnings of the reservation casino, which have not been used to help the residents, and the corrupt practices used by the incumbent. SUPER SHAMOU 28 min. 1992 VC #3964 Full Frame Film & Video Super Shamou, the first Inuk superhero, performs daring rescues of children in peril, while teaching them some realities of life in the North. T'ħINA: THE RENDERING OF WEALTH 50 min. 1999 VC #5419 Barbara Cranmer The filmmaker travels with her family and friends on their annual journey to their sacred place known as Dzawadi, in British Columbia's Knight Inlet. They practice the traditional rendering of oil, t'ħina, from the tiny eulachon fish. TALES OF WONDER: TRADITIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN FIRESIDE STORIES 60 min. 1998 VC #5900 Rich-Heape Films Accclaimed storyteller and linguist Gregg Howard recounts Rabbit and the bear, Rabbit's short tail, Why possum's tail is bare, The ruby necklace, Origin of fire, Plieades and the pine tree, Little gray bat, Little turtle, and How deer got antlers. Sketch artist Kathleen Raymond Roan creates drawings as the stories unfold. TODAY IS A GOOD DAY: REMEMBERING CHIEF DAN GEORGE 44 min. 1998 VC #5631 Loretta Todd Combines family stories, interviews with fellow actors, film clips and recreations to tell the story of Chief Dan George. Dockworker, chief, musician and actor, it was his performance as Old Lodgeskins in the 1970 movie Little Big Man, that made him famous, and changed the Hollywood image of the Indian. THE TROUT LAKE CREE 57 min. 197- MP #6142-6143 Universal Education and Visual Arts Documents the way of life of the Trout Lake Indians of Alberta, with emphasis on the traditional role of hunting, fishing, and trapping in the community life. TURTLE SHELLS 25 min. 1986 VC #1779 Muscogee Creek Nation Christine Henneha of Nuyaka Ceremonial Ground demonstrates the art of making shell leg rattles for women stompdancers. URBAN ELDER 29 min. 1997 VC #4525 Robert S. Adams Vern Harper, urban elder, walks the "Red Road" in a fast paced urban landscape. Follows him as he leads a sweat lodge purification ceremony, watches his 11-year-old daughter Cody at a classical ballet rehearsal, conducts a private healing ceremony, participates in a political march of 150,000 people, and counsels native prisoners at Warkworth Federal Prison. WALKING IN BALANCE 24 min. 1985 VC 3/4 #0604 Amaranth Productions One in ten native Canadian adults has developed onset diabetesb ecause of changes in diet and activity. Suggests treatment programs that take into account the different cultural perceptions native people have of the relations between the body and nature, and of their negative view of "non-native" health practitioners. WAR AGAINST THE INDIAN SERIES: Harry Rasky Explores the impact on the First Nations of North America with the so-called discovery of the New World. 1. THE FEATHER AND THE CROSS 55 min. 1992 VC #3024 2. THE HUNTERS BECOME THE HUNTED 54 min. 1992 VC #3025 3. THE DISPOSSESSED 46 min. 1992 VC #3026 WAR OF 1812 SERIES: 2. "OR LEAVE OUR BONES UPON THEM" 60 min. 1999 VC #5255 Brian McKenna Covers the events of the war through October 1813, focusing on the role of Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief who brought native tribes from as far south as Georgia to fight for the British, and the leadership and tactics of General William Henry Harrison, later American President. WASHOE 56 min. 1968 MP #3733-3734 McGraw-Hill Portrays life on the Washo Indian Reservation and the timelessness of a culture which derives its rhythm from the vastness and the cycles of nature. WHERE THE SPIRIT LIVES 98 min. 1989 VC Feature Magic Lantern In 1937 a young Blackfoot girl is taken from her reserve home in Western Canada and relocated in an English-speaking orphanage. WHITE SHAMANS, PLASTIC MEDICINE MEN 26 min. 1995 VC #4551 Native Voices Public Television Explores the popularization and commercialization of Native American spiritual traditions. WHO OWNS THE PAST 57 min. 2000 VC #0209 Independent Producers Services Explores the attitudes and behavior of European Americans toward the remains of Native Americans, from the earliest European settlement in America to the 1990's with the discovery of "Kennewick Man" by the Columbia River in Washington, whether those remains were located in burials or the result of death in battle. WORDS AND PLACE: NATIVE LITERATURE FROM THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST SERIES: 2. SEYEWAILO: THE FLOWER WORLD 51 min. 1978 VC #1894 University of Arizona Yaqui deer songs which describe a place of harmony are sung and danced to at a fiesta, the Pahko, which lasts from dusk to dawn. 4. IISAW: HOPI COYOTE STORIES 18 min. 1978 VC #1895 Clearwater Publishing Company These singing tales reinforce the Hopi ethic by describing what happens to those who shirk hard work. 7. SONGS OF MY HUNTER HEART: LAGUNA SONGS & POEMS 34 min. 1978 VC #1896 University of Arizona Harold Littlebird continues the oral tradition of his people by incorporating contemporary themes into his work which retains the Pueblo reverence for the spoken word. YESTERDAY, TODAY 58 min. 1971 MP #3764-3765 and VC #0317 National Film Board of Canada A day in the life of a Netsilik Eskimo family, showing how they have changed from nomadic hunters to people dependent on the commerce of the white. YOU ARE ON INDIAN LAND 37 min. 1969 MP #4354 and VC #5463 National Film Board of Canada A film report of a protest demonstration by Mohawk Indians of they St. Regis Reserve on the international bridge between Canada and the United States near Cornwall, Ontario.
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