FNST 201, Stó:lō Communications and Worldview: Media (DVDs & Streaming)

This film follows the story of Chloe Dragon Smith, a young Metis woman from the small northern city of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She is of Chipewyan and European heritage and she grew up close to her Indigenous cultural values and learned traditional skills for living on the land. This northern upbringing shaped her values today.

Betsy and Mary learned the Cree alphabet as children, and still sing the Eh-ee-ou-ah song in the studio from time to time. But some parts of the alphabet are only used by those who speak the Northern dialect. In this episode, Betsy and Mary speak with language teacher Mary Jane Petawabano to break down the different sounds and syllabics that make up the Cree language.

Arvid Charlie is among the last generation raised speaking Hul'qumi'num, the Coast Salish language spoken by the Cowichan people in BC. Like most of the 88 aboriginal languages in Canada, Hul'qumi'num is teetering on the brink of extinction. For elders like Arvid, sharing and documenting the language is a race against time. Their work embraces new technologies so that the language, culture and teachings can be reawakened in younger generations.

More than Words is a set of stories that looks at why Indigenous languages matter. These stories introduce people determined to reawaken the many languages across the country. Produced in partnership with the Reporting in Indigenous Communities course at UBC's Graduate School of Journalism.

"I feel stronger, more powerful, wiser..." This is how one language speaker describes the personal impact of learning his mother tongue. This collection explores the efforts underway to reclaim Indigenous languages in Inuit, Métis and First Nations communities throughout Canada.

Aandeg Muldrew, 19, is the University of Manitoba's youngest sessional instructor, teaching introductory Ojibwe. Muldrew, who lives in Winnipeg, started learning the language from his grandmother when he was 10. Given the history of languages lost after colonization and residential schools, speaking the language is "almost like an act of defiance," he says. Speaking Ojibwe is a way of "reconciling our past … with the present and bringing … what was lost through all these" residential schools and colonization. (Image submitted by Maeengan Linklater)

Four Faces of the Moon follows the animated journey of an Indigenous photographer as she travels through time. She witnesses moments in her family's history and strengthens her connection to her Métis, Cree and Anishnaabe ancestors. This is a personal story, told in four chapters through the eyes of director and writer Amanda Strong. The oral and written history of her family reveals the story — we witness the impact and legacy of the railways, the slaughter of the buffalo and colonial land policies.

Anishinaabe reporter Lenard Monkman asked elder Wilfred Buck of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Manitoba to share the Cree story of the winter solstice.

For almost a century, the Coast Salish knitters of southern Vancouver Island have produced Cowichan sweaters from handspun wool. These distinctive sweaters are known and loved around the world, but the Indigenous women who make them remain largely invisible. Combining rare archival footage with the voices of three generations of woolworkers, The Story of the Coast Salish Knitters tells the tale of unsung heroines--resourceful women who knit to put food on the table and keep their families alive. Written and directed by Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh, this is a story of courage and cultural transformation--a celebration of the threads that connect the past to the future.

Eskasoni is the home of celebrated Mi’kmaq poet Rita Joe. This Cape Breton village is enjoying a revival of Indigenous traditions and spirituality which inspires much of Rita Joe's writing. For twenty years her poetry and her presence have touched thousands with dignity. This video is a celebration of the spiritual pride of the Mi’kmaq as embodied in Rita Joe's writings and her life.

For half of a millennium, Indigenous women have been at the forefront of their peoples' resistance to cultural assimilation. Today, they are still fighting for the survival of their cultures and their peoples--in the rain forest and the city, in the courts and the legislatures, in the Longhouse and the media. Keepers of the Fire profiles Indigenous 'warrior women' in Canada who are protecting and defending their land, their culture and their people in the time-honoured tradition of their foremothers.

As distinct fishing societies of great spiritual, cultural and economic wealth, First Nations have always respected the resources of their rivers and oceans. But within their own lifetime, they have watched governments "manage" the fishery into a state of crisis. Now it's time for people to listen to what Natives have to say. Filmmaker Barb Cranmer, a member of the 'Namgis First Nation, explores the rich fishing traditions of the Sto:lo, Heiltsuk and 'Namgis peoples of Canada's West Coast in Laxwesa Wa - Strength of the River. With over fifteen years' experience fishing Johnstone Strait with her father, Cranmer presents rarely heard stories of traditional fishing practices and documents Native peoples' efforts to build a sustainable fishery for the future.

In The Mountain of SGaana, Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter spins a magical tale of a young man who is stolen away to the spirit world, and the young woman who rescues him. The film brilliantly combines traditional animation with formal elements of Haida art, and is based on a story inspired by a old Haida fable.

This feature-length documentary chronicles the Sundance ceremony brought to Eastern Canada by William Nevin of the Elsipogtog First Nation of the Mi'kmaq. Nevin learned from Elder Keith Chiefmoon of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Alberta. Under the July sky, participants in the Sundance ceremony go four days without food or water. Then they will pierce the flesh of their chests in an offering to the Creator. This event marks a transmission of culture and a link to the warrior traditions of the past.