The Obomsawin Is A Canadian Film Maker Who Is Well Known For Directing Numerous Documentaries

Barker, J. (2008). Gender, Sovereignty, Rights: Native Women's Activism against Social Inequality and Violence in Canada. American Quarterly, 60(2), 8. Retrieved fro m http://search.Proquest.com.Ez proxy.library.yorku.ca/docview/61688929?Acc ountid=15182.

Theodore Fontaine is one of the thousands of young aboriginal peoples who were subjected through the early Canadian system of the Indian residential schools, was physically tortured. Originally speaking Ojibwe, Theodore relates the encounters of a young man deprived of his culture and parents, who were taken away from him at the age of seven, during which he would no longer be free to choose what to say, how to say it, with whom to live and even what culture to embrace. Theodore would then spend the next twelve years undoing what had been done to him since birth, and the rest of his life attempting a reversal of his elementary education culture shock, traumatization, and indoctrination of ethnicity and Canadian supremacy. Out of these experiences, he wrote the “Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools-A Memoir” and in this review, I considered the Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd publication.

The documentary begins with a recounting of issues faced by indigenous people in Northern British Columbia stating that the economic growth is strong, however the division of wealth sharing is still not in place, forcing smaller communities to live below the poverty line, with an unemployment rate as high as 92% in some first nation reserves. The issue of the murdered and missing women and girls is a sad result of systemic and socioeconomic issues that have

Our society was fearful of the First Nations, because their culture and beliefs were different from ours. As a result, we penalized them for that and forced innocent children to leave their traditional culture behind and force them into our society. Lyna and Glen’s perspective was about hardship, emotional, psychological and physical trauma. They wanted our society to see and understand what that experience did to their humanity. Throughout the documentary, they focused on the victims, which were the children, resulting in personal biases about the experiences of the residential schools. Through talks in class and readings from the text, they both expressed how inequality has festered through the years in different ways for minority groups, such as the First Nations. From what our society has done, we created “so much mental and emotional suffering” (Pickett, K and Wilkinson, R), as a result from creating these residential schools and forcing assimilation upon the First Nation Children.

Michael Downey’s essay, “Canada’s ‘Genocide’: Thousands Taken from Their Homes Need Help” (Downey 445-448), imparts a harrowing account of the hardships and trauma induced by the controversial child apprehensions, often referred to as the ‘Sixties Scoop.’ The essay opens with Downey’s heart-rending recount of Carla Williams’ story, detailing her first-hand experience as a subject of this abuse, who managed to survive and come out triumphant. This explicit topic introduction foreshadows and gives invaluable warrant to his thesis: that the forced adoptions that occurred within Aboriginal communities during this era resulted in cultural and individual upheaval, as well as a belief that both the individuals and communities affected can

The Native Canadian culture revolves around the art of storytelling, and this natural gift is heredity. In Story of Starvation, by Marion Tuu’luq, she tells a tale of her childhood where she and her people go on a journey to find food. They are driven to the brink of starvation due to their lack of technology, and their practice of hunting for their own meals. Tuu’luq’s intense story shows the significance of the Native Canadian way of life, and the tough childhoods that many of them had to endure. Tuu’luq says in her story, “I am going to recount a story that I am sure I have told over and over again in the past” (Pg. 86). This repetition of the story shows the cultural impact of storytelling in the Aborigine community. This story truly does control Tuu’luq’s life, because she retells it in order to remember all that she had to face within her childhood in order to survive. The story is both a source of entertainment, and a source of historical prevalence in Tuu’luq’s life. Although, it was a horrid experience, she learns to cope with it and tell it in a way where the listener takes away the importance of remembering Native Canadian

Nationhood and identity are both very slippery and ambiguous terms. As such, the possibilities to which these two concepts can be explored are quite extensive. Within Canadian cinema, there is a tendency towards realism as opposed to escapism, as seen in American/Hollywood cinema. This realist tradition can often be used to critique and explore the flaws of concepts such as nationhood and ‘the national’, while Hollywood cinema is much less critical and has a tendency to depict utopic and universalized places. This tendency towards realism and identifying the flaws of nationhood and identity while simultaneously emphasizing the importance of specific places is explored in the two Canadian short films, Withering Heights (2014) directed by Liz Van Allen Cairns and Luk 'Luk 'i: Mother (2014) directed by Wayne Wapeemukwa. Both films explore the struggles of nationhood and identity through the experiences of forgotten female protagonists whose problems are rooted in financial difficulties and whose narratives are intricately intertwined with the sense of place represented in each film. In Withering Heights, a woman in her 50s, Margot (Gabrielle Rose, best known for her role as Dolores in the 1997 Canadian film The Sweet Hereafter), suffers from a failing marriage leaving her sleepless and shrinking as she loses touch with her memory and sense of personal identity. Meanwhile, Luk 'Luk 'i: Mother documents the struggles of a mother and aboriginal woman, Stoney (Angel Gates), as

“Akwesasne: This is Indian Land” is a documentary film created in 1969 and it is about the confrontation between the Mohawk of the St. Regis Reservation and the police. The events take place on Mohawk land near Cornwall, Ontario on a bridge that connects Canada and the United States. There are many differences between the two forms of political power in the movie. One relates to state-centered institutions, which in this case are represented by the police and the political power that is enforced by the indigenous people.

The film Highway of Tears brought to light many issues faced by Indigenous persons however, its main focus was the missing and murdered women found along Highway 16 in Northern British Columbia. Majority of the women who are missing as well as those who were murdered are Indigenous women. This film displayed that although there are ways to prevent and possibly end the violence against Aboriginal women, no action was being taken by police or other government agents to do so. It was discussed how this as well as other wrongs done to Indigenous persons and communities, is a result of past and present colonialism.

In the book Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson, the main character, Lisamarie, has to go through a series of traumatic events. However, these events play a crucial role in understanding the message of the novel. First Nations communities are still struggling with the aftermath of residential schools. This has led to a loss of culture. Lisamarie faces the death of many family members, and sexual assault which help her get in touch with her supernatural side. However, because she has grown up in a Haisla family that doesn’t practice a lot of its culture, she doesn’t know how to accept that part of herself. Several members of Lisamarie’s family attended residential schools which forces her to face intergenerational trauma. The author uses traumatic events that revolve around first nations communities to make the reader aware of the struggles that still affect first nation cultures.

The American desire to culturally assimilate Native American people into establishing American customs went down in history during the 1700s. Famous author Zitkala-Sa, tells her brave experience of Americanization as a child through a series of stories in “Impressions of an Indian Childhood.” Zitkala-Sa, described her journey into an American missionary where they cleansed her of her identity. In “Impressions of an Indian Childhood,” Zitkala-Sa uses imagery in order to convey the cruel nature of early American cultural transformation among Indian individuals.

Charlie Angus was elected as a Member of Parliament in 2004, a role which took him to the Forgotten Children of Attawapiskat. It was his experiences prompted him to write his book, Children of the Broken Treaty: Canada’s Lost Promise and one Girl’s Dream, which tells the story of Indigenous persons of Canada’s struggles, including treaty rights, residential schools, as well as the fight for education and safe housing. The book provides a challenge to many common assumptions, and it also explores many themes which are used to explain the events which have shaped Canadian culture and policies. Angus begins his book by touching on some of the original treaties signed between the first Canadian government and the members of the bands that are indigenous to the land. One of these was Treaty 9, which promised education for Indigenous children. The book then developed into the foundation of residential schools, and the horrors that are endured there. In addition to the horrendous amounts of verbal, physical and sexual abuse which took place in these schools, the students who attended these institutions faced the mass genocide of their culture, as the unspoken purpose of these schools was “to kill the Indian in the child” (Angus, 2015, p. 14). The beginning of the book, while very dark, provides an honest introduction to some of the themes that can be spotted throughout the book, and history itself. The three themes that primarily stood out to me as a reader were: cultural

Leanne Betasamosake is a popular Indigenous writer who’s had growing experience throughout her life writing numerous of books in multiple of genres, which speak particularly upon Indigenous issues alongside of the playful stories and poetry she enjoys sharing. Leanne is part of the Annishnaabe community and proudly acknowledges her ethnic background and her tradition. “This Accident of Being Lost” written by Leanne Simpson successfully attempts to discuss the underlying issues surrounding Indigenous people and government conspiracy, she views the different types of ways in which love can be expressed and how the mind is deceiving in terms of forgetting old love. The author relates real life issues to her poems written in her book attaching a deep connection. One of the reasons why I chose to write about this book was its connection to one of many discussions we all have, there’s living moments of significant stories, lyrics and poetry she includes in her book. Leanne hasn’t failed to give an authoritative author reader connection in really making one explore the emotion in the book and understand the factual meaning behind her words.

She argues that women face many institutional and societal barriers. In this regard, I will give examples of the institutional and structural barriers such as “The Indian Act” which have significantly affected Indigenous women in Canada in many ways including social, economic and political. While comparing feminists and Indigenous feminists, I think that Native women are different in several ways including social, cultural, historical, political and economic; therefore, Indigenous feminism is a way of practicing the values that they have been taught and inherited from their

In April 1995 Pamela George, an Ojibway women, was brutally murdered in Saskatchewan. Her murderers Steven Kummerfield and Alex Ternowetsky, young middle-class white men, were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to merely six and a half years in prison. George’s story is one of the many Indigenous women who have been murdered or missing over the past years. There are over 580 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women, close to half are put aside and left unsolved. Only 53% of these cases have lead to charges of homicide (Klement 8). Drastically, statistics indicate that Aboriginals are faced with more hardships throughout their life compared to the average Canadian. Indigenous groups, particularly women, suffer from a lower rate of education, higher suicide rates and an array of health risks. This paper will examine the role settler colonization history has played in perpetuating conditions for violence to indigenous women, many of which are still experienced today. This will be accomplished by first assessing the history of settler colonization and its negative repercussions. Secondly, it will use Sherene Razak’s concept of “spatial segregation,” to illustrate how state institutions have facilitated violence through space, race and the law. Lastly, this paper will use evidence from the film “Finding Dawn” to further demonstrate how violence towards indigenous women is institutionally produced.