Research Guides: Indigenous History: Videos & documentaries

Educational Videos

Treaties, reconciliation and Indigenous history in Canada by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation "How well do Canadians know Indigenous history? What role did treaties play in forming our country? Are the stories told through truth and reconciliation changing our understanding of Canadian history? Moderated by award-winning journalist Duncan McCue, host of Cross Country Checkup on CBC Radio, the panel includes Ry Moran, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation; Cynthia Wesley-Eskuimaux, Lakehead University; and Eldon Yellowhorn, Simon Fraser University.."--Curio.ca.
Call Number: Streaming Online
Publication Date: 2017
The impact of colonialism in Canada by written & produced by Matt LeMay "Prior to the arrival of Europeans, First Nations people were a richly diversified, self-sufficient culture living in various areas of Canada. Much of that changed with the arrival of the first Europeans...In this new production from award-winning Métis filmmaker Matt LeMay, we explore the history and consequences of the Canadian Government attempting to assimilate Canada's Indigenous population. "--mcintyre.ca.
Call Number: Streaming Online
Publication Date: 2016
The history of treaties in Canada by written, edited & directed by Matt LeMay. "From the Royal Proclamation of 1763 to the implementation on of the modern-day Algonquin land claim, The History of Treaties in Canada explores the history, application and legacy of these foundational legal documents and how they continue to shape and define the often strained relationships between First Nations and the Crown in Canada."--mcintyre.ca.
Call Number: Streaming video
Publication Date: 2016
Beyond 94 : truth and reconciliation in Canada by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Winner of the Human Rights Reporting award from the Canadian Association of Journalists / Journalists for Human Rights, cbc.ca/beyond94 is an immersive website on the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Commission was formed as a means of reckoning with the devastating legacy of the residential school system. From 2008 to 2014, the commission heard stories from thousands of residential school survivors. In 2015, it released a report that included its Calls to Action – instructions to guide governments, communities and faith groups down the road to reconciliation. CBC’s Beyond 94 monitors the progress of that journey..." -- Curio.ca
Call Number: Streaming video

Documentaries

The Road forward by written and directed by Marie Clements
Call Number: Streaming video
Sir John A. Macdonald : a legacy of controversy by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation "Sir John A. Macdonald has become a controversial figure in modern times. Of course, he was Canada's first prime minister, responsible for bringing about Confederation and building a rail line across the country. But in this era of truth and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, his image has become a symbol of oppression to some."--Curio.ca
Call Number: Streaming video
nîpawistamâsowin = We will stand up by Tasha Hubbard "On August 9, 2016, a young Cree man named Colten Boushie died from a gunshot to the back of his head after entering Gerald Stanley's rural property with his friends. The jury's subsequent acquittal of Stanley captured international attention, raising questions about racism embedded within Canada's legal system and propelling Colten's family to national and international stages in their pursuit of justice..."--nfb.ca
Call Number: Streaming video
Birth of a family by Tasha Hubbard. Three sisters and a brother, adopted as infants into separate families across North America, meet together for the first time in this deeply moving documentary by director Tasha Hubbard. Removed from their young Dene mother's care as part of Canada's infamous Sixties Scoop, Betty Ann, Esther, Rosalie and Ben were four of the 20,000 Indigenous children taken from their families between 1955 and 1985, to be either adopted into white families or to live in foster care.
Call Number: Streaming video
Publication Date: 2017
A tribe of one by director, Eunhee Cha Chronicles the life and family history of Rhonda Larrabee, who grows up thinking she is fully Chinese, but then discovers she is half-native. Not only is she part of a forgotten First Nation in New Westminster, B.C. - the Qayqayt First Nation - she helps re-establish the band and becomes its Chief. The documentary follows Rhonda on her quest to discover her true background and reclaim her identity.
Call Number: Streaming video
Publication Date: 2003
The Oka legacy by Sonia Bonspille-Boileau. The Oka Legacy is a POV documentary that explores how the Oka Crisis has transformed contemporary Indigenous identity in Canada..."--Curio.ca
Call Number: Streaming video
Publication Date: 2015
Muffins for granny = Des muffins pour grand-maman by written, directed and produced by Nadia McLaren Indigenous elders Roy Thomas, Garnet Agneconeb, Ralph Johnson, Alice Littledeer, Eulalia Michano and Delaney Sharpe recount their experiences in residential schools.
Call Number: Streaming videos
Publication Date: 2007
Tracing roots by Ellen Frankenstein. Tracing Roots is a portrait of an artist and a mystery. The film follows master weaver and Haida elder Delores Churchill on a journey to understand the origins of a spruce root hat found with Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi, the Long Ago Person Found, a 300-year-old traveler discovered in Northern Canada in a retreating glacier.
Call Number: Streaming video
Publication Date: 2014

Feature Films

Hochelaga : land of souls by Les Films Séville présent ; une production de Max Films ; un film de François Girard. Mohawk archaeologist Baptiste Asigny engages in a search for his ancestors following a tragic terrain slump in the Percival Molson Stadium
Call Number: Streaming video
Publication Date: 2017
Indian horse by directed by Stephen S. Campanelli ; written by Denis Foon Saul is a great native hockey player who overcomes racism in the 1970's then ultimately becomes tempted by alcoholism.
Call Number: Streaming video
Publication Date: 2017
The grizzlies by directed by Miranda de Pencier ; written by Moira Walley-Beckett, Graham Yost. THE GRIZZLIES is an inspiring true story based on a group of Inuit students in the small Arctic town of Kugluktuk. Suffering from widespread drug use, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and one of the highest teen suicide rates in the world, this northern community is periled by the legacy of colonialism. The students are naturally skeptical when Russ Sheppard, yet another ignorant and unprepared white rookie teacher, arrives from the South on a one-year teaching contract.
Call Number: Streaming video
Publication Date: 2018
Black robe by Samuel Goldwyn Company "In the rugged 17th century Canadian wilderness, Father Laforgue, a young and idealistic Jesuit priest, is assigned to go up river into the wilderness on a perilous journey to convert the Huron Indians. His Algonquin Indian quides nickname him "Black Robe." His young aide and translator, Daniel, falls in love with Annuka, the beautiful daughter of the Algonquin chief. Torn between his own desires and ideals of the priesthood, Laforgue's faith is tested as the expedition faces the elements..."--Publisher website
Call Number: Streaming video
Publication Date: 1991
Atanarjuat = The fast runner by gloolik Isuma Productions presents a National Film Board of Canada co-production A small nomadic community is cursed by an unknown shaman. When Atanarjuat falls in love with a woman already promised to the son of the clan's leader, he has to fight for her. She is won by Atanarjuat and the leader plots to attack him in his sleep. Escaping, he sets off running across the ice, embarking on a harrowing adventure of survival in the brutal wilderness. He returns stronger and wiser to reclaim his life and stop the curse that has divided his people.
Call Number: Streaming video
Publication Date: 2001
Before tomorrow = Le jour avant le lendemain by Alliance Films and Alliance Vivaflm, Kuruk Cohn Productions and Igloolik Isuma Productions present a film by Arnait Video Collective A strong Inuit woman demonstrates that human dignity is at the core of life from beginning to end, as she faces with her beloved grandson the ultimate challenge of survival.
Call Number: Streaming video
Publication Date: 2008
The snow walker by Infinity Media presents a William Vince/Robert Merilees production, a film by Charles Martin Smith When a plane carrying Charlie Halliday and a sick, Inuit woman, Kanaalay, crashes hundreds of miles from civilization, they are at the mercy of nature's worst. While search parties try to locate the place, Charlie decides to trek overland promising the woman he will return with help. Despite her sickness, she follows Charlie. Kanaalay teaches him the skills he will need in order to survive and he comes to respect her wisdom and her spirit.
Call Number: Streaming video
Publication Date: 2004