'Much more profound than hope': Legendary Abenaki filmmaker sees positive change
CBC
Legendary Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin says at 89 years of age she is still driven to tell Indigenous stories, and after 54 years of doing that she is seeing more than a few signs of positive change in the country.
"There is racism, yes, in a lot of places ... but there is also a good side that is going on, especially in the last 10 years … [many] Canadians really want to see justice for our people," said Obomsawin from her office at the National Film Board of Canada in Montreal.
Obomsawin is one of the most acclaimed Indigenous directors in the world and is considered by many as the mother of Indigenous filmmaking.
Earlier this month, APTN added 11 of Obomsawin's films to its paid streaming service, APTN lumi.
The films added include some of her most landmark films, including: Kanehsatake: 270 years of resistance, a 1993 film about a 78-day siege of Mohawks west of Montreal fighting to stop an expansion of a golf course; Incident at Restigouche, about a Quebec provincial police raid on Mi'kmaw salmon fishers in 1981; and Trick or Treaty?, a film about a fight by Indigenous leaders in Ontario to enforce their treaty and protect their lands, among others.
"Whether the film was created in 1984 or 2019, Obomsawin's documentaries address important Indigenous matters that remain relevant today," said Monika Ille, CEO of APTN, in a release.
Obomsawin has produced 53 films in her career so far that touch on issues of child welfare, residential school, as well as fishing and land rights, among many others. She said she strives to always focus on the people, culture, dignity and language in her stories.
She also said she has fought her whole life to see changes in how Canadian history is taught in classrooms.
"Education is my main concern," Obomsawin said.
"For many generations, I thought it was criminal the way they were teaching the history of our country, by creating and designing a system through the books they were using to create hate for our people."
Obomsawin said she is grateful to see a real shift in how history is taught in schools and to see greater understanding and empathy for Indigenous peoples.
"For me, it's much more profound than hope," Obomsawin said.
As a young filmmaker in the 1960s, Obomsawin spent a lot of time in courtrooms in different provinces.
She describes seeing separate rows of Indigenous men and women, receiving guilty verdicts without having the right to say anything at all in their defence.
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