A heartfelt treatment of how two First Nations women in New York State connect to their culture through a multi-year "coming of age" ceremony.

Synopsis

OHERO:KON - UNDER THE HUSK follows the journey of two Mohawk girls as they take part in their traditional passage rites to becoming Mohawk Women. Kaienkwinehtha and Kasennakohe are childhood friends from traditional families living in the Mohawk Community of Akwesasne that straddles the U.S. / Canada border. They both take part in a four- year adolescent passage rites ceremony called Oheró:kon “Under the Husk” that has been revived in their community. This ceremony challenges them spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. It shapes the women they become.

An urgent reflection on indigenous sovereignty, the undead violence of museum archives, and post-mortem justice through the case of the “Kennewick Man”.

Synopsis

Filmmakers Adam and Zack Khalil (Ojibway), in collaboration with artist Jackson Polys, investigate the recent court case that decided the fate of the remains of a prehistoric Paleoamerican man found in Kennewick, Washington State in 1996. The case pitted the Umatilla people and other tribes, who wanted to provide a burial to the “Ancient One,” against two scientists—one of which from the publicly-funded Smithsonian Institute—who wanted to study the “Kennewick Man”. In order for the claim to fall under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) it became necessary to establish the lineage of these remains.

A meditation on Indigenous women’s connection to the land & the link between the violence perpetrated against them & the extractive industry’s rape of the earth.

Synopsis

Juxtaposing the ravaged yet starkly beautiful landscape of the Fort Berthold Indian reservation, North Dakota, with personal testimony from young Indigenous women living on the reservation, Nuuca is an evocative meditation revealing the connections between the rape of the earth and the violence perpetrated against Indigenous women and girls.

Asinnajaq plunges us into a sublime universe of luminescent, archive-inspired cinema that recast the past, present and future of Inuit in a radiant new light.

Synopsis

“My father was born in a spring igloo—half snow, half skin. I was born in a hospital, with jaundice and two teeth.”

Diving into the NFB’s vast archive, Inuk artist Asinnajaq parses the complicated cinematic representation of Inuit, harvesting fleeting truths and fortuitous accidents from a range of sources—newsreels, propaganda, ethnographic docs, and works of Inuit filmmakers. Embedding historic footage into original animation, she conjures up a vision of hope and beautiful possibility.

An incomplete and imperfect portrait of reflections from Standing Rock.

Synopsis

Cleo Keahna recounts his experiences entering, being at, and leaving the camp and the difficulties and the reluctance in looking back with a clear and critical eye. Terry Running Wild describes what his camp is like, and what he hopes it will become.

An Aboriginal teen struggling to fit in is forced to confront her own issues of identity.

Synopsis

Liya is conflicted about her identity; it just seems so simple for everyone else. When she hears about a party, the pressure really sets in. The night takes an unexpected turn when she’s reminded of the value of her roots.