Course:EDUC440/Media Resources/Indigenous Knowledge

Caribou Kayak [88mins]
DVD DC M58 C37 2006 -Xwi7xwa Library

Otto Apsaktaun and Gino Akka are the last Inuit elders who know the secrets of making a unique Canadian boat built for the Arctic--the Netsilingmeot caribou-hunting kayak. In the summer of 2002, they invited the youth of their hamlet of Kugaaruk, and a couple of southerners, to join them in a remote tundra camp. Here they build a pair of these beautiful kayaks. At Barrow Lake we witness a unique experiment in the transmission and preservation of a vanishing culture." -- Container

First Stories [40mins]
E78 C2 F585 2006 - Education Library
DVD YM F57 2008 - Xwi7xwa Library

In vol. 1 four Aboriginal filmmakers explore the realities of their lives in 21st century Canada. ... their films deal with a range of topics including Native culture/identity, Native traditions, Native art and street gangs. Includes four five-minute documentaries. Vol. 2 features four new films from four emerging Saskatchewan filmmakers, Tessa Desnomie, Cory Generoux, Janine Windolph and Paul John Swiderski. Vo. 3 features the films Walking alone, two spirited, his guidance and hooked up: NDNs online by emerging filmakers Gerald Auger, Sharon A. Desjarlais, Duane Linklater and Jennifer Dysart

Gwishalaayt; the spirit wraps around you [47mins]
E99 C552 G84 2001[VHS] - Education Library
DVD WA C73 G85 2000 - Xwi7xwa Library

Gwishalaayt is the power displayed for the first time ... on the life of six extraordinary people who dedicate themselves to the tradition of Chilkat and Northern geometric weaving. Gwishalaayt means The Spirit Wraps Around You in the Tsimshian language. For thousands of years, art and spirit have been woven together in the magnificent aprons and blankets that depict the ancestral history of the Tlingit and Tshimshian Nations. The unique journey of self-discovery made by each of the artists is captured in intimate interviews at work and on their lands. We witness the intricate, sacred blankets emerging through age-old techniques, from gathering of the cedar bark, dyeing of wool and weaving, to their significant place in the culture of these people.

If the Weather Permits [28mins]
E99 E7 I34 2003[VHS] - Education Library

"Elisapie isaac, a young filmaker born in Nunavik, decides to return to her roots on this breathtaking land. to bridge the growing gap bewteen the young and the old, she lets Naalak, an elder, and Danny, a policeman from Kangirsujuag, tell us what they think.'..Container

Kiviuq [70mins]
E98 R3 K58 2006 - Education Library

"In this ... performing arts film by the ... team of director John Houston and producer Peter d'Entremont, ... the last elders raised on stories of Kiviuq's odyssey collaborate with youth to reveal - perhaps to resurrect - their secret Bible." --container.

Rites of Passage [25mins]
E98 R3 R58 2009 - Education Library

The vision quest is a turning point in life taken before puberty to find oneself and the intended spiritual and life direction. When an older child is ready, he or she will go on a personal, spiritual quest alone in the wilderness. This usually lasts for a number of days while the child is tuned into the spirit world.

Spirit of the Trees: People of the Cedar [29mins]
E78 N77 S65 2008 - Education Library

The tribal nations of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest consider the cedar essential to life, equal only to the salmon. This segment of "Spirit of the Trees" features many traditions that have evolved from community life in the forest: carving, basket making, weaving, making cedar clothing and gathering. The Yakima share their concerns and philosophy on sustainable forestry and traditional food and gathering.

Our Children, Our Ways [15-20mins each]
LB1139.3 C2 O97 V.3-4,6[VHS] - Education Library
VID ETA C453 U73 2000[VHS] - Xwi7xwa Library

v.3.: Children and caregivers are seen involved in a wide variety of outdoor activities from ice-fishing to planting a garden to exploring along wooded paths. The emphases is on children's curiosity and the adult's role in helping them learn to care, respect and live in harmony with the natural world. v.4.: In this video, children and adults celebrate the music and dance traditions of their communities as well as enjoy contemporary music activities. v.6.: Shows children involved in a wide variety of open-ended art activities as well as learning some traditional art forms. The program also looks at how some centres have incorporated art into the environment, making it both beautiful and culturally relevant.

Writing the Land [7mins]
E78 B9 W75 2007 - Education Library
DVD BJM B87 W75 2007 - Xwi7xwa Library

"The Musqueam people have lived for thousands of years in and around what is now the city of Vancouver. The word Musqueam is an anglicized term describing "where the Muxqui [river grass] grows." Musqueam Elder Larry Grant says that his ancestral language, Henqeminem, is like "opening up an old, old book."--container.