Keepers of the Fire

Keepers of the Fire

1994 · 55 min · ★ 10.0 · Documentary

For half of a millennium, First Nations women have been at the forefront of aboriginal peoples' resistance to cultural assimilation. Today, Native women are still fighting for the survival of their cultures and their peoples--in the rain forest and the city, in the courts and the legislatures, in the Longhouse and the media. Keepers of the Fire profiles Canada's Native 'warrior women' who are protecting and defending their land, their culture and their people in the time-honoured tradition of their foremothers.

Directed by Christine Welsh

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Keepers of the Fire

The Story of the Weeping Camel

A close match in mood and era.

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Women in the Shadows

Women in the Shadows · 1991

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Filmed on location in Saskatchewan from the Qu'Appelle Valley to Hudson Bay, the documentary traces the filmmaker's quest for her Native foremothers in spite of the reluctance to speak about Native roots on the part of her relatives. The film articulates Métis women's experience with racism in both current and historical context, and examines the forces that pushed them into the shadows.

The Story of the Coast Salish Knitters

The Story of the Coast Salish Knitters · 2000

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For almost a century, the Coast Salish knitters of southern Vancouver Island have produced Cowichan sweaters from handspun wool. These distinctive sweaters are known and loved around the world, but the Indigenous women who make them remain largely invisible.

Finding Dawn

Finding Dawn · 2006

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Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh puts a human face on a national tragedy: the murders and disappearances of an estimated 500 Aboriginal women in Canada over the past 30 years. Explores the deep historical, social, and economic factors that contribute to this epidemic of violence against Native women.

Kuper Island: Return to the Healing Circle

Kuper Island: Return to the Healing Circle · 1998

Kuper Island: Return to the Healing Circle

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This moving docu-drama explores the destructive effects Kuper Island Residential School had on the hundreds of Indigenous children sent there by government agents for almost a century. Now, twenty years after the school was closed, survivors of Kuper Island are embarking on a spiritual journey on Vancouver Island's Tsartlip Reserve to begin healing the deep psychological wounds inflicted by their residential school experience.

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