Designed to present classroom materials suitable for a range of audiences, the NFB co-production series, First Nations: The Circle Unbroken, explores the themes of healing and renewal in First Nations communities. Four video programs, all revised and shortened from their original production format, in order to be suitable for classroom use, comprise Video 5. In "Qatuwas: People Gathering Together," members of 30 West Coast First Nations tribes undertake to build canoes and travel to a multi-clan gathering or Qatuwas. The end of the journey is Bella Bella, where the largest canoe and cultural gathering in 100 years celebrates traditional culture and sustains the process of transmitting it to the next generation. "O'Siem" is the story of Gene Harry's spiritual quest to overcome the legacy of residential schooling and his subsequent descent into substance abuse and crime. For Gene, healing comes through family, prayer, and service to his community. Family ties of a very different nature are explored in Catherine Martin's personal story, "Mi'kmaq Family: Migmaoei Otjiosog." With the birth of her child, Martin is compelled to examine the traditions of her Mi'kmaq family, and, during a visit home for the annual St. Anne's Feast Day at Chapel Island, she explores values which have endured, adapted, and evolved. The impact of the residential school system is the focus of "The Mind of A Child," in which aboriginal educator Lorna Williams, along with Israeli child psychologist, Reuven Feuerstein, explores how children learn through cultural transmission. When children are cut off from their culture, as many Natives were, their potential for learning can be stunted.
     Video 6 contains three programs, all of which focus on natives of Canada's west coast. Two of the programs, "Laxwesa Wa, Strength of the River: Fishing on the Fraser River" and "Laxwesa Wa, Strength of the River: Fishing on the Coast," are companion pieces. Both highlight the fundamental cultural role of salmon for tribes such as the Sto Lo, Nimpkish, and Heiltsuk. Fish is not just food but a touchstone of existence. "Fishing on the Fraser River" focuses on the more localized issues of a river fishery; "Fishing on The Coast" takes a broader perspective, examining the impact of large-scale commercial fishery, in which "too many boats" compete for a limited catch. The "local knowledge" of those who have fished for generations often conflicts with the bureaucracy of Fisheries Canada. Native concepts of "ownership" also differ greatly from those of western culture, and "Blockade: Who Owns the Land?" details the court case launched by the Gitxsan ("people of the land") in order to gain recognition of their traditional rights to 58,000 sq. km. of British Columbia. White culture sees land as "something you work", an exploitable resource; First Nations people see the land as a sustainable partner in existence, not a commodity. Similarly, land claims conflict is rooted in conflicting views of the validity of historical record: oral vs. written. But, tradition does triumph ultimately, and the Supreme Court recognizes the right of oral history in asserting land claims.
     "Coppermine," the opening program of Video 7, tells the story of the decimation of the Coronation Gulf Inlet during the 1930's, due to misguided federal policies. Despite the efforts of well-meaning physicians, whole communities succumbed to tuberculosis because of the government's unwillingness to acknowledge the vulnerability of the indigenous peoples to diseases for which they had no immunity. And, in "For Angela," which is set in contemporary urban Winnipeg, we see that there is no immunity to racism. Based on a true story, the program shows the reaction of a mother of a young girl who is harassed by a group of white boys while she is on her way to school. Rhonda Gordon finds and confronts her daughter's tormentors and forces them to realize just how demeaned mother and daughter were by their taunts. But resolution is found in ways that are unexpected by the viewer. The final program, "Lord of the Sky," concludes the video with an animated film legend from west coast tribal culture. When a raven is killed by accident, calamity ensues. As punishment, the sun's light is blocked, for the killer has disobeyed the rule that one should "only take what you can use." However, as in so many similar myths, a young native, who performs an act of kindness to an eaglet, is helped by the Lord of the Sky - an eagle - who restores the sun to the people.
     All video programs draw upon the storytelling tradition of Native culture. Although most are documentaries, the personal dimension behind the stories is strong and powerful. The "Teacher's Guide," which accompanies the three video set, provides useful background information (much of which is not easily found in other information sources) and offers a series of questions to focus students before, during, and after viewing the video, extension activities (offering suggestions for further research and other learning activities), and, finally, an integration component, designed to draw on the students' personal response and connection to the video materials.
     The collection can be used in a variety of classroom settings and subject areas: Family Studies, Native Studies, Social Studies, and Sociology could all use these as resource materials. Two more videocassettes complete this series of currently released programs; Videos 1-4 contain 13 other programs which were released in 1993. Preview to determine which best suit collection needs.

Highly recommended.

Joanne Peters is the teacher-librarian at Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, MB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - November 12, 1999.

AUTHORS | TITLES | MEDIA REVIEWS | PROFILES | BACK ISSUES | SEARCH | CMARCHIVE | HOME