The People of the Kattawapiskak River

The people of the Attawapiskat First Nation, a Cree community in northern Ontario, were thrust into the national spotlight in 2012 when the impoverished living conditions on their reserve became an issue of national debate. With The People of the Kattawapiskak River, Alanis Obomsawin quietly attends as community members tell their own story, shedding light on a history of dispossession and official indifference. Winner of the 2013 Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary, the film is part of a cycle of films focused on children's welfare and rights.

Arrested after the 78-day armed standoff during the 1990 Oka crisis, Kahentiiosta, a young Kahnawake Mohawk woman proud of her centuries-old heritage, is detained four days longer than the other women. Her crime? The prosecutor representing the Quebec government will not accept her Indigenous name. From the perspective of Kahentiiosta, we witness the arrest and detention of those who withdrew to the Treatment Centre after the Canadian Army advanced, and we learn why Kahentiiosta was prepared to die to protect the land and trees sacred to the Mohawk people of Kanehsatake.

In July 1990, a dispute over a proposed golf course to be built on Kanien'kéhaka (Mohawk) lands in Oka, Quebec, set the stage for an historic confrontation that would grab international headlines and sear itself into the Canadian consciousness. Director Alanis Obomsawin - at times with a small crew, at times alone - spent 78 days behind Kanien'kéhaka lines filming the armed standoff between protestors, the Québec police and the Canadian army. Released in 1993, this landmark documentary has been seen around the world, winning over a dozen international awards and making history at the Toronto International Film Festival where it became the first documentary to ever win the Best Canadian Feature Award. Jesse Wente, Director of Canada's Indigenous Screen Office, has called it a "watershed film in the history of First Peoples cinema.".