Media.Knet.Ca

Indigenous Film Network - The Tour
is coming to Sioux Lookout
January 21 and 22
at the Nishnawbe Gamik Friendship Centre.

PAMELA MATTHEWS, from the Sachigo Lake First Nation, is an accomplished director, filmmaker and actor and she will host MOVIE NIGHTS in Sioux lookout!

Pamela recently appeared as Denise David in "Indian Summer: the Oka Crisis" and as Carolyn George (Dudley George’s sister) in “One Dead Indian”. Her other television roles include Renegadepress.com, The Rez, Destiny Ridge, Street Legal and North of 60, for which she was nominated for a Gemini Award for her guest starring role of Suzie Muskrat. Pam has also appeared in theatres across the country, most notably in “The Rez Sisters” at Alberta Theatre Projects, Sunshine Theatre and Theatre Aquarius.

Sunday January 21st   - 8:00PM

~ The Journals of Knud Rasmussen by Zacharius Kunuk and Norman Cohn ~

Monday January 22nd  – 8:00PM

• ~ Smudge by Gail Maurice ~
• ~ The Winter Chill by Paul M. Rickard, starring Dakota House and Glen Gould ~
• ~ A Shot in the Dark by Pamela Matthews ~

Nishnawbe Gamik Friendship Centre
 
TICKET PRICES – One Purchase for all Screenings (4 films)

• $10.00       Single Ticket
• $15.00       Couple
• $20.00       Family Pass [2 Adults 2 Kids]
• Free          Elders & Youth

Doors Open 7:30pm

Need info? Call Laurel Wood at 737-2174

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KUNUK COHN PRODUCTIONS
IGLOOLIK ISUMA PRODUCTIONS
BAROK FILM
PRESENT

A FILM BY ZACHARIAS KUNUK AND NORMAN COHN
“THE JOURNALS OF KNUD RASMUSSEN”

After completing “Atanarjuat The Fast Runner,” set in the mythological past in a community whose balance of life had not changed for 4,000 years, Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn chose to depict a series of events that took place in 1922, when Shamanism was replaced by Christianity – and the balance of life was changed forever.

Kunuk was inspired to make the film for “a first audience that is Inuit: elders who are still alive and young people looking for a future beyond boredom, unemployment and suicide. It tries to answer two questions that haunted me my whole life: Who were we? And what happened to us?” Cohn adds “If the Inuit of “The Fast Runner” ended up in church, then the Inuit depicted in the “The Journals of Knud Rasmussen” have ended up in today’s headlines, all too often living desperate lives on the margins of society.”

For the team at Igloolik Isuma Productions, the best result of making “The Fast Runner,” was that many Inuit in the community discovered great things could be accomplished today through the same collaboration and teamwork on which the very survival of their people had once depended. The central rule of life, anchored in collaborative community effort, had not often been demonstrated since the changeover took place in 1922.

Igloolik Isuma’s mission begins and ends with the community. Depicting the lives of ancestors of people who worked on the production recognizes, dignifies and honors people who had a good sense of the world and their place in it, and thereby draws renewed sustaining energy into our world.

“We believe happy people should not worry about hidden things. Our spirits are offended if we think too much.” Avva

The words of the last great Iglulik shaman, Avva, and his life story, were recorded by the Danish adventurer Knud Rasmussen on his 5th Thule Expedition across the Canadian Arctic. Avva followed ancestral rules and taboos because they worked to protect human kind. They came out of life and were turned toward life.

SYNOPSIS

Iglulik, 1922-23. Real people, Actual events.
The great shaman, Avva, and his family are living on the land some distance from Iglulik, his home community that lately has taken up the teachings of Christian missionaries.

Explorer/adventurer Knud Rasmussen pays Avva a visit, accompanied by two fellow Danes: trader Peter Freuchen and anthropologist Therkel Mathiassen. Rasmussen hears and records Avva’s life story and that of his wife Orulu.Their son, Natar, impulsively agrees to guide Freuchen and Mathiassen north to Iglulik.

After a celebration, Rasmussen leaves to head west while Avva, facing strong headwinds, sets out with his family and guests en route for home. His beautiful daughter, Apak, has troubling dreams about the road ahead. In an oral culture that never anchored its history with pen and paper, digital technology today affords new opportunities for storytellers.

High-definition cameras are particularly well suited to the ancient art and values of Inuit storytelling, which invites viewers directly into a world of sentient beings – with no introductions – welcome to watch, listen and think for themselves.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ISUMA and "The Journals of Knud Rasmussen", GO TO: www.isuma.ca

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A Filmmakers Journey through Ipperwash
and the Murder of Chippewa activist Dudley George

Dudley George was the first person killed in a land claims dispute in the 20th century.

On September 4, 1995, Dudley George was one of thirty or so unarmed protesters, including Elders, women and children, who peacefully occupied Ipperwash Provincial Park to protest the destruction of their burial ground and a fifty year delay in returning their tribal land.

The Ontario Provincial government immediately ordered the Ontario Provincial Police to take steps to remove the Indians from the park. 

On the evening of September 6, under the cover of darkness, two hundred members of the heavily armed Tactical Response Unit moved in on the protesters.

The filmmaker’s journey:

Pamela spent many childhood summers camping at CFB Ipperwash where her father was the resident doctor for the cadets in training. Of course, she had no idea of the on-going land dispute. Then, on Labour day weekend, 1995, she met Dudley George during the peaceful occupation of the park – only to find out two days later that he had been killed by the OPP.  Soon after, Pam was hired by the George legal team to help on the case - and, in 2004, she played the role of Carolyn George in the CTV movie, “One Dead Indian”.

Produced, Directed, Written and Edited by
Pamela Matthews 
for York University’s MFA Master’s Thesis in Film Production
Thunderbird Productions     (DV/DVD 58min)
590B Roehampton Avenue,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada    M4P 1S8
(C) 416.997.3046     (T) 416.481.2848
Email:  pamelamatthews@sympatico.ca         
Website:   www.pamelamatthews.ca

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Upcoming scheduled visits to the remote northern First Nations include:

Indigenous Film Network Tour Schedule

TEAM A – Pamela Matthewa, Kyle Corston

Bearskin Lake 

Mon 15 – JKR
Tues 16 – Winter Chill; Shot in the Dark

Sachigo Lake 

Wed 17 – JKR
Thurs 18 – Winter Chill; Shot in the Dark
Fri 19 – Atanarjuat

Sioux Lookout 

Sun 21 – JKR,
Mon 22 – Winter Chill; Shot in the Dark

Big Trout 

Tues 23 – JKR,
Wed 24 – Winter Chill; Shot in the Dark

Wapekeka 

Thurs 25 – JKR

Cat Lake 

Fri 26 – JKR,
Sat 27 – Winter Chill; Shot in the Dark,
Sun 28 – Atanarjuat

TEAM B – Gail Maurice, Shawn Henry

Kingfisher 

Mon 15 – JKR
Tues 16 – Winter Chill; Shot in the Dark

Wunnumin 

Wed 17 – JKR
Thurs 18 – Winter Chill; Shot in the Dark

Weagamow Lake  

Fri 19 – JKR
Sat 20 – Winter Chill; Shot in the Dark
Sun 21 – Atanarjuat

Fort Hope 

Tues 23 – JKR
Wed 24 – Winter Chill; Shot in the Dark

Poplar Hill 

Fri 26 – JKR
Sat 27 – Winter Chill; Shot in the Dark
Sun 28 – Atanarjuat

Pikangikum 

Mon 29 – JKR
Tues 30 – Winter Chill; Shot in the Dark

Deer Lake 

Wed 31 – JKR
Thurs FEB 1 – W. Chill; Shot in Dark

North Spirit Lake 

Fri FEB 2 – JKR
Sat FEB 3 – Winter Chill; Shot in Dark
Sun FEB 4 - Atanarjuat

Workshops will be held in some communities.
Call Jacquie Carpenter, tour manager for more info. 416 535 1962 acquiec@isuma.ca

From http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/News/280768.html

Whitedog school closed until further notice
By Mike Aiken - Miner and News - Monday January 15, 2007

Roughly 230 students at Wabaseemoong First Nation School have been told to stay home this week as the community addresses air quality issues in the facility.

Band councillor Waylon Scott said they’re concerned about illnesses related to mold and airborne asbestos.

“The principal’s been flooded with calls from concerned parents,” he said Monday morning.

The beleaguered building has been the subject of studies and makeshift repairs in recent years, as the First Nation and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada argued over plans for new construction.

National Chief Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations and Treaty Grand Chief Arnold Gardner have both been involved in lobbying efforts to speed up the approval process, after overcrowding forced a teacher to give up the front room of their home to make way for a classroom.

The staff room has also been converted to a special education room for 12 children, as staff tried to deal with 320 students last fall. Scott said some students may be staying home because they weren’t getting enough help with their lessons, while parents may be keeping their children home over health concerns.

Complaints have included headaches and nausea, with adult staff also reporting concerns, Scott added. The principal had recommended the closure of the school. His decision has since been supported by band council.

Scott also said the air quality concerns were part of a report done for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada two years ago, which were confirmed by a new independent study.

Indian and Northern Affairs spokesman Tony Prudori confirmed the situation at the school, saying it would be closed from Jan. 15 to 19 for repairs. He noted Health Canada had been called to help deal with the air quality issues.

Prudori noted the department had made $220,000 available for repairs to the school, which were completed before the end of 2005 and included the heating and ventilation system. Indian Affairs has also offered to pay for a portable in order to ease overcrowding, he said.

Prudori added the department is continuing to work with the First Nation, in light of the most recent report, again offering financial assistance to carry out repairs.

A spokesman for the minister’s office in Gatineau, Que., Patricia Valladeo, said they were hoping to schedule a meeting later this week, but weren’t able to release details. She also wasn’t able to comment on the details of the reports, but said she would be looking into both matters.

A new building to replace the 34-year-old school could cost $18 million, with design and tendering processes yet to be completed. The existing structure was built on clay, which means the foundation is sinking, leading to problems with shifting walls, bent door frames and the electrical panel separating from the wall in the maintenance area.

Problems with heating led to burst pipes last Christmas, which meant there was a flood in the gym that led to the buckling of wooden floorboards.

The Treasury Board Secretariat was expected to provide preliminary project approval by the end of January, setting the stage for detailed design work and more precise cost estimates.
The process was not supposed to be delayed by the recent cabinet shuffle, in which former president John Baird made way for Vic Toews.

Whitedog is a community of about 1,700, including 878 living on-reserve, which is located about an hour’s drive northeast of Kenora.