Jun 22, 2021 | International
Toronto – National Film Board of Canada
In honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21), Kevin Settee’s four-part series of short films, The Lake Winnipeg Project, is premiering online at Indigenous Cinema, the NFB’s rich online collection of Indigenous-made films. Lake Winnipeg’s shores are home to many vibrant Indigenous communities, including the Anishinaabe, Cree and Métis. The Lake Winnipeg Project is an Indigenous-led community-engagement project that explores the communities’ deep connection to the land and water at a time when many external forces are imposing change.
The Indigenous Cinema page offers free streaming of more than 400 new and classic titles from the NFB’s collection of films by Indigenous directors.
NFB.ca also now features a channel on the devastating impact—and ongoing legacy—of residential schools in Canada, offering 23 films, including Jay Cardinal Villeneuve’s Holy Angels, Kent Monkman’s Sisters & Brothers, Marie Clements’ The Road Forward and Alanis Obomsawin’s We Can’t Make the Same Mistake Twice.
Two of the NFB’s most recent works by Indigenous creators are currently on the festival circuit: Courtney Montour’s Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’ Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy (Seen Through Woman Productions/NFB), which has received the Rogers Audience Award and the Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award at Hot Docs and the Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Director at DOXA.
The NFB’s online learning portal, CAMPUS, features a number of new resources anchored in the NFB’s Indigenous collection, with mini-lessons written by Indigenous educators based on such acclaimed works as Alanis Obomsawin’s Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger, Christopher Auchter’s Now Is the Time, and Tasha Hubbard’s Birth of a Family.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, led by strong local partners across the country, the NFB’s Aabiziingwashi (Wide Awake) Indigenous cinema initiative remained active via virtual screenings, as well as in-person screenings where public health measures permitted. The NFB collection of Indigenous-made works consists of documentaries and animated films that can foster dialogue on a range of topics and themes. NFB representatives can help communities and organizations find a film or curate a program for their own local screening events by emailing wideawake@nfb.ca.
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Curator’s perspective | Director’s notes
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Lily Robert
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Jun 2, 2021 | International
In past years, the month of June has been filled with celebrations and ceremonies that invited all Canadians to learn about the language, culture and history of First Nations, Inuit and Metis people. These in-person events will be greatly missed again in 2021 as we continue to respect public health guidelines and commemorate virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, as with any other, we are encouraging everyone in Canada to engage with Indigenous-created or Indigenous-led information and activities online or by getting involved in the many virtual opportunities to celebrate First Nations, Inuit and Métis cultures.
OTTAWA, ONTARIO (June 1, 2021) – The Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations; the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services Canada; the Honourable Daniel Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs; and the Honourable Minister Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, issued the following statement today in honour of National Indigenous History Month and Indigenous Reads:
“This June, in recognition of National Indigenous History Month, we dedicate it to the missing children who went to residential school and never came home, their families and residential schools survivors. We invite all who live in Canada to learn more about the effects of our colonial past, and discover and honor the cultures and experiences of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada. As a Government, we are taking steps to eliminate systemic racism, end violence against Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, achieve equity and advance reconciliation.
In past years, the month of June has been filled with celebrations and ceremonies that invited all Canadians to learn about the language, culture and history of First Nations, Inuit and Metis people. These in-person events will be greatly missed again in 2021 as we continue to respect public health guidelines and commemorate virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, as with any other, we are encouraging everyone in Canada to engage with Indigenous-created or Indigenous-led information and activities online or by getting involved in the many virtual opportunities to celebrate First Nations, Inuit and Métis cultures.
We can also learn by listening to Indigenous story-tellers and Knowledge Keepers. Throughout this month, we will highlight these stories through the annual #IndigenousReads campaign.
Join us in celebrating Indigenous excellence, cultures, languages and contributions while recognizing First Nations, Inuit and Métis resilience, history and perseverance.”
Associated Links
#IndigenousReads
Learn More About Indigenous History Month
Ani Dergalstanian
Press Secretary and Communications Advisor
Office of the Honourable Carolyn Bennett,
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
819-997-0002
Adrienne Vaupshas
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Marc Miller
Minister of Indigenous Services
adrienne.vaupshas@canada.ca
Antoine Tremblay
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Daniel Vandal
Minister of Northern Affairs
819-953-1153
Camille Gagné
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Steven Guilbeault
Minister of Canadian Heritage
873-355-2752
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May 5, 2021 | Business
The Karipuna Indigenous People filed a lawsuit against Brazil and the province of Rondônia, for allowing illegally registered private land plots inside their protected Indigenous land. The national environmental registry of rural property (Cadastro Ambiental Rural CAR) is designed to ensure that all property falls within conservation and environmental laws, but is misused by groups or individuals to illegally claim land plots inside protected areas to expand their farm land for cattle grazing and legitimize illegal deforestation on Indigenous lands. These land-grabs, along with the lack of a protection plan for the Karipuna Peoples territory by state bodies, are two of the main reasons that the Karipuna Indigenous land was among the top 10 most destroyed Indigenous lands in Brazil in 2020[1].
We have been fighting against the destruction of our territory for years, now its time that the court holds the state responsible to ensure the protection of our home, that we soon can live in peace, according to our customs and traditions, said Adriano Karipuna, leader of the Karipuna Indigenous People
The actions of the Karipuna People and their allies have always focused on zero deforestation in the Karipuna land, urging the state to take its duty to enforce the original rights of the Indigenous Peoples. said Laura Vicuña, missionary from CIMI.
An analysis by Greenpeace Brazil and Brazilian NGO Indigenist Missionary Council (CIMI), using publicly available data, shows that there are currently 31 land registries fully or partly overlapping the borders of the protected lands of the Karipuna Indigenous People[2]. The forest areas registered by individuals vary from one to 200 hectares. In many cases, illegal logging has already happened inside these claimed land plots[3]. All of them are within the protected Indigenous territory, and according to Greenpeace Brazil, this clearly shows how the CAR system is misused by individuals or groups to claim land plots without actually owning the land.
The Karipuna Indigenous People are forced to watch their land being stolen for cattle grazing and the expansion of industrial agriculture because the Brazilian state allows criminal groups to continue their illegal land-grab. The CAR system enables stealing land from Indigenous People. This has to stop. The Brazilian state must establish a permanent protection plan involving various authorities, such as FUNAI and the federal police to guarantee the full protection of the Karipuna People, their land and culture, as it is stated in the Brazilian constitution and laws, said Oliver Salge, International Project Leader of the All eyes on the Amazon Project with Greenpeace Brazil.
Greenpeace Brazil and CIMI support the legal case of the Karipuna People, and have been working together for three years to monitor and denounce forest destruction and environmental crimes. The monitoring operations of the Karipuna Indigenous People are part of the All Eyes on the Amazon project, which is led by Greenpeace Netherlands and Hivos together with nine human and Indigenous rights, environmental, science and technology organisations and supports Indigenous communities to perform forest monitoring with high-end technology in Brazil, Ecuador and Peru.
Notes:
[1] Greenpeace Brazil analysis based on INPE data 2020 http://terrabrasilis.dpi.inpe.br/app/dashboard/deforestation/biomes/legal_amazon/increments
[2] https://www.car.gov.br/publico/municipios/downloads?sigla=RO and Karipuna Indigenous Land http://www.funai.gov.br/index.php/shape
[3] https://www.greenpeace.org/brasil/blog/ibama-e-exercito-fazem-novas-apreensoes-na-terra-indigena-karipuna/
