Keeping First Nations languages and memories alive

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NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

June 10, 2010
Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development

DOCUMENTARIES PRESERVE FIRST NATIONS LANGUAGES

VANCOUVER - Keeping First Nations languages and memories alive for
future generations is the focus of a series of moving Knowledge-produced
documentaries that premiered last night in Vancouver.

Our First Voices is a collection of 13 short documentaries told in their
original First Nations languages. The documentaries explore the creative
efforts being made by First Nations communities in British Columbia to
preserve their languages for the future and bring generations together
to reinvest in the future of their communities.

"Thanks to the work and dedication of the First Peoples' Heritage,
Language and Culture Council, Knowledge and its independent film
producers, these documentaries will assist in efforts to preserve First
Nations languages for future generations to appreciate," said Advanced
Education and Labour Market Development Minister Moira Stilwell, who
attended the screening of the documentaries. "That's why we continue to
support Knowledge so they can continue to champion important projects
like First Voices."

In 2009, the Province provided a $150,000 grant to Knowledge for
production of short documentaries about First Nations languages in
British Columbia.

Filmmakers recorded 13 stories - using 15 distinct languages - relating
the histories and cultures that link First Nations people in B.C. They
interacted with and were inspired by local residents who shared stories
that connect them to their cultures through language. Knowledge will
broadcast the full documentary on June 21, which is Aboriginal Day, and
again on June 29. The documentary will then be divided into 13 shorts,
which will air on Knowledge in between programs over the next year.

"Our First Voices is a significant initiative designed to help B.C.
First Nations revitalize, protect and sustain their languages, dialects
and culture for future generations," said Aboriginal Relations and
Reconciliation Minister George Abbott. "Our government is proud to
support these efforts - the task is very challenging but immensely
important to Aboriginal people and to all British Columbians."

Our First Voices was commissioned by Knowledge and produced by
independent film company Bliss Productions. All the directors who worked
on the film are Aboriginal and from British Columbia and include Lisa
Jackson, Zoe Leigh Hopkins, Kelvin Redvers, and Helen Haig-Brown. It
will be broadcast on Knowledge June 21 at 7:30 p.m. and available online
at Knowledge.ca.

"Our First Voices is the culmination of our year-long focus on First
Nations programming from international, continental and provincial
perspectives," said president and CEO of Knowledge Network Corporation
Rudy Buttignol. "These stories speak to the seminal relationship between
language and culture, and demonstrate the passion and commitment of our
new generation of storytellers."

Aboriginal language and culture is an important part of the rich
diversity of the province, which is home to the largest percentage of
indigenous dialects in Canada - 60 per cent. With 32 distinct languages
and 59 dialects, British Columbia is considered Canada's most
linguistically diverse province.

"This timely project offers the opportunity to inform all British
Columbians about the importance of First Nations languages," said Dr.
Lorna Williams, the Chair of the Board at the First Peoples' Heritage,
Language and Culture Council. "Currently in the province, eight First
Nations languages are severely endangered and another 22 are nearly
extinct. These documentaries highlight the urgent need to revitalize the
province's endangered languages before it's too late."

The Province is committed to working with the First Peoples' Heritage,
Language and Culture Council and First Nations to protect and revitalize
languages and cultures, and to restore fluency and literacy in First
Nations languages. Since 2001 the Province has provided over
$13 million to the First People's Council for First Nations language and
cultural revitalization.

FirstVoices, an online program of the First Peoples' Heritage, Language
and Culture Council, that works to preserve First Nations culture by
recording, archiving and sharing languages. FirstVoices has more than 60
communities from across Canada archiving their endangered languages,
with 35 of those languages publicly available online at firstvoices.com.

Knowledge is a viewer-supported public educational broadcaster that
provides commercial-free creative documentaries, arts and culture and
children's programs from Canada and around the world. The Ministry of
Advanced Education and Labour Market Development provides annual funding
of $6 million, along with donations from Partners In Knowledge and media
partnerships revenue. Knowledge plays a vital role in supporting the
independent production community in B.C. and the rest of Canada by
commissioning, pre-licensing and acquiring documentary and children's
content for broadcast on Knowledge and Knowledge.ca.

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Winter 2010: First Nations, First Peoples, First Voices
Knowledge continues its focus on the people who came first – programs by and about aboriginal peoples from local, continental and global perspectives.

For three weeks in January, Knowledge is featuring First Nations documentaries in four timeslots throughout our schedule.


BC First Nations, Fridays at 7pm beginning January 15: Knowledge presents BC First Nations documentaries that explore communities’ relationship with the Fraser River.

Canyon War
Friday, January 15 at 7pm

The Canadian broadcast premiere of BC filmmaker Eva Wunderman’s revealing story of greed, violence and heroism surrounding the 1858 war between the NLaka’pamux Nation and Fraser River Goldrush prospectors. This little-known war was swept under the carpet for 150 years but could have had serious repercussions for the entire province. Shot on location in the Fraser Canyon, Wunderman weaves dramatic re-enactments, archival footage and narration from descendants to bring to life this untold story.



The Fraser River Journey
Friday, January 22 at 7pm

Twelve Aboriginal youths from across BC wield waterproof video cameras on a wild rafting trip down the Fraser River. The film showcases one of the most stunning, diverse and dangerous river systems in the world, as well as the voyagers, who learn about their province, their heritage and themselves during this adrenalin-rush adventure.



Red Run
Friday, January 29 at 7pm

A 1913 railway blast sent hundreds of tons of rock cascading into the Fraser River, blocking the path of thousands of returning salmon. For days, the Fraser Valley’s Aboriginal people worked to save the fish, carrying them one at a time over the fallen rock. Director Murray Jurak, from the area’s Lower Nicola Band, recalls this dramatic tale and chronicles the area’s "River People" who to this day balance on the treacherous cliffs, waiting to scoop salmon from the river with traditional dip and gill nets.



Masters, Mondays at 9pm, showcases inspiring portraits of masters of the arts from a variety of disciplines. First Nations programming in January, includes:

Emily in Japan
Monday, January 11 at 9pm on MASTERS

The Canadian broadcast premiere of this astounding portrait of Australian aboriginal artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye, who began painting at 78 years of age. For the next eight years, she produced 3,000 canvases and was immediately celebrated by the international art world as a modernist in the league of Monet. This documentary goes behind the scenes of Kngwarreye’s landmark Japanese exhibition that attracted even bigger audiences than Warhol.



Story of the Coast Salish Knitters
Monday, January 18 at 9pm on MASTERS
Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh delves into the lives of three generations of Vancouver Island’s Coast Salish knitters, whose distinct hand-knit Cowichan sweaters are world-renowned. The film is a celebration of these extraordinary women who knit to put food on the table and keep their families and traditions alive.



Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Multimedia Experience
Monday, January 25 at 9pm on MASTERS

The remarkable story of Native American singer/songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie, who rose to prominence in the 1960's Greenwich Village folk music scene and continues to blaze a groundbreaking path as a popular songwriter, Aboriginal spokesperson, and pioneering digital artist.



Aperture, Thursdays at 10pm, offers a close-up look at the art of photography and cinema. Aboriginal programming includes:

Coming to Light
Thursday, January 14 at 10pm on APERTURE

Anne Makepeace’s poignant film about Edward S. Curtis, who spent 30 year years in the early 1900’s photographing 80 different Aboriginal tribes during a time when their customs and culture were being eroded by white culture. His efforts culminated in the landmark 20-volume work The North American Indian. Makepeace tells the story of a man willing to risk his family and fortune to accomplish a Herculean effort.



Shooting Indians: A Journey with Jeffery Thomas
Thursday, January 21 at 10pm on APERTURE

Ali Kazimi’s ironic journey as a foreign student from India who explores the history of the North American Indian by turning the camera on the present: Iroquois photographer Jeffrey Thomas, and the past: Edward Curtis, who crisscrossed the North African West at the turn of the century taking romanticized images of “noble savages.”



C.D. Hoy: Portraits from the Frontier
Thursday, January 28 at 10pm on APERTURE

C.D. Hoy emigrated from China to British Columbia at the turn of the century and established himself as a town photographer, capturing the daily lives of the First Nations population, and Chinese and European settlers in the Wild West. The film, from Vancouver’s Make Believe Media, draws on over 1,400 historic photos, rare footage of turn-of-the-century Canada and Hoy’s memoirs.



Route 66, Fridays at 10pm, a showcase for classic documentaries, presents the following First Nations programs:

Duncan Campbell Scott: The Poet and the Indian
Friday, January 15 at 10pm on ROUTE 66

Duncan Campbell Scott was Deputy Superintendant General of Indian Affairs from 1913 to 1932, during the implementation of residential schools and the reserve system. He was also a poet with a reverence for nature that reflected his Indigenous culture. This documentary delves into the complex and conflicting character of a man whose job it was to destroy a culture and yet who provided artistic insight into the First Nations world.



If Only I Were An Indian
Friday, January 22 at 10pm on ROUTE 66

John Paskievich’s strangely fascinating documentary about a group of people in the Czech Republic who gather to live their lives in traditional North American aboriginal ways.


Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action
Friday, January 29 at 10pm on ROUTE 66

Roberta Grossman tells the story of five remarkable Native American activists who are fighting the "new Indian Wars" - each passionately dedicated to protecting Indian lands against disastrous environmental hazards, preserving their sovereignty and ensuring the cultural survival of their peoples.