What is it like to be 17 years old in Kahnawake?

[Tracey Deer /Mohawk Girls]

Documentary About Modern Aboriginal Youth Culture . . .

Mohawk Girls, a film by Tracey Deer, Kahnawake

"With humour and a sympathetic lens, director Tracey Deer, who had grown up on the reserve, takes us inside the lives of these three young women as they tackle the same issues that she had faced a decade earlier."

What is it like to be 17 years old in Kahnawake?

Like all girls their age, Amy, Lauren and Felicia must make decisions about the future, but when you grow up on a Mohawk reserve on the outskirts of Montréal, the choices are tougher.

Filmmaker Tracey Deer, who grew up in Kahnawake herself, returns to her teenage haunts to film the tribulations of three young women who have reached crossroads in their lives. To leave the reserve is to risk losing your credibility, your identity and even your rights as a Mohawk. But to stay is to face the problems like drinking, violence, and sexual assault that plague the community, and to give up the possibilities of life “on the outside.”

Shot over two years, Mohawk Girls takes us into the lives of these young women with veracity, humour and compassion and opens our eyes to the culture of young Native people in the 21st century. An intimate, affectionate look at the passage to adulthood from a collective point of view that captures the radiance and exuberance of these struggling but hopeful teenagers.

Mohawk filmmaker Tracey Deer left Kahnawake to study in the United States. In 2000, she graduated from Dartmouth College in film studies. With Neil Diamond, she co-directed the documentary One More River: The Deal That Split the Cree, which follows events leading up to the vote on a controversial agreement between the Cree Nation and the province of Quebec.

Tracy Deer received an award at the ImagineNative 2005 festival on October 23. She was honoured with the Alanis Obomsawin Best Documentary Award for Mohawk Girls.

NFB news release described Mohawk Girls as, "a surprising picture of modern Aboriginal youth culture. Three young women tackle the same issues of identity, culture and family that writer/director Tracy Deer did while growing up on the Kahnawake Native reserve outside Montreal. The film is produced by Adam Symansky of the NFB, and for Rezolution Pictures International, Christina Fon and Joanne Robertson."

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Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival
November 2005

Mohawk Girls - Feature
Director: Tracey Deer 64 min
Friday November 18th Globe Cinema 1:15 PM

Choices and consequences are the focus of Mohawk Girls, which gives an intimate look into contemporary aboriginal youth culture. It is an insightful film that examines the passage to adult life of Amy, Lauren and Felicia, Mohawk teenage girls on the Kahnawake reserve just across the Mercier Bridge from Montreal.

They all face challenges within their school, their families and their community. With humour and a sympathetic lens, director Tracey Deer, who had grown up on the reserve, takes us inside the lives of these three young women as they tackle the same issues that she had faced a decade earlier.

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2005 Best Documentary Award from the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois.

2005 WINNER Tracey Deer and Neil Diamond “ONE MORE RIVER”

PIERRE AND YOLANDE PERRAULT AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY DEBUT - $5 000 awarded to a documentary filmmaker who, in a first or seconddocumentary feature film, reveals a unique personal approach or vision.
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Dreamspeakers Film Festival
June 2004

Tracey Deer co-directed One More River: The Deal That Split the Cree

"When we bleed, we cannot cover the cut with a $20 bill."

One More River is a moving account of the events leading up to a vote on a controversial agreement between the Cree Nation and the province of Quebec. The film follows Grand Chief Ted Moses' 80-day campaign to convince Cree communities to officially approve the deal.

The proposal, promoted to the Cree by their Grand Chief Ted Moses, would dam the Rupert River, not only resulting in monumental changes to the local environment, but dividing the community as well. Filmmakers Tracy Deer and Neil Diamond document the protests of the traditional elders, young militants, and dissident chiefs as they fight the move.