Here are the following resources listed within this section.
1. Alanis Obomsawin's (born 1932) Documentaries & Films
2. Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993) directed by Alanis Obomsawin
3. “Injuns!”: Native Americans in the Movies (2006) by Edward Buscombe
4. Making the white man's Indian: Native Americans and Hollywood Movies (2005) by Angela Aleiss
5. Vision Maker Media Documentaries Collection
Alanis Obomsawin's (born 1932) Documentaries & Films
Location:
A wide variety of Obomsawin's films can be found on the National Film Board of Canada's website. Access these films here.
Citation:
National Film Board of Canada. (n.d.). NFB Films directed by Alanis Obomsawin. https://www.nfb.ca/directors/alanis-obomsawin/
Annotation:
Three other resources have been created by or feature Alanis Obomsawin, and it is imporant to circulate the knowledge of her other films as well. There are too many to truly pick out and highlight, however Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance is her most widely known work. Obomsawin, whose name means 'pathfinder,' is a member of the Abenaki Nation. Her documentaries provide a voice to underrepresented populations, and any author or creator looking to include the Indigenous perspective will learn a lot from Obomsawin's art.
Resource's Description:
One of the most acclaimed Indigenous directors in the world, Alanis Obomsawin came to cinema from performance and storytelling. Hired by the NFB as a consultant in 1967, she has created an extraordinary body of work—50 films and counting—including landmark documentaries like Incident at Restigouche (1984) and Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993). The Abenaki director has received numerous international honours and her work was showcased in a 2008 retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. “My main interest all my life has been education,” says Obomsawin, “because that’s where you develop yourself, where you learn to hate, or to love.”
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993)
directed by Alanis Obomsawin
Location:
This item is a physical DVD located in the University of Albany's Main Library. One can access the online item record here. The DVD's call number is:
Citation:
Obomsawin, A., Koenig, W., National Film Board of Canada., & National Film Board of Canada. Studio B. (2006). Kanehsatake : 270 years of resistance [Video recording]. National Film Board of Canada.
Annotation:
Alanis Obomsawin is a talented creator and has directed and written many documentaries focusing on the Indigenous perspective. This one in particular is relevant both content wise as well as geographically. Much of upstate New York and Quebec is located on Kanien’kéhaka lands. If a writer from Albany, NY, wants to write a story featuring a member of the Kanien’kéhaka, then it is important to understand the history as well as the contemporary conflicts arising between the people and the colonizers occupying their land.
Resource's Description:
Resource's Listed Keywords: Sûreté du Québec; Québec (Province) -- History -- Native Crisis, 1990; Mohawk Indians -- Claims; Kanesatake Indian Reserve (Québec) -- History -- 20th century; Documentary films; Films for hard of hearing people
“Injuns!”: Native Americans in the Movies (2006)
by Edward Buscombe
Location:
This book is accessible online via UAlbany's Primo search platform as open access, as well as being shelved at the University of Albany's Main Library. One can access the online item's record here.
The call number for the book is:
Citation:
Buscombe, E. (2006). “Injuns!”: Native Americans in the Movies. London: Reaktion.
Annotation:
This resource is not a video resource, however, it does focus on Indigenous presences within videos and movies. This is important for screenwriters looking to include Indigenous perspectives in their screenplays, or directors, producers, and casting directors and their films. While this book was written in 2006, it focuses on the historical narrative of Indigenous representation within movies across time. This is especially imporant because movies are often how one population can learn about another that is not their own. If only harmful stereotypes are presented, then those become 'fact' for the audience watching. To ensure one can write authentic representation, it is important to recognize what is harmful or misleading representation. Even the subject keyword assigned to this item is not entirely accurate since the book is not about people from the subcontinent of India and their representaiton in movies, but rather the Indigenous people of Turtle Island.
Resource's Description: Explores changing representations of Native Americans.
Resource's Listed Keywords: Indians in motion pictures
Making the white man's Indian: Native Americans and Hollywood Movies (2005)
by Angela Aleiss
Location:
This book is located at the University of Albany's Main Library. One can access the online item record here. The call number for the book is:
Citation:
Aleiss, A. (2005). Making the white man’s Indian: Native Americans and Hollywood Movies. Praeger Publishers.
Annotation:
This resource is not a video, however, it is a book that also focuses on the Indigenous presence within popular movies. This resource is included here to provide additional insight alongisde the previously listed book. It is important to investigate a variety of ideas about the representation of Indigenous people within popular media.
Resource's Description:
In this new study, author Angela Aleiss traces the history of Native Americans on the silver screen, and breaks new ground by drawing on primary sources such as studio correspondence, script treatments, trade newspapers, industry censorship files, and filmmakers' interviews to reveal how and why Hollywood created its Indian characters. Behind-the-scenes anecdotes of filmmakers and Native Americans, as well as rare archival photographs, supplement the discussion, which often shows a stark contrast between depiction and reality.
Resource's Listed Keywords: Indians in motion pictures; Motion pictures -- United States
Vision Maker Media Documentaries Collection
Location:
This collection of documentaries can be accessed online. Many of the movies can be accessed for free on PBS or other platforms, and the films may also be purchased through the website. Find the list of movies here.
Citation:
Films – Vision Maker Media. (n.d.). https://visionmakermedia.org/films/
Annotation:
The Vision Maker Media Documentaries Collection is a phenomenal resource for videos created by and about Indigenous people. The topics provide a range of the following: Adoption, Alaska, Arts, Biography, Civics, Cooking, Creative Shorts, Documentary Feature & Shorts, Ecology, Educational, Health & Wellness, History, Humanities, Inspirational, Language, Matriarchy, Music, Narrative Short, Popular, Social Sciences, Sports, Stewardship, Tattoo, Traditional Knowledge, Veterans, and Youth. These documentaries are likely to feature a specific aspect an author is trying to research and gain more information about. For example, an author may be writing a story that features Indigenous ways of cooking, or Indigenous political structures, or the environmental impact of colonization.
Resource's Description:
Vision Maker Media’s mission is empowering and engaging Native people to share stories. We envision a world changed and healed by understanding Native stories and the public conversations they generate. We work with VMM funded producers to develop, produce and distribute programs for all public media. VMM supports training to increase the number of Native Americans and Alaska Natives producing public broadcasting programs.