Alanis Obomsawin

In July 1990, a dispute over a proposed golf course on Mohawk lands in Quebec set the stage for a confrontation that grabbed international headlines.

This film examines the Mohawk Resistance at Oka, a crisis that became a pivot point in modern-day relationships between Indigenous nations and Canada.

This enlightening film depicts one community’s attempts to enforce their treaty rights while revealing contemporary treaty agreements' complexities.

A cinematic and thoughtful retelling of the war Canadian officials appeared to wage on Mi'kmaq fishermen of Esgenoopetitj in the summer of 2000.

Sitting in on an art class for her first short, Indigenous director Alanis Obomsawin celebrates the nascent creativity of Cree children. Accompanying their lovely impressions of wintry landscapes and nativity scenes, the little artists talk in voice-over about their processes, ideas, and dreams.

In this plentiful picture of gendered experience in Indigenous communities, all manner of grandmaternal traditions are generously shared. Just as attentive to the hardship that results from discrimination, Alanis Obomsawin underlines the vital importance of togetherness, ritual, and education.

How the life of a disabled boy initiated a battle for First Nations children to receive the same social services as the rest of Canada's population.

June 11 and 20, 1981. The Quebec Provincial Police raid Restigouche Reserve, Quebec. At issue are the salmon-fishing rights of the Mi’kmaq. With salmon a traditional source of food and income for the Mi’kmaq, the Quebec government’s decision arouses both dismay and anger in the community.