Cinema and Representation
This theme focuses on the ways in which Aboriginal peoples have been represented in NFB documentaries. Film excerpts illustrate how the representation of Aboriginal peoples has evolved over the last fifty years.
1951, Director: Greenlees, Stephen
excerpt 1 1 min 43 s
This folkloric portrayal of Manitoban Crees and Chipewans filmed in 1951 shows the Indians happily doing business with the Hudson’s Bay Company.
1. Identify the stereotypical roles being portrayed in the segment at the trading post. How could the portrayal of the Dene hunters have been more authentic?
2. How does the film depict the importance of stewardship to the Cree and Dene of the North, and why is stewardship as important today to our Aboriginal people as it was when the film was made?
In 1951, the film captures nomadic Cree and Chippewa hunters accompanied by dog teams in a caribou hunt as they roam the northern Manitoba forests and tundra. Following the hunt, they take the furs to the Hudson’s Bay Trading Post for goods exchange.