Kanata : Legacy of the Children of Aataentsic

The story of the Jesuit martyrs who lived with the Wendat converts in the region near what is now Midland, Ontario. The film is of wide interest since it reconstructs a period of Canadian history, especially of Indigenous life, at the very beginning of European settlement. The village and the Jesuits' buildings are exact models from archeologists' reconstructions. The story is based on the Jesuit Relations, the actual journals of mission life that still make for thrilling reading.

Avec un sens rigoureux et passionné de l'histoire, René Siouï Labelle retrace l'itinéraire de ses ancêtres et arpente leur vaste territoire, recueillant des images d'une beauté saisissante. Il dévoile un passé méconnu et propose une réflexion sur l'identité de la nation wendat. Il donne voix à son peuple à travers des rencontres avec des femmes et des hommes inspirés, la plupart originaires de Wendake, situé à huit kilomètres au nord-ouest de la ville de Stadaconé, jadis décrite par le chef Donnacona comme le grand village, ou « Kanata », lors d'une rencontre avec Jacques Cartier. Ils évoquent le rapport entre l'être humain et son environnement, la reconnaissance et la transmission du patrimoine, la défense des droits des Autochtones, et une spiritualité unique fondée sur la diplomatie et le respect de l'autre. La splendeur des paysages et la délicatesse des séquences de reconstitution, alliées aux témoignages clés de l'historien Georges E. Siouï, de l'artiste Mireille Siouï et de l'anthropologue Bruce Trigger, confèrent au film une densité poétique et personnelle qui interpelle le spectateur.

Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions among Indigenous peoples in Canada. Poor dietary habits, coupled with a sedentary lifestyle, have led to high incidences of obesity. These factors are believed to play a pivotal role in the onset of diabetes. Add to this the ever-increasing costs of drugs and treatments for a disease that has no cure and, clearly, a health crisis is close at hand. Ojibway filmmaker Brion Whitford lives with the pain of advanced diabetes. In 2001, complications from the disease left him with only 50 percent kidney function and blood sugar levels that were spiralling out of control. Having been raised in the city, Whitford grew up without knowing his culture or heritage. Consequently, he had little faith in traditional Indigenous medicine and healing. But the more his health deteriorated, the deeper his interest grew in connecting with his own culture and traditions. The Gift of Diabetes follows Whitford's struggle to regain his health by learning about The Medicine Wheel, a holistic tool grounded in an Indigenous understanding of the interconnectedness of all dimensions of life: the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. He also explores how the historical trauma of colonization continues to exert a negative influence over Indigenous people's psychological and physical well-being. Only by making peace with this fact and his own troubled past can he move forward to a healthier and better life. Whitford's journey is a moving account of a man coming to grips with his own mortality, while trying to re-establish balance in his life.