Secret Path Week

Subjects: Indigenous, English, Language, Equity, Challenge and Change, Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology, Fashion, Civics

Joleen Mitton, a Néhiyaw woman and the founder of Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week (VIFW), shows how she builds community using fashion, as she works to undo years of trauma–in herself and others.

Subjects: Indigenous, English, Language, Equity, Challenge and Change, Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology, Civics

Despite a tumultuous upbringing that would break most, Janelle Niles confronts being Black and Mi'kmaw head-on, embracing her biracial experience and two-spirit identity, while using stand-up to heal and usher in a new era of inclusive Canadian comedy.

Intertwining narratives of residential school survivors, including Orange Shirt Day founder Phyllis Jack-Webstad, and Indigenous peoples’ relationship with imperiled wild Pacific salmon in Secwépemc territory, this testament to resilience reveals how healing people and healing the natural world are synonymous.

Subjects: Indigenous, English, Language, Geography, World Issues, Law, Challenge and Change, Environment

The Klabona Keepers is an intimate portrait of the inspiring Indigenous families that succeeded in protecting the Sacred Headwaters, known as the Klabona, northwest British Columbia, from industrial activities. Spanning 15 years of matriarch-led resistance, the film follows a small group of determined elders in the village of Iskut as they heal from colonial wounds to push back against law enforcement, the government, and some of the world’s largest multinational companies. Nestled between scenes of stand-offs and blockades, land defenders reflect on how their history of forced displacement, residential schools, and trauma strengthened their resolve to protect the very land that was so essential to their healing journey.
 

*Supplementary talkback session (50 min) included to take students behind the scenes of the youth activism seen in the film and deepen classroom discussion

Director Tamo Campos chats with 3 youth from the Iskut community about their memories of growing up during the blockades, their reflections on the work of the elders in protecting the Klabona Sacred Headwaters, and their future hopes and vision for the community.