The Cinematheque

In partnership with grunt gallery and Our World, a media-arts organization serving Indigenous communities, this month’s program shares the filmmaking journey of Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. Located approximately 80 km north of the Arctic Circle, the remote village of Old Crow, situated on the Porcupine River, is home to around 300 people who make up the Vuntut Gwitchin (“People of the Lakes”), one of 15 Gwich’in communities across the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Alaska. The films of Mary Jane Moses, Sophie Flather, and fellow Vuntut Gwitchin members in this program emphasize the importance of community filmmaking by celebrating, sharing, and passing on teachings of their culture and Gwich’in language, while exploring the challenges of preserving their way of life—including an important relationship with the Porcupine caribou—in the ​“modern world.”

In English and Gwich’in with English subtitles

Curated by Akira Iahtail, lisa g, and Sebnem Ozpeta.

Post-screening Q&A with filmmakers Mary Jane Moses and Sophie Flather.

Imprints of Our Ancestors Part 1 and Part 2 • Canada 2003 • Mary Jane Moses • 36 min. Caribou, Our Livelihood • Canada 2010 • Mary Jane Moses • 6 min. Na’aa Shahnuu • Canada 2023 • Sophia Flather • 23 min. Instilling Gwich’in Values • Canada 2023 • Mary Jane Moses • 7 min. How Bear Got a Short Tail • Canada 2012 • Melayna Kyikavichik, Jaanelle Schafer • 3 min. How the Loon and Crow Got Their Colours • Canada 2012 • Caleb Charlie • 2 min. On the Land • Canada 2018 • Dean Njootli • 2 min. Traditional Trappings • Canada 2008 • Joel Peter • 4 min. Gwitchin Bead Work • Canada 2010 • Chelsea Charlie • 2 min. I Am Gwitchin • Canada 2010 • Nathaniel Schafer • 2 min. Vuntut Gwitchin—Caribou Fences • Canada 2018 • Brandon Kyikavichik • 8 min.