Circles

Dancing Around the Table, Part One provides a fascinating look at the crucial role Indigenous people played in shaping the Canadian Constitution. The 1984 Federal Provincial Conference of First Ministers on Aboriginal Constitutional Matters was a tumultuous and antagonistic process that pitted Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau and the First Ministers-who refused to include Indigenous inherent rights to self-government in the Constitution-against First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders, who would not back down from this historic opportunity to enshrine Indigenous rights. In a now infamous exchange, Kwakwaka'wakw lawyer and lead negotiator Bill Wilson states that he has two children who want to become lawyers and prime minister. When he says that they are Indigenous women, the male audience bursts into laughter, and Trudeau replies, "Tell them I'll stick around until they're ready." Over 30 years later, Bill Wilson's daughter, Jody Wilson-Raybould, became Canada's first Indigenous minister of justice and attorney general in the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The conference was Pierre Elliott Trudeau's last constitutional meeting before he resigned and the process was handed over to his successor, Brian Mulroney.

Dancing Around the Table, Part Two charts the battle to enshrine Indigenous rights in the Canadian Constitution, capturing a key moment in Canada's history from the perspective of Indigenous negotiators. The 1985 conference, chaired by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, was the fourth and final meeting to determine an amendment to Indigenous rights as defined in the Constitution. The provincial premiers again refused to reach an agreement with the First Nations, Métis and Inuit leaders, even though the majority of Canadians supported the inclusion of Indigenous rights to self-government. Director Maurice Bulbulian captures the pride and determination of Indigenous leaders and community members who refuse to back down on this historic opportunity to enshrine their rights, and the arrogance of the First Ministers who are fighting to keep power within the federal and provincial governments. The film takes us to Indigenous communities where ceremony and traditional practices affirm the connection to the Earth and its animals, and are the source of the strength and resilience shown by the Indigenous people around the table.

At the age of 16, George Johnston left the Yukon community of Teslin and trekked hundreds of miles overland to coastal Alaska in search of the history of his people. Johnston met with elders, learning as much as he could about the Tlingit religion and the songs and dances of his people. A few years later, Johnston did something else that was quite extraordinary: after ordering a camera from a mail-order catalogue, he taught himself to use it and to develop and print his own photographs. The images he recorded--of special moments and everyday occasions--became a beacon to the young and a testament to the golden times of the Tlingit people. Johnston's photos lovingly portray a sense of history and a zest for life. His work as a photographer in the period from 1920 to 1945 has long been recognized in the Indigenous community, predating a generation of Indigenous and Inuit photographers. Today, as his photographs gain international recognition, the National Film Board of Canada has released a documentary directed by Carol Geddes, a clan relative of Johnston's. Picturing a People: George Johnston, Tlingit Photographer is a unique portrait of a man who was himself a creator of portraits and a keeper of his culture. Johnston cared deeply about the traditions of the Tlingit people, and he recorded a critical period in the history of the Tlingit nation. As Geddes says, his legacy was "to help us dream the future as much as to remember the past.".