A story of our time – Waawaase’aagaming film review
– Film review by Bob Isenberger
I recently witnessed a refreshing change of pace from the usual fare on offer at the Water Docs Film Festival (www.waterdocs.ca) at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Most film selections at the festival are feature-length, and almost all have generally been created by established and developing filmmakers. However on a Thursday night that featured ‘shorter’ films, we were treated to a locally-conceived, filmed and produced offering named Waawaase’aagaming. The Chippewa of Georgina Island have recently become Water Walkers, and in their words “…it is important that we share our stories of our connections to the water and encourage others to be aware of their responsibility to love, protect and care for the waters we all share.”
[For those unfamiliar with the movement, Water Walkers are indigenous communities and their supporters who walk around threatened bodies of water with a copper kettle of water and an eagle-feather staff, offering gifts of tobacco in gratitude and for healing wherever they come near the water.]
As with other aboriginal communities these budding film makers come from an oral tradition, so when they wanted to leverage their efforts to help protect their own local watershed, what could be more natural than to tell the story? And being modern, adaptable and creative types, they turned to the story-telling mode of our times: a documentary film.
This story begins with the recent history of their home (Georgina Island and Lake Simcoe) and of their peoples as they have learned it from their parents and other elders of the community. The blend of photographs (historical and current), narrative story-telling by family, colleagues and neighbours, and video images of the area creates a stirring experience for a non-native and/or non-resident viewer. Never strident nor blaming, the filmmakers rely on the power of the story itself to move us. Something has gone drastically wrong with the ways we treat the land and water, and we are asked to pay attention and to help restore the natural health of the terrain.
The film has something of the feel of a community effort (and I mean that in the very best way). None of those involved had ever created a documentary film before this venture and all were learning as they worked. This is a contemporary collection of stories, anecdotes, personal experiences and local histories. It is intended to awaken us to the need to “…love, protect and care for the waters we all share.” We would all do well to attend to their appeal.