These Are My People ...

Directed by Roy Daniels, Willie Dunn, Michael Mitchell, and Barbara Wilson

Canada, 1969 (documentary, 13 minutes, black and white, English)

Image: © National Film Board of Canada

Video (National Film Board of Canada)

Film Description:
"This is the first film made by an Indian film crew, training under the NFB's Challenge for Change Program. It was shot at Akwesasne (St. Regis Reserve). Two spokesmen explain historical and other aspects of Longhouse religion, culture, and government, which are interwoven. They reflect on the impact of the white man's arrival on the Indian way of life, and on what the future may bring."
-- National Film Board of Canada (source)

Film Credits (partial):
Produced by:	George C. Stoney
Film Editing:	Noel StarBlanket
Production Company:	National Film Board of Canada / Office national du film du Canada

(sources)

Quote about These Are My People ...

"As one phase of their training, the crew shot a film at St Regis Mohawk Reserve, Cornwall, each member of the crew serving in turn as cameraman, director, and interviewer. There was no script for the film, and each member of the crew expressed his own feelings as the work progressed, so that the end result was a collaborative effort in terms of the choice of subjects and how each was handled. As a result of the individual interest and performance on this location, the members of the crew progressed to more specialized training in each field: Barbara Wilson and Tom O'Connor (camera), Notel Starblanket and Roy Daniels (sound and editing), Willie Dunn and Mike Mitchell (direction and production). [...] While the crew is operating in two groups doing practice shooting, we are also screening the two versions of the St Regis film in various Indian communities and filming the reactions and discussion among audiences. This latter practice will act as a prelude to future projects."
-- Noel Starblanket (source)

Bibliography for These Are My People ...

Book Chapters

Starblanket, Noel. "A Voice for Canadian Indians: An Indian Film Crew (1968)." ["Originally published in Challenge for Change/Société nouvelle: Newsletter, issue no. 2, Fall 1968."] In Challenge for Change: Activist Documentary at the National Film Board of Canada, edited by Michael Brendan Baker, Thomas Waugh, and Ezra Winton, 38-40. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010.

Web Sites about These Are My People ...

National Film Board of Canada. "NFB -- These Are My People ...." National Film Board of Canada. http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/our-collection/?idfilm=11244.