nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up

On Sunday, Feb 23 at 9pm, the film nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up aired on CBC TV. The TV version has been edited to fit into a 45 minute time slot and doesn’t include details that appear in the longer feature film version.

Illustration by Elizabeth LaPensée

We are pleased to offer this short segment of footage from the longer version, which provides deeper historical context to the film. In this stunning piece animated by Justin Stephenson & Solis Animation Inc, illustrated by Beth Lapensee and narrated by filmmaker Tasha Hubbard, we hear about a history of Indigenous peoples in the prairies and their relationship with the government, focusing on the events of the late nineteenth century.

In 1876, Treaty 6 negotiations ended with promises of health care, education, hunting rights and freedom in exchange for sharing the land to the depth of a plough. Instead, the Canadian government passed the Indian Act which pushed Indigenous people onto reserves. Violence and hunger were used to force assimilation and colonialism when leaders like Big Bear and Poundmaker tried to fight back.

Sensitively directed by Tasha Hubbard, nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up follows the family of the late Colten Boushie, a young Cree man fatally shot in a Saskatchewan farmyard, as they demand justice from Canada’s legal system.

Watch it online at https://www.wewillstandupfilm.com/watch.