Reservation soldiers
FTLComm - Tisdale - Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Written and directed by a First Nations person herself, Lisa Jackson an Ontario Anishinaabe filmaker and the film company Screen Siren Picturres Inc. have created a documentary about individuals from various reservations who have joined the modern Canadian Armed Forces during a time when the role of the military is pretty much in a shooting war. This documentary will be on CTV this coming Saturday night at 7:00PM.

Lisa Jackson was concerned that so much of what is told in the media about reservation life paints a pretty negative picture of the prospects of young First Nations people and she set out to tell the story of individuals who have chosen a future in the Canadian Armed Forces as an alternative to their lives on the Res.

In actual fact this is not a new story as people from the reservations have been a part of the Canadian Forces during the second war and since, many benefitting from the experience, while others found it added considerably to the confusion in their lives. World War II soldiers returned to peace time after the war unable to vote, go into a bar, or have any of the normal priviledges that other Canadians take for granted. But this film focuses on the individual lives of present day young people many of them from Saskatchewan.

Here are some of the people who's stories are told in this documentary:

  • Mahekan Ahenakew - Ahtohkakoop reserve in Northern Saskatchewan
  • Noel Agrueta - Kitsegukla, Northern B.C.
  • Blair Gramble - Beardy's Saskatchewan
  • Melissa Spricehieks - Southern Alberta
  • Kisha Potts - Southern Alberta
 
Timothy W. Shire
 

Return to Ensign

 
This page is a story posted on Ensign, a daily web site offering a variety of material from scenic images, political commentary, information and news. This publication is the work of Faster Than Light Communications . If you would like to comment on this story or you wish to contact the editor of these sites please send us email.
 

Editor : Timothy W. Shire
Faster Than Light Communication
Box 1776, Tisdale, Saskatchewan, Canada, S0E 1T0
306 873 2004