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Downloaded from
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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Wilfred:
Kihci-manitow, Creator,

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had a thought.

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(shimmering sound)

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And whatever Creator thought
about came into being.

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(whooshing)

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Kisikookuk refers to
that light, that energy.

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And that's one of the first
thoughts Creator had.

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(whooshing)

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(whooshing)

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This light,
this energy we call acak,

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we call spirit,
and we carry that within us.

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(low drone and
resonant cracking noise)

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So acakosuk, those stars,

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they are a part of us,
and we are a part of them.

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(wind and crickets)

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(dog barking in distance)

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(phone ringing)

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Oh, that the boss?

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Hello?

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Man:
Hi, is this Wilfred?

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Yes, it is.

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Okay.
Um, do you have time to talk?

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Uh... Yeah, I guess so.
Yeah.

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Okay. I understand
you put on presentations,

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and I was wondering if you'd
like to come to our community?

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Presentations regarding?

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Man:
The stars.

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Oh, the stars. Okay.

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Yeah.

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And where is this?

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Man:
It's halfway up James Bay

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on the Quebec side.

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Holy smokes.

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Yeah, well, we can keep
communicating back and forth.

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Right now, I'm just on
my way to a Sundance.

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("Rumble"
by Link Wray plays)

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Pawamanikititicikiw is what
I'm known as from my people.

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And it means, "He has dreamt
a dream and keeps it."

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I'm from
Opaskwayak Cree Nation,

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North Central Manitoba.

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I'm also known
as Wilfred Buck.

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Young Wilfred:
In my younger days,

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I was commonly
known as Smokey Buck.

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I am of
the fresh-out-of-the-bush,

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partly-civilized,
colonized, displaced people.

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Trained and shamed by
teachers, preachers, doctors,

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nurses,
law enforcement, movies,

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radio, and television
to be a pill-popping,

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hard-drinking, self-loathing,
easily-impressed, angry,

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non-conformist,
maladjusted, disaffected

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youth of the dirty
Indian Baby Boomer generation.

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I lived and died in
North Central Manitoba.

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This is my reality-fiction.

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♪

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Isaac: So when they asked me
to come, they said,

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"Wilfred Buck is doing
a presentation over there."

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I said, "Oh great," I said,
"I definitely wanna go."

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And they said,
"What do you want to do?"

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I said,
"I want to smoke fish."

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And they said,
"Why do you want to smoke fish?"

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(laughing)

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I said, "Because there's
a teaching about this

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that's connected
to the stars," I said.

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Oh, yeah.

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Isaac: This thing here,
it's like a lodge.

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This represents the star world,
up there, where we come from.

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And so, the idea why
I wanted to smoke the fish

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is because the fish
are stargazers.

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Sometimes, they just sit there
like this, and they fast,

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and they stare through
that Hole in the Sky,

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and they're able to see
the future in there.

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Wilfred: There's a big fish up
there, namiw, the sturgeon.

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Oh, yeah.

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And he swims in that sky.

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And his head touches
one side of that Milky Way,

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and his tail touches
that other side.

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So they say,
ahcahk sîpiy is the present,

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and where his head
touches is the future,

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and where his tail
touches is the past.

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So, you get that whole
continuum up there.

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(kids indistinct talking)

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Make sure that door's facing
that way.

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(air hissing)

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Wilfred: It's very important
that you speak the language

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because the language
originates from the land.

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The language embedded
in it has all that knowledge,

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that sacred knowledge
that's there.

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So, look at there, see that?

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That's Keewatin from the root
word kîwê, which means home.

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That's the star they use when
they're traveling at night.

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They keep the North Star
on their left shoulder

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and they're pointing this way.

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And this way is east.

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So keep your eye
focused right there.

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You'll see one star
that doesn't move.

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See that?

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You are getting sleepy!

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(all laughing)

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When you go to school,

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they never mention
Anishinaabe constellations,

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Ininewuk constellations,
Dakota constellations,

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Lakota constellations.

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Through the process of
colonization, we lost...

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Well, we didn't
lose all this knowledge,

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it went to sleep on us.

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So now,
we're slowly rediscovering

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what those stories were.

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So, this is
the Flying Up Moon,

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and it's also Namiw Pisim,
the Sturgeon Moon.

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The sturgeons start making
their eggs during this month.

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Our skies had all
the stories that we hear about.

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They're all up in the sky.

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And our people
were never lost.

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No matter where they were,
all they had to do was

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look at the sky and they knew
immediately where they were.

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That means anywhere
they went was home.

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(low drone and resonant
cracking noise)

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(water rippling)

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Young Wilfred:
My first recollections

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are of the
Saskatchewan River.

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♪

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It made its way down
from the Rocky Mountains,

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across the great plains
and into Manitoba.

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By the time it got to The Pas,
the river was wide, fast,

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and filled with silt.

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My grandfather
lived on that land,

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and everything came
from that land.

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Everything.

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I remember tents in spring,
summer, fall, and winter.

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I remember the smell of
weasels and muskrat,

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of rabbit and beaver,

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of duck and goose.

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(loons calling)

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I remember walking down
calm, silent trails.

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In that stillness,

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you could hear
the snow squeak.

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One could predict
known patterns.

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Experience
and clear memory was key.

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There were laughing memories
and hard memories.

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This is where
we camped that one time

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we saw a comet in the sky.

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This is the place you learned
to track your first moose.

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This is where
the eagles gathered

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before they went south.

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This is where
sturgeon spawned.

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This is where
you learned to be a man.

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This is where you
learned to be a woman.

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This is where you
learned to be a human.

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This is where.
This is where.

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♪

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I remember wâwatêwin
the northern lights,

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static energy in the air
and the smell of ozone,

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like after
a lightning strike.

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I remember looking
at that sky saying,

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"Holy smokes, mâmaskâts,
it's wonderful."

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♪

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(chopping)

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Alvin.

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- Wilfred.
- Nice to meet you.

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- My daughter, Autumn.
- Daughter?

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Yep.

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And there's my son,
Mistawasis over there.

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Doorway's here,
probably right here.

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You got to line yourself up
with this and that pit.

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Oh, that's the centre?

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Yeah.

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Ground's pretty solid.

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Walk it slowly.

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Alan:
Okay, walk it.

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Ladies in the middle,
tie up the tree.

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Wilfred:
They say Cree people,

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we have
a matriarchal society, eh.

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And our matriarchs
are the ones

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pretty much in
charge of everything.

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Nowadays, you have all
these men running around,

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doing all these ceremonies,
and they're saying,

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"Women can't do this,"
and, "Women can't do that."

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00:11:06,310 --> 00:11:07,353
(laughing)

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00:11:07,478 --> 00:11:09,105
And I'm saying,
"Well, what happened to

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the matriarchal society?
Where did you get that from?"

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00:11:11,482 --> 00:11:14,486
And what happened was
when everything was outlawed

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and we had to go underground,
the men had to go out

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in some secret place
and do the ceremony.

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And the women stayed
home with the kids, right?

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00:11:20,991 --> 00:11:22,993
Because it was
all during the night.

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The youth that are growing up
and seeing this,

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they say,
"Huh, that's the tradition."

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00:11:28,333 --> 00:11:29,876
And then pretty soon
they're saying,

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"No, women can't do this,"

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because that's
what they experienced.

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00:11:33,004 --> 00:11:35,506
Yeah. I was always
told that women,

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they took care
of our medicine,

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00:11:37,132 --> 00:11:40,178
they took care of all that
until we were-- Yeah.

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00:11:40,178 --> 00:11:43,014
Until we were ready.
(laughing)

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00:11:44,890 --> 00:11:46,184
Wilfred:
...Again?

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00:11:46,184 --> 00:11:48,352
No. My hair, I can just
feel that my hair is a mess

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00:11:48,352 --> 00:11:50,521
because there was so much
spiders in it in the bush.

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00:11:50,521 --> 00:11:52,649
(both laughing)

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00:11:54,275 --> 00:11:57,694
Wilfred: See, these ones are
nice and flexible.

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00:11:57,694 --> 00:11:59,905
Under. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. Wrap it.

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00:12:04,410 --> 00:12:07,079
(striking match)

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00:12:07,204 --> 00:12:11,208
(fire crackling)

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00:12:11,208 --> 00:12:13,086
Wilfred:
One of our origin stories,

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00:12:13,211 --> 00:12:15,505
when we came to this place
to ôta askiy, this earth here,

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00:12:15,505 --> 00:12:18,717
from up there,
we changed from energy,

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00:12:18,717 --> 00:12:21,218
we changed
to a physical form.

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00:12:21,218 --> 00:12:23,096
When I heard that, I cried.

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00:12:23,221 --> 00:12:25,597
This makes so much more sense
'cause I always had a difficult

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00:12:25,722 --> 00:12:27,726
time with Christianity
and organized religion.

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00:12:27,726 --> 00:12:32,355
When I was six years old,
I was sent to Sunday school.

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00:12:32,355 --> 00:12:34,565
They forced me to
go to Sunday school.

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00:12:34,565 --> 00:12:36,735
And I was sitting in
Sunday school, six-year-old,

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00:12:36,735 --> 00:12:38,737
one time, and,
"If you people,"

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00:12:38,737 --> 00:12:41,238
and she was talking about us,
us Native children, right?

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00:12:41,238 --> 00:12:44,951
"If you people, if your parents,
they don't follow Jesus Christ,

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00:12:45,076 --> 00:12:46,745
they're gonna go to hell."

219
00:12:46,745 --> 00:12:48,121
"And your relatives--

220
00:12:48,246 --> 00:12:51,123
that's where your relatives are,
in hell," she said.

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00:12:51,248 --> 00:12:53,418
And I looked at her,
and I said, "You're telling me

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00:12:53,418 --> 00:12:55,627
"my grandfather
and my grandmother,

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00:12:55,754 --> 00:12:58,923
that's where they are?"
And she said, "Yes."

224
00:12:58,923 --> 00:13:01,425
I said, "Okay, well that's
where I wanna be. And I left."

225
00:13:01,425 --> 00:13:03,469
And I never went back there.

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00:13:03,594 --> 00:13:05,554
(fire crackling)

227
00:13:12,312 --> 00:13:13,938
Young Wilfred:
My visit to this place

228
00:13:13,938 --> 00:13:17,065
began on September 27th, 1954

229
00:13:17,065 --> 00:13:20,111
at St. Anthony's Hospital
in The Pas, Manitoba.

230
00:13:23,113 --> 00:13:26,284
I was one of three children
born to Louise and Alfred Buck.

231
00:13:27,952 --> 00:13:30,663
My father's parents were
Carrie and Alfred Buck,

232
00:13:30,789 --> 00:13:32,957
and my mother's parents
were Bella and Edward Ross.

233
00:13:38,463 --> 00:13:40,339
In the early 1960s,

234
00:13:40,464 --> 00:13:43,259
things changed in
the era of hydroelectricity.

235
00:13:46,179 --> 00:13:48,139
The world conspired
against my people

236
00:13:48,139 --> 00:13:50,098
and forced them from
the land they loved.

237
00:13:52,977 --> 00:13:54,603
Everything was flooded,

238
00:13:54,603 --> 00:13:55,980
lives thrown into
the turbines

239
00:13:55,980 --> 00:13:58,107
of hydroelectric progress.

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00:13:58,107 --> 00:14:04,155
♪

241
00:14:06,366 --> 00:14:09,160
The self-sufficient people
who had lived off the land

242
00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:10,995
found themselves
living near towns that

243
00:14:10,995 --> 00:14:12,996
resented them
for their intrusion

244
00:14:12,996 --> 00:14:14,998
and blamed them
for their confusion.

245
00:14:17,376 --> 00:14:20,713
We were marginal citizens
whose rights could be

246
00:14:20,838 --> 00:14:23,006
trampled when
circumstances required

247
00:14:23,006 --> 00:14:24,967
or profit demanded.

248
00:14:24,967 --> 00:14:27,719
(train whistle blowing)

249
00:14:27,846 --> 00:14:30,722
It seemed the only place
tolerated our people

250
00:14:30,847 --> 00:14:32,724
were the bars,

251
00:14:32,851 --> 00:14:35,477
and this is where
a lot of them went.

252
00:14:35,477 --> 00:14:42,526
♪

253
00:14:44,112 --> 00:14:45,822
With all
the sudden changes,

254
00:14:45,822 --> 00:14:48,031
my father slipped
into depression,

255
00:14:48,031 --> 00:14:50,827
and not being able to make
a living for his family,

256
00:14:50,827 --> 00:14:53,413
began to find
the numbness of alcohol.

257
00:14:56,039 --> 00:14:58,333
My parents split up,
and I was sent to live with

258
00:14:58,333 --> 00:15:00,544
my mother's sister
and her husband.

259
00:15:02,421 --> 00:15:04,716
We moved from place to place.

260
00:15:04,716 --> 00:15:07,050
Parties always followed
along with the violence.

261
00:15:08,719 --> 00:15:11,430
I usually was left
to my own means.

262
00:15:11,555 --> 00:15:18,520
♪

263
00:15:25,612 --> 00:15:26,612
Wilfred:
Nah, it's totally different.

264
00:15:26,737 --> 00:15:28,072
Totally strange.

265
00:15:29,406 --> 00:15:30,574
Feels like a ghost town.

266
00:15:33,660 --> 00:15:35,246
We used to raise hell in here.

267
00:15:36,789 --> 00:15:39,918
So all this area here
used to be a used car lot.

268
00:15:39,918 --> 00:15:44,923
And when I first took off
from my foster placement,

269
00:15:44,923 --> 00:15:49,928
I lived in a car lot
here for one winter.

270
00:15:49,928 --> 00:15:52,096
I stayed in one car
and a buddy of mine

271
00:15:52,096 --> 00:15:53,932
who was also in the same
situation I was in

272
00:15:53,932 --> 00:15:55,433
stayed in another car.

273
00:15:58,770 --> 00:16:01,438
We used to gather
our solace in the bush.

274
00:16:01,438 --> 00:16:03,107
After partying and fighting

275
00:16:03,107 --> 00:16:05,943
and feeling horrible
about ourselves,

276
00:16:05,943 --> 00:16:08,487
we'd go in the bush,
and we'd find peace,

277
00:16:08,612 --> 00:16:09,780
and we'd hunt,

278
00:16:09,780 --> 00:16:13,116
and we'd bring food out
for our families.

279
00:16:13,116 --> 00:16:16,161
That was the only thing
that made us feel like

280
00:16:16,286 --> 00:16:17,621
we were worth something.

281
00:16:22,501 --> 00:16:26,296
(gentle whooshing)

282
00:16:30,009 --> 00:16:31,302
Young Wilfred:
In the summer,

283
00:16:31,302 --> 00:16:33,596
friends and cousins would
gather every morning

284
00:16:33,596 --> 00:16:34,972
and head out to the bush.

285
00:16:34,972 --> 00:16:42,020
♪

286
00:16:48,068 --> 00:16:49,988
We spent countless
hours out there.

287
00:17:02,165 --> 00:17:05,336
(laughing)

288
00:17:05,336 --> 00:17:07,463
(chattering, laughing)

289
00:17:07,463 --> 00:17:09,549
(birds chirping)

290
00:17:09,674 --> 00:17:11,134
Young Wilfred:
All the bullshit,

291
00:17:11,134 --> 00:17:14,220
racism, and pain could be
forgotten

292
00:17:14,345 --> 00:17:16,347
with the thrill of the hunt.

293
00:17:20,434 --> 00:17:23,061
(chattering)

294
00:17:23,186 --> 00:17:30,153
♪

295
00:17:37,534 --> 00:17:39,870
Only when it was
getting dark did we go home.

296
00:17:45,084 --> 00:17:47,086
(rattling)

297
00:17:47,211 --> 00:17:49,547
On Saturday mornings,
I would get enough money

298
00:17:49,547 --> 00:17:52,549
to see the afternoon matinee.

299
00:17:52,549 --> 00:17:53,760
Man in film:
All units clear.

300
00:17:53,885 --> 00:17:55,845
Switch over to standby.

301
00:17:55,845 --> 00:17:58,056
(alarm blaring,
jet engines blasting)

302
00:18:00,098 --> 00:18:01,768
Woman in film:
Zero Red, minus five.

303
00:18:02,976 --> 00:18:04,729
Young Wilfred:
It was Whites on one side,

304
00:18:04,729 --> 00:18:06,064
and Indians on the other.

305
00:18:10,443 --> 00:18:13,111
Sometimes I would sneak away
and walk three miles to visit

306
00:18:13,236 --> 00:18:14,571
my siblings across
the river.

307
00:18:30,463 --> 00:18:33,257
On one of these visits,
a wolf kept showing up.

308
00:18:44,309 --> 00:18:49,272
(car engine rumbling)

309
00:18:59,826 --> 00:19:01,452
When I arrived to
my mother's place,

310
00:19:01,452 --> 00:19:02,787
everyone was gone.

311
00:19:02,787 --> 00:19:03,913
(distant barking)

312
00:19:05,789 --> 00:19:09,167
My siblings were victims
of the Sixties Scoop,

313
00:19:09,292 --> 00:19:11,796
a government apprehension
of Native children

314
00:19:11,796 --> 00:19:13,463
who were adopted out
and shipped off

315
00:19:13,463 --> 00:19:14,924
to everywhere but home.

316
00:19:20,136 --> 00:19:23,307
Had I not been stopped,
I would've been stolen.

317
00:19:24,684 --> 00:19:27,645
(distant dog barking echoes)

318
00:19:28,812 --> 00:19:30,356
My mother
never saw them again.

319
00:19:31,691 --> 00:19:33,984
(low rumble
and distant traffic)

320
00:19:33,984 --> 00:19:36,279
She left town to
the city of Winnipeg.

321
00:19:41,533 --> 00:19:43,953
She died on
the streets of that city,

322
00:19:43,953 --> 00:19:45,997
like so many of my people.

323
00:19:47,205 --> 00:19:54,172
(low drone
and light crackling)

324
00:19:58,049 --> 00:20:05,016
♪

325
00:20:13,523 --> 00:20:15,984
Wilfred:
Acahkos Iskwêw, Star Woman,

326
00:20:15,984 --> 00:20:17,904
a being of energy
traveling the cosmos.

327
00:20:19,405 --> 00:20:21,199
She came across
this hole in the sky.

328
00:20:22,782 --> 00:20:24,159
She wanted to go there,

329
00:20:24,159 --> 00:20:27,203
but she knew she couldn't
navigate that portal.

330
00:20:27,203 --> 00:20:29,539
She needed assistance
and she knew there was a being

331
00:20:29,539 --> 00:20:30,916
looking after that doorway,

332
00:20:31,041 --> 00:20:33,001
Kokominakasîs,
Grandmother Spider.

333
00:20:36,588 --> 00:20:39,591
Kokominakasîs said, "Before you
go down to that place,

334
00:20:39,716 --> 00:20:41,719
there's three conditions
that you have to meet.

335
00:20:43,553 --> 00:20:45,056
One is when you go
down to that place,

336
00:20:45,056 --> 00:20:48,017
you gotta take a physical form
because as a being of energy,

337
00:20:48,017 --> 00:20:49,769
you can't learn
and you can't experience

338
00:20:49,894 --> 00:20:52,437
what's down there unless
you take a physical form."

339
00:20:55,107 --> 00:20:57,068
Acahkos Iskwêw said,
"Okay, that's fine.

340
00:20:57,068 --> 00:20:58,277
I can do that."

341
00:21:05,492 --> 00:21:07,286
She had to bring a gift
with her when she went

342
00:21:07,411 --> 00:21:10,039
down to that place,
a gift to remind her

343
00:21:10,039 --> 00:21:12,540
of where it is she came from
and where she had to return to

344
00:21:12,540 --> 00:21:13,751
when she was finished.

345
00:21:15,627 --> 00:21:17,963
The gift was the star blanket.

346
00:21:18,088 --> 00:21:19,757
And so again,
she agreed to that.

347
00:21:26,347 --> 00:21:28,766
The third condition
was she couldn't stay long.

348
00:21:30,518 --> 00:21:33,270
So how long is long
for a being of energy?

349
00:21:33,270 --> 00:21:34,771
So she stayed a lifetime.

350
00:21:40,986 --> 00:21:42,613
Grandmother Spider,
she sent a single strand

351
00:21:42,613 --> 00:21:45,281
of webbing through
that Hole in the Sky,

352
00:21:45,281 --> 00:21:48,243
and Acahkos Iskwêw came down.

353
00:21:48,243 --> 00:21:50,120
And through her,
we all get to this place.

354
00:21:55,376 --> 00:21:58,503
That single strand of webbing
is called the umbilical cord

355
00:21:58,628 --> 00:21:59,963
and that's how
we all come here.

356
00:21:59,963 --> 00:22:06,971
♪

357
00:22:12,851 --> 00:22:15,770
So this originally used to be
Opaskwayak Cree Nation here,

358
00:22:15,770 --> 00:22:17,147
all this area here.

359
00:22:17,147 --> 00:22:19,649
One of the first things
that happened when this bridge

360
00:22:19,649 --> 00:22:24,655
was opened in 1906
is all the OCN people

361
00:22:24,655 --> 00:22:27,157
got rounded up on
this side of the river.

362
00:22:27,157 --> 00:22:31,037
And the Chief, he was forced
at gunpoint to sign a paper,

363
00:22:31,162 --> 00:22:34,623
ceding that part
of the territory.

364
00:22:34,623 --> 00:22:36,125
And then the people
got rounded up

365
00:22:36,125 --> 00:22:37,667
and got marched
across at gunpoint

366
00:22:37,667 --> 00:22:39,045
to this side of the river.

367
00:22:42,423 --> 00:22:44,884
And so, right over there,

368
00:22:45,009 --> 00:22:47,552
that Anglican church,
they say that's where

369
00:22:47,677 --> 00:22:50,013
that impact crater
used to be for the meteor.

370
00:22:52,058 --> 00:22:54,559
So they used to hold ceremony
all along this area here.

371
00:22:54,684 --> 00:22:56,520
And with the coming of
the missionaries,

372
00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,565
they dug up that meteor
and rolled it into the river.

373
00:22:59,690 --> 00:23:01,817
And this pretty much happened
all over the Americas,

374
00:23:01,817 --> 00:23:04,360
wherever there were
holy sites.

375
00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:06,071
Those sites were destroyed

376
00:23:06,196 --> 00:23:08,531
and churches were
erected on those sites.

377
00:23:10,576 --> 00:23:13,537
It even looks clearer
than it used to.

378
00:23:15,289 --> 00:23:17,375
So, all along this river,
right from Grand Rapids

379
00:23:17,375 --> 00:23:20,168
all the way up
to Cumberland House,

380
00:23:20,168 --> 00:23:22,378
families made their
living off this river.

381
00:23:22,378 --> 00:23:25,215
It was a vast
thriving ecosystem.

382
00:23:28,469 --> 00:23:31,347
My grandfather,
he settled up the river

383
00:23:31,347 --> 00:23:32,722
at a place called Barrier.

384
00:23:34,099 --> 00:23:37,353
Hydro development came along,
and they built a dam.

385
00:23:37,353 --> 00:23:39,521
And with the fluctuations
of those waters,

386
00:23:39,521 --> 00:23:43,108
constant flooding
and constant erosion,

387
00:23:43,233 --> 00:23:45,193
they couldn't make
a living out of it anymore.

388
00:23:45,193 --> 00:23:48,571
So thousands of
families moved away.

389
00:23:48,571 --> 00:23:51,575
And my family came to The Pas.

390
00:23:51,575 --> 00:23:53,618
And the place where
my grandfather came

391
00:23:53,743 --> 00:23:56,914
was up at this place over here
called Umpherville Settlement.

392
00:23:59,290 --> 00:24:02,711
And when he got there--
And when he got there,

393
00:24:02,711 --> 00:24:07,715
he probably lived
maybe eight, nine years,

394
00:24:07,715 --> 00:24:11,595
and then he died.

395
00:24:11,595 --> 00:24:14,432
And then he gave up.
He gave up.

396
00:24:14,432 --> 00:24:17,600
He didn't do nothing no more.
He passed away.

397
00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,436
So from being
a self-sufficient person to

398
00:24:20,436 --> 00:24:23,732
living off the handout of
the government, he died.

399
00:24:29,029 --> 00:24:33,783
So my wife asked me
a couple days ago

400
00:24:33,783 --> 00:24:35,618
how I felt about
coming back here,

401
00:24:35,618 --> 00:24:37,163
bringing my mom back.

402
00:24:37,288 --> 00:24:40,832
And I told her I was angry,
I was very angry.

403
00:24:45,003 --> 00:24:47,589
And my daughter asked me,
"Well, why you angry for?"

404
00:24:49,049 --> 00:24:50,300
I said, because...

405
00:24:56,807 --> 00:24:58,142
...they killed my grandpa.

406
00:25:15,576 --> 00:25:17,994
Just like if they took a gun
and put it to his head.

407
00:25:20,372 --> 00:25:21,999
And they never
accounted for that.

408
00:25:26,753 --> 00:25:30,674
Thousands of people
had that done to them.

409
00:25:30,674 --> 00:25:32,343
Not only
at Saskatchewan River,

410
00:25:32,343 --> 00:25:34,511
but Churchill
River Diversion.

411
00:25:34,511 --> 00:25:36,180
Thousands of families.

412
00:25:39,558 --> 00:25:42,353
The head of their families
were effectively murdered.

413
00:25:50,235 --> 00:25:53,071
It was a slow death
and it's still going on,

414
00:25:53,196 --> 00:25:54,365
that slow death.

415
00:26:10,548 --> 00:26:17,512
♪

416
00:27:27,457 --> 00:27:30,001
Young Wilfred:
After my siblings vanished,

417
00:27:30,126 --> 00:27:31,920
I withdrew into
my own little world.

418
00:27:34,380 --> 00:27:35,965
I spent every scrap
of money

419
00:27:35,965 --> 00:27:38,469
on buying model World War II
airplane kits.

420
00:27:42,638 --> 00:27:45,975
During this time,
everything went to shit.

421
00:27:47,978 --> 00:27:50,689
My uncle and grandfather
hung themselves.

422
00:27:50,814 --> 00:27:53,024
My aunt finally had
enough of the beatings

423
00:27:53,149 --> 00:27:54,484
and left to the big city.

424
00:27:56,319 --> 00:27:58,489
My mother, my father,

425
00:27:58,489 --> 00:28:00,491
my siblings, my uncle,

426
00:28:00,491 --> 00:28:03,159
my grandfather,
and now my aunt.

427
00:28:04,869 --> 00:28:06,120
Who else was left?

428
00:28:12,211 --> 00:28:14,713
Had to change
my way of thinking.

429
00:28:14,838 --> 00:28:17,049
Had to go
into survival mode.

430
00:28:17,174 --> 00:28:19,718
Had to hurt
before I was hurt.

431
00:28:19,843 --> 00:28:22,512
Had to take
before I was taken.

432
00:28:22,512 --> 00:28:24,556
Had to put me first
before all else.

433
00:28:25,891 --> 00:28:27,684
Had to leave
before I was left.

434
00:28:30,895 --> 00:28:34,857
(gasoline splashing)

435
00:28:37,235 --> 00:28:38,736
(match striking)

436
00:28:38,861 --> 00:28:42,825
(fire whooshing)

437
00:28:44,409 --> 00:28:49,373
(fire crackling)

438
00:28:52,251 --> 00:28:55,212
(fire roaring)

439
00:29:10,435 --> 00:29:12,354
The first time
I drank alcohol,

440
00:29:12,354 --> 00:29:14,021
I drank until
I blacked out.

441
00:29:18,318 --> 00:29:20,194
("Raise A Little Hell"
by Trooper playing)

442
00:29:20,194 --> 00:29:21,780
Boy:
Go, go, go, go!

443
00:29:21,905 --> 00:29:24,907
♪ Raise a little hell,
raise a little hell ♪

444
00:29:24,907 --> 00:29:26,242
♪ Raise a little hell ♪

445
00:29:26,242 --> 00:29:27,869
Young Wilfred:
A gang of us started

446
00:29:27,869 --> 00:29:30,079
breaking into stores,
houses, automobiles,

447
00:29:30,079 --> 00:29:32,081
and beating on people.

448
00:29:32,081 --> 00:29:33,584
We got good at it

449
00:29:33,584 --> 00:29:36,627
and the white kids started
calling us The Marauders.

450
00:29:40,507 --> 00:29:42,091
This affected my schooling

451
00:29:42,091 --> 00:29:44,427
and after a couple of years
I was expelled.

452
00:29:49,474 --> 00:29:52,560
♪ If you don't like
what you got ♪

453
00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:55,939
♪ Why don't you change it? ♪

454
00:29:55,939 --> 00:29:57,566
♪ If your world is all... ♪

455
00:29:57,566 --> 00:30:00,277
At this stage of the game,
I thought life was good.

456
00:30:00,277 --> 00:30:02,236
♪ ...rearrange it ♪

457
00:30:02,236 --> 00:30:04,490
We used to hang around
at the old junkyard,

458
00:30:04,615 --> 00:30:06,950
a good hiding
and planning place.

459
00:30:09,953 --> 00:30:13,289
One time, we managed to
steal 20 cases of beer.

460
00:30:13,289 --> 00:30:14,957
♪ Raise a little hell ♪

461
00:30:30,014 --> 00:30:36,980
♪

462
00:30:43,194 --> 00:30:46,824
(buzzing)

463
00:30:46,824 --> 00:30:49,283
This was my first sight
of the city of Winnipeg.

464
00:30:54,039 --> 00:30:55,665
Through bars.

465
00:30:55,665 --> 00:30:57,501
(door slamming)

466
00:30:57,501 --> 00:30:58,836
(camera snapping photo)

467
00:31:00,337 --> 00:31:03,214
("Wolves Don't Live by the
Rules" by Elisapie playing)

468
00:31:03,339 --> 00:31:10,305
♪

469
00:31:50,428 --> 00:31:52,513
Omar: So you stayed here,
Wilfred?

470
00:31:52,513 --> 00:31:53,682
Wilfred:
What's that?

471
00:31:53,682 --> 00:31:55,349
You stayed in this area?

472
00:31:55,349 --> 00:31:56,894
Wilfred:
When I was young, yeah.

473
00:31:56,894 --> 00:31:58,353
Really?

474
00:31:58,353 --> 00:32:00,439
Up to five years old,
then they moved us into town.

475
00:32:00,564 --> 00:32:02,107
Omar: Really, eh?

476
00:32:02,232 --> 00:32:04,568
Wilfred: My grandfather had the
camp out here with everybody.

477
00:32:04,568 --> 00:32:06,569
- Omar: In the wintertime?
- Edwin: All year, eh?

478
00:32:06,569 --> 00:32:09,071
Wilfred: Yep. All year long
they were here.

479
00:32:09,071 --> 00:32:11,575
I remember going up
Carrot River

480
00:32:11,575 --> 00:32:15,078
and the sky was just
black with geese and ducks.

481
00:32:15,078 --> 00:32:16,245
I remember that.

482
00:32:16,245 --> 00:32:18,749
I remember seeing that,
going up to go hunt.

483
00:32:18,749 --> 00:32:20,751
Now you just see
little flocks here and there.

484
00:32:20,751 --> 00:32:22,752
- Edwin: Did you get anything?
- Oh, yeah.

485
00:32:22,752 --> 00:32:24,588
I didn't even have
to open my eyes.

486
00:32:24,588 --> 00:32:27,299
- Just point and shoot.
- (laughing)

487
00:32:27,424 --> 00:32:29,635
Omar: We came up with
our students here.

488
00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:31,427
We got in the camp
and they had to get wood,

489
00:32:31,427 --> 00:32:32,930
so they're making all this--

490
00:32:32,930 --> 00:32:35,264
breaking all the trees
and everything else like that.

491
00:32:35,264 --> 00:32:38,100
So we set up the camp
and then about three o'clock--

492
00:32:38,100 --> 00:32:42,481
two o'clock in the morning,
they heard the moose in the back

493
00:32:42,606 --> 00:32:44,816
and they thought that
was me trying to scare them.

494
00:32:44,942 --> 00:32:46,609
(laughing)

495
00:32:46,609 --> 00:32:49,111
But I was always
amazed though

496
00:32:49,111 --> 00:32:51,740
at how the locations
were selected.

497
00:32:51,740 --> 00:32:53,783
Because even with this one here,
if you look, you know,

498
00:32:53,783 --> 00:32:56,161
we seen some sturgeon
jumping on this side.

499
00:32:56,286 --> 00:32:58,579
But at the same time,
you got the wide view for

500
00:32:58,579 --> 00:33:00,456
the moose to come out.

501
00:33:00,456 --> 00:33:02,459
Wilfred: Everything's
connected to the land.

502
00:33:02,459 --> 00:33:03,793
Everything.

503
00:33:03,793 --> 00:33:06,463
Especially out here,
you can see that night sky.

504
00:33:06,463 --> 00:33:07,838
There's a star up there.

505
00:33:07,963 --> 00:33:11,510
It makes a circle
and it continues on.

506
00:33:11,635 --> 00:33:14,637
And one of the names they
have for that is môswa ahcahk.

507
00:33:14,637 --> 00:33:15,931
It means the moose spirit.

508
00:33:15,931 --> 00:33:17,182
Omar:
Oh, is that right, eh?

509
00:33:17,307 --> 00:33:19,350
Yeah, because it's called
retrograde motion.

510
00:33:19,475 --> 00:33:21,103
The planet.
It goes in the sky.

511
00:33:21,103 --> 00:33:23,312
And then as
our earth passes Mars,

512
00:33:23,312 --> 00:33:25,773
it looks like Mars stops in
the sky, then makes a circle.

513
00:33:25,773 --> 00:33:27,149
Then it continues
its journey.

514
00:33:27,149 --> 00:33:29,152
And of course, that's what
a moose does, right?

515
00:33:29,152 --> 00:33:31,195
When it's startled
and you're hunting that moose,

516
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:32,655
it'll make a big
circle like that.

517
00:33:32,655 --> 00:33:35,325
And that's what they
call it môswa ahcahk.

518
00:33:40,872 --> 00:33:43,000
We should have brought granny.

519
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:46,293
Yes, I figured you would
be thinking about her,

520
00:33:46,293 --> 00:33:47,503
coming out here.

521
00:33:50,882 --> 00:33:55,136
The land is sacred,
because our relatives are here.

522
00:33:55,136 --> 00:33:57,305
And this is part of
who you are here -

523
00:33:57,305 --> 00:34:00,517
this place, this Barrier.

524
00:34:04,229 --> 00:34:05,522
So glad you guys
come with me.

525
00:34:07,356 --> 00:34:09,401
I was just scared
to come out here.

526
00:34:12,236 --> 00:34:18,200
♪

527
00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:20,037
Young Wilfred:
When I got out of detention

528
00:34:20,037 --> 00:34:22,664
after five months, I was sent
to the store for cigarettes.

529
00:34:25,584 --> 00:34:28,169
I remember thinking,
no one would miss me

530
00:34:28,169 --> 00:34:30,088
if I decided to disappear.

531
00:34:33,758 --> 00:34:35,260
I walked into another world.

532
00:34:35,385 --> 00:34:37,553
("The Boys in the Bright White
Sports Car" by Trooper plays)

533
00:35:12,089 --> 00:35:15,216
This was the beginning
of a long, dark night.

534
00:35:15,216 --> 00:35:18,886
(song distorts and fades)

535
00:35:26,310 --> 00:35:28,104
(street sounds)

536
00:35:28,104 --> 00:35:30,981
My time spent on the streets
was a series of misadventures

537
00:35:31,106 --> 00:35:34,236
where drugs and alcohol
were central to my existence.

538
00:35:37,196 --> 00:35:40,241
I learned from the others
and survived,

539
00:35:40,241 --> 00:35:42,785
living in used car lots,
shelters,

540
00:35:42,785 --> 00:35:44,662
abandoned shacks, and tents.

541
00:35:46,164 --> 00:35:49,959
Being a thief, a liar,
a drug dealer, a shadow.

542
00:35:51,002 --> 00:35:52,169
(distant sirens)

543
00:35:52,294 --> 00:35:56,133
Resourceful,
unreachable, untouchable.

544
00:35:56,133 --> 00:36:00,178
(muffled bar sounds)

545
00:36:02,388 --> 00:36:05,350
I learned how to run away
and I was very good at it.

546
00:36:07,185 --> 00:36:09,604
I found this solved
a lot of my problems.

547
00:36:11,189 --> 00:36:14,151
("The Beast"
by John Lurie plays)

548
00:36:16,861 --> 00:36:18,028
As time went on,

549
00:36:18,155 --> 00:36:20,198
I began to see I was
surrounded by assholes.

550
00:36:22,868 --> 00:36:24,827
One winter night after making
a big scene

551
00:36:24,827 --> 00:36:27,664
with my girlfriend at
the bar, I left,

552
00:36:27,664 --> 00:36:31,126
swearing and cursing
at all those assholes.

553
00:36:32,544 --> 00:36:34,044
I was met by a fist.

554
00:36:38,258 --> 00:36:41,553
I came to,
lying on the sidewalk.

555
00:36:41,678 --> 00:36:43,053
I found I had no money.

556
00:36:44,555 --> 00:36:46,015
Assholes strike again.

557
00:36:50,895 --> 00:36:52,856
I started walking
the ice road.

558
00:36:54,732 --> 00:36:56,026
Next thing I know--

559
00:36:56,026 --> 00:36:57,194
(ice cracking)

560
00:36:57,194 --> 00:36:59,863
(splashing)

561
00:36:59,863 --> 00:37:01,990
I'm screaming, thrashing,

562
00:37:01,990 --> 00:37:03,741
and crawling at
the edge of the ice.

563
00:37:07,077 --> 00:37:10,207
I get a grip and as I rise
to stand up,

564
00:37:10,207 --> 00:37:11,374
down I go again.

565
00:37:11,374 --> 00:37:12,709
(splashing)

566
00:37:12,709 --> 00:37:15,169
Fucking assholes!

567
00:37:15,169 --> 00:37:22,176
♪

568
00:37:22,176 --> 00:37:23,720
I make it
out of the water.

569
00:37:27,098 --> 00:37:30,602
It slowly started
to dawn on me,

570
00:37:30,727 --> 00:37:31,937
could I be the problem?

571
00:37:34,606 --> 00:37:36,231
Nah.

572
00:37:36,231 --> 00:37:38,109
I was the victim.

573
00:37:38,234 --> 00:37:40,403
The poor picked-on
little Indian boy.

574
00:37:44,448 --> 00:37:47,202
(rattle shaking)

575
00:37:47,202 --> 00:37:52,249
(women singing
traditional song)

576
00:38:09,473 --> 00:38:16,439
♪

577
00:38:27,158 --> 00:38:29,952
Wilfred: So this one's called
Star Walk 2.

578
00:38:32,037 --> 00:38:33,790
And then you point
to the sky

579
00:38:33,790 --> 00:38:35,332
and it tells you
what's up there.

580
00:38:40,129 --> 00:38:42,256
Rorey: There was one
I wanted to ask you about.

581
00:38:42,256 --> 00:38:44,426
It's connected to
Orion's belt.

582
00:38:44,426 --> 00:38:45,801
It looks like a bear.

583
00:38:45,801 --> 00:38:47,428
Wilfred: Oh, yeah.

584
00:38:47,428 --> 00:38:49,848
I'm not sure if you heard
of it. Where is it?

585
00:38:49,973 --> 00:38:52,350
It only comes out during
the winter time or something.

586
00:38:52,475 --> 00:38:54,769
It will be out probably about
maybe three or four o'clock

587
00:38:54,769 --> 00:38:57,187
this morning, it'll be up.

588
00:38:57,314 --> 00:38:59,606
Because the Pleiades are
coming up right over there

589
00:38:59,606 --> 00:39:02,484
and behind
the Pleiades is Orion.

590
00:39:02,484 --> 00:39:05,280
Yeah, we call that
Pipoon Nikititicikiw

591
00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:06,781
the Winter Keeper.

592
00:39:06,781 --> 00:39:09,325
Because of being-- it only
comes out when it's cold, eh.

593
00:39:09,325 --> 00:39:10,493
Rorey: Oh, yeah.

594
00:39:12,370 --> 00:39:13,830
Wilfred:
All right!

595
00:39:13,830 --> 00:39:15,957
We'd like to make
a special presentation.

596
00:39:17,167 --> 00:39:19,336
My late Sundance chief
all used to tell us,

597
00:39:19,336 --> 00:39:21,963
whenever we gather like this,
we make spirit.

598
00:39:21,963 --> 00:39:24,131
We make spirit
and we make community.

599
00:39:24,131 --> 00:39:26,133
(people cheering, clapping)

600
00:39:26,133 --> 00:39:28,010
And I thank you,
my relatives for doing this,

601
00:39:28,010 --> 00:39:29,888
for each and every one of you.

602
00:39:30,013 --> 00:39:34,725
Also, I'd like to acknowledge
my family and our oskâpewis.

603
00:39:34,850 --> 00:39:37,187
Without our oskâpewis,
none of this would happen.

604
00:39:37,187 --> 00:39:39,356
Without my family,
I'd be nowhere.

605
00:39:39,356 --> 00:39:41,399
(people cheering)

606
00:39:46,278 --> 00:39:49,740
Kisâkihitin nitôtêm.

607
00:39:49,865 --> 00:39:52,827
I love you,
from the bottom of my heart.

608
00:39:54,620 --> 00:39:55,747
Woman:
Love you too uncle!

609
00:39:55,872 --> 00:39:58,874
Hiy hiy.
(laughing)

610
00:39:58,874 --> 00:40:03,879
(people chatting indistinctly)

611
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:16,100
Wilfred:
So if you look over here,

612
00:40:16,225 --> 00:40:19,269
you can see the Pleiades
coming into view up here.

613
00:40:19,394 --> 00:40:20,562
Right there.

614
00:40:20,562 --> 00:40:23,066
But I wanted
to show you this.

615
00:40:23,066 --> 00:40:26,026
You see this W in
the sky right here?

616
00:40:26,026 --> 00:40:28,696
Roman and Greeks, they call
that Queen Cassiopeia.

617
00:40:30,281 --> 00:40:32,075
I tell the kids,
you look at this W in the sky,

618
00:40:32,075 --> 00:40:33,118
it's very important.

619
00:40:33,243 --> 00:40:34,702
It stands for Wilfred.

620
00:40:34,702 --> 00:40:37,747
(all laughing)

621
00:40:39,790 --> 00:40:44,546
That star right there,
they call that Mitiy Kisik.

622
00:40:44,546 --> 00:40:48,466
Mitiy Kisik means
the heart of the sky.

623
00:40:48,591 --> 00:40:50,301
The heart of the sky.

624
00:40:50,426 --> 00:40:53,595
It's pretty much in
the centre of the precession.

625
00:40:53,595 --> 00:40:55,265
The wobble of our
Earth's axis moves in

626
00:40:55,265 --> 00:40:58,059
a big, huge circle, like this.

627
00:40:58,059 --> 00:41:00,769
And it takes 26,000 years,
they say,

628
00:41:00,769 --> 00:41:02,272
to form one complete circle.

629
00:41:02,272 --> 00:41:04,606
But the amazing
thing about that is

630
00:41:04,606 --> 00:41:08,444
right in the centre
is Mitiy Kisik.

631
00:41:08,444 --> 00:41:10,113
So that tells you
our people have been

632
00:41:10,113 --> 00:41:12,740
watching the sky
for how long?

633
00:41:12,740 --> 00:41:14,408
To notice that,
to know that.

634
00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:19,289
So we look up at that sky
and we see all those stars

635
00:41:19,289 --> 00:41:21,457
with all those
Tellings up there,

636
00:41:21,457 --> 00:41:23,792
and we know that we are part
of something

637
00:41:23,792 --> 00:41:25,919
bigger than ourselves.

638
00:41:25,919 --> 00:41:29,131
Part of something greater than
our mind can ever imagine.

639
00:41:31,676 --> 00:41:34,845
For my Elders, that's okay,
if we can't imagine that.

640
00:41:34,970 --> 00:41:36,097
That's okay.

641
00:41:45,814 --> 00:41:48,776
(traditional singing, drumming)

642
00:41:54,865 --> 00:41:57,618
Young Wilfred:
In 1974, some youth journeyed

643
00:41:57,618 --> 00:42:00,497
to Ottawa for a rally with
the Native People's Caravan.

644
00:42:00,497 --> 00:42:02,499
(singing, drumming)

645
00:42:03,540 --> 00:42:10,506
♪

646
00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:19,723
Man: This is significant
of what the government,

647
00:42:19,848 --> 00:42:21,559
and I don't know,
maybe the public thinks.

648
00:42:21,684 --> 00:42:25,354
There's some sort of innate fear
of Indians getting together.

649
00:42:25,354 --> 00:42:27,481
(singing, drumming)

650
00:42:27,481 --> 00:42:30,693
All Native people,
we're not fighting a segmented

651
00:42:30,693 --> 00:42:32,361
struggle all over the place.

652
00:42:32,361 --> 00:42:34,196
We're all fighting together.

653
00:42:34,196 --> 00:42:36,240
(singing, drumming)

654
00:42:44,249 --> 00:42:46,209
Young Wilfred:
I arrived back in The Pas

655
00:42:46,209 --> 00:42:48,211
and found things had
changed on the rez.

656
00:42:49,546 --> 00:42:52,423
They wanted to
start a powwow group.

657
00:42:52,548 --> 00:42:54,676
This is where I started
to learn about our culture

658
00:42:54,676 --> 00:42:56,678
and began singing.

659
00:42:56,678 --> 00:42:58,720
(singing, drumming,
grows louder)

660
00:43:04,102 --> 00:43:07,104
We travelled all
over Western Canada.

661
00:43:19,408 --> 00:43:21,535
Eventually I left
the powwow group

662
00:43:21,535 --> 00:43:23,912
because it was getting
in the way of my lifestyle.

663
00:43:26,290 --> 00:43:27,457
(drumming suddenly stops)

664
00:43:27,584 --> 00:43:30,877
- (wind whistles)
- (crows squawking)

665
00:43:30,877 --> 00:43:33,423
One summer, I was
going through withdrawals

666
00:43:33,423 --> 00:43:35,758
after failing miserably
at a treatment program.

667
00:43:37,635 --> 00:43:40,263
I heard about an Indian
gathering in Morley, Alberta.

668
00:43:42,682 --> 00:43:44,392
Something began to grow.

669
00:43:44,392 --> 00:43:51,441
♪

670
00:43:54,193 --> 00:43:57,113
I got to camp and ended up
sitting all alone.

671
00:43:57,113 --> 00:44:02,910
♪

672
00:44:02,910 --> 00:44:05,955
This old man asked me why
I wasn't at the workshops.

673
00:44:07,332 --> 00:44:09,959
I said I was sick
and needed to rest.

674
00:44:09,959 --> 00:44:12,754
He said,
"You need to do something,

675
00:44:12,754 --> 00:44:14,004
but rest is not it."

676
00:44:14,129 --> 00:44:18,968
♪

677
00:44:18,968 --> 00:44:22,263
That day, I drove
wherever he told me to go

678
00:44:22,263 --> 00:44:24,307
and did whatever
he told me to do.

679
00:44:27,352 --> 00:44:30,020
The first stop
was to a field.

680
00:44:30,145 --> 00:44:33,691
He instructed me
to pick 128 rocks.

681
00:44:37,236 --> 00:44:39,656
We had to put
tobacco down and pray.

682
00:44:42,991 --> 00:44:46,620
I thought,
"Is this old man mad?"

683
00:44:46,620 --> 00:44:53,669
♪

684
00:44:55,004 --> 00:44:57,298
I was told not to pick
just any rocks,

685
00:44:57,298 --> 00:44:58,466
certain rocks.

686
00:44:58,466 --> 00:45:01,468
And not just any size,
a certain size.

687
00:45:01,468 --> 00:45:07,892
♪

688
00:45:08,935 --> 00:45:10,519
I learned about
limestone rock,

689
00:45:10,519 --> 00:45:14,524
granite rock, and rock
with moisture content.

690
00:45:16,109 --> 00:45:18,361
I learned there are rocks
that explode

691
00:45:18,361 --> 00:45:19,821
when placed in a fire.

692
00:45:19,821 --> 00:45:22,656
(fire crackling)

693
00:45:24,700 --> 00:45:30,665
♪

694
00:45:32,124 --> 00:45:34,252
The next stop was
stand of willows.

695
00:45:34,377 --> 00:45:41,341
♪

696
00:45:47,598 --> 00:45:50,852
I did what I was told,
grumbling all the way.

697
00:45:50,852 --> 00:45:57,899
♪

698
00:46:09,453 --> 00:46:10,872
Young Wilfred:
I came to realize

699
00:46:10,872 --> 00:46:13,415
we were making
a sweat lodge.

700
00:46:13,415 --> 00:46:19,421
♪

701
00:46:19,421 --> 00:46:22,799
All the work focused me
and got me out of myself.

702
00:46:22,924 --> 00:46:29,890
♪

703
00:46:43,780 --> 00:46:46,823
Wilfred: Probably about 95% of
the Elders that are alive now

704
00:46:46,948 --> 00:46:50,327
were exposed
in Morley, Alberta.

705
00:46:50,452 --> 00:46:51,620
They bought that back

706
00:46:51,620 --> 00:46:54,332
and they spread out
all over the place.

707
00:46:54,457 --> 00:46:57,001
And now we have these
Sundances all over the place.

708
00:46:59,629 --> 00:47:04,508
Because of the vision of
people like Ernest Tootoosis,

709
00:47:04,633 --> 00:47:07,970
Wilfred Peltier,
Art Solomon,

710
00:47:07,970 --> 00:47:10,430
Grandpa Joe Doucette
from Mistawasis.

711
00:47:11,848 --> 00:47:13,767
One of the people from
Morley that I was working

712
00:47:13,767 --> 00:47:17,604
with, Grandpa Joe Doucette,
he looked at me

713
00:47:17,604 --> 00:47:19,481
and he passed me tobacco
and he said,

714
00:47:19,481 --> 00:47:21,149
"You know how to
build a sweat lodge?"

715
00:47:21,149 --> 00:47:23,151
I said, "Yeah, I know how
to build a sweat lodge."

716
00:47:23,151 --> 00:47:24,778
He said, "Go build one."

717
00:47:24,778 --> 00:47:26,280
So I went
and built a sweat lodge

718
00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:28,323
and that was the first
sweat lodge in Winnipeg,

719
00:47:28,323 --> 00:47:31,327
we built on the banks
of the Red River.

720
00:47:31,327 --> 00:47:34,205
And then from there,
I passed tobacco to that man

721
00:47:34,330 --> 00:47:36,624
and I asked him to teach me.

722
00:47:36,624 --> 00:47:40,002
So I worked with that man
for a good 6, 7 years.

723
00:47:40,002 --> 00:47:41,629
And he taught me
about matotisân,

724
00:47:41,629 --> 00:47:43,339
he taught me
about ospwâkan,

725
00:47:43,339 --> 00:47:45,298
he taught me
about the ceremonies,

726
00:47:45,298 --> 00:47:49,636
he taught me about the dreams,
and he taught me about space.

727
00:47:49,636 --> 00:47:52,055
Because we were in
those lodges sometimes

728
00:47:52,180 --> 00:47:55,560
and sitting in this lodge,
and the floor would fall away

729
00:47:55,685 --> 00:47:57,687
and we'd be floating
in space,

730
00:47:57,687 --> 00:47:59,354
and we'd be
looking at everything.

731
00:48:00,897 --> 00:48:03,859
And this is how
we're connected.

732
00:48:03,859 --> 00:48:05,653
We're not just
something separate.

733
00:48:05,653 --> 00:48:08,823
We're totally immersed
in everything around us

734
00:48:08,823 --> 00:48:10,658
and everything is
immersed in us.

735
00:48:12,410 --> 00:48:15,537
(deep resonant cracking)

736
00:48:15,537 --> 00:48:18,540
(Elder man singing
a traditional song)

737
00:48:24,714 --> 00:48:29,676
(singing continuing)

738
00:48:34,973 --> 00:48:38,852
(low drone tone)

739
00:48:38,852 --> 00:48:40,687
Young Wilfred:
In the fall of 1982,

740
00:48:40,687 --> 00:48:41,939
the walls were closing in.

741
00:48:45,443 --> 00:48:47,403
Everyone could predict
my lies

742
00:48:47,403 --> 00:48:49,071
and had heard
all my sob stories.

743
00:48:50,948 --> 00:48:53,450
For several months, I was in
a total mind-numbing,

744
00:48:53,575 --> 00:48:55,118
spirit-killing,
don't-give-a-fuck,

745
00:48:55,243 --> 00:48:57,078
messed-up blackout.

746
00:48:59,415 --> 00:49:01,082
I finally came to
consciousness

747
00:49:01,082 --> 00:49:03,752
feeling totally sick.

748
00:49:03,752 --> 00:49:07,923
Sick of drinking and drugs,
sick of stealing,

749
00:49:07,923 --> 00:49:09,716
sick of lying,

750
00:49:09,716 --> 00:49:11,760
but most of all,

751
00:49:11,760 --> 00:49:13,428
sick of myself.

752
00:49:13,428 --> 00:49:15,430
("The Big Ship"
by Brian Eno playing)

753
00:49:15,430 --> 00:49:21,895
♪

754
00:49:21,895 --> 00:49:24,899
On January 23rd, 1983,

755
00:49:24,899 --> 00:49:27,568
I went into treatment
for the 20th time.

756
00:49:30,153 --> 00:49:33,448
I met an Elder,
a Cree woman.

757
00:49:33,448 --> 00:49:35,075
After what she shared,

758
00:49:35,075 --> 00:49:37,285
I saw the world in
a totally different way.

759
00:49:40,372 --> 00:49:42,832
I found something that
was missing in my life.

760
00:49:42,959 --> 00:49:46,294
Something that was ours,
that was Cree.

761
00:49:48,506 --> 00:49:52,133
It was a sacred thing,
and it was a powerful thing.

762
00:49:56,305 --> 00:49:58,182
It seemed like
a bright light was turned on

763
00:49:58,307 --> 00:49:59,642
in my dark universe.

764
00:50:04,062 --> 00:50:07,191
She said,
"In order to walk away,

765
00:50:07,316 --> 00:50:10,444
"you can't just
change one or two things.

766
00:50:10,444 --> 00:50:12,613
"You have to
change everything."

767
00:50:19,870 --> 00:50:23,290
Now, I was hanging
onto the edge of darkness,

768
00:50:23,290 --> 00:50:26,836
looking for the light.

769
00:50:26,836 --> 00:50:30,171
(crowd chattering)

770
00:50:31,589 --> 00:50:32,674
Come on!

771
00:50:32,674 --> 00:50:34,468
Go, go, go!

772
00:50:34,468 --> 00:50:36,053
Come on!
Let's go, let's go!

773
00:50:36,178 --> 00:50:37,178
Yeah!

774
00:50:37,178 --> 00:50:39,140
(audience cheering)

775
00:50:39,140 --> 00:50:40,515
- Woman: Whoo!
- Man: Whoo!

776
00:50:40,515 --> 00:50:42,517
Nice! Nice!

777
00:50:44,394 --> 00:50:47,022
(truck beeping)

778
00:50:47,022 --> 00:50:48,732
Young Wilfred:
The only work I could get

779
00:50:48,857 --> 00:50:52,361
with my seventh-grade
education was manual labour,

780
00:50:52,361 --> 00:50:55,698
for barely minimum wage.

781
00:50:55,698 --> 00:50:57,240
(school bell ringing)

782
00:50:57,365 --> 00:50:58,868
So I went back to
school instead

783
00:50:58,868 --> 00:51:03,247
and spent 16 months finishing
four years of high school.

784
00:51:06,584 --> 00:51:09,544
I found my path
into an education degree.

785
00:51:22,767 --> 00:51:25,019
For the longest time,

786
00:51:25,019 --> 00:51:26,437
I did not cry.

787
00:51:27,479 --> 00:51:29,731
No connections,
no loyalties,

788
00:51:29,731 --> 00:51:31,734
no roots.

789
00:51:36,446 --> 00:51:39,200
(strumming guitar)

790
00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:46,247
♪

791
00:51:47,457 --> 00:51:50,294
I was building
a new world,

792
00:51:50,419 --> 00:51:53,089
but did it have to include
this hole in my stomach

793
00:51:53,089 --> 00:51:54,631
that the wind
whistled through?

794
00:51:55,841 --> 00:51:59,803
(wind)

795
00:52:07,477 --> 00:52:14,443
♪

796
00:52:19,781 --> 00:52:21,783
Wilfred: There's
a constellation up in the sky

797
00:52:21,783 --> 00:52:24,953
called Sisikwun,
and Sisikwun is The Rattle.

798
00:52:31,669 --> 00:52:35,131
At a certain point of
our orbit around the sun,

799
00:52:35,131 --> 00:52:39,426
there's two stars that rise up,
and when that constellation

800
00:52:39,426 --> 00:52:41,636
points directly
at those two stars,

801
00:52:41,636 --> 00:52:43,848
that signifies
spring has arrived.

802
00:52:43,973 --> 00:52:46,809
(distant sound of water
trickling)

803
00:52:53,189 --> 00:52:54,649
When spring arrives,

804
00:52:54,649 --> 00:52:57,111
we're tilted in such
a direction towards the sun

805
00:52:57,111 --> 00:52:59,113
that we get more
exposure to the sun

806
00:52:59,113 --> 00:53:01,948
and the earth
absorbs that energy.

807
00:53:01,948 --> 00:53:04,827
Then, at some point,
it releases the energy.

808
00:53:04,827 --> 00:53:08,037
And when it does that,
it melts everything.

809
00:53:08,164 --> 00:53:11,667
(sound of water flowing)

810
00:53:11,667 --> 00:53:14,836
The ice doesn't
melt from the top down,

811
00:53:14,836 --> 00:53:16,881
it melts from the bottom up.

812
00:53:17,006 --> 00:53:20,008
(sound of tinkling ice)

813
00:53:26,223 --> 00:53:29,894
The earth exudes that energy
and it warms up the water,

814
00:53:30,019 --> 00:53:32,479
and the water
crystallizes the ice.

815
00:53:32,479 --> 00:53:35,231
And when the wind blows
those crystals together...

816
00:53:35,356 --> 00:53:39,861
(rattle being shaken, echoing)

817
00:53:39,861 --> 00:53:43,656
...The Elders say that sound
is the sacred sound

818
00:53:43,656 --> 00:53:46,702
that tells everything,
"Waniskâk, time to get up!"

819
00:53:53,584 --> 00:53:57,713
The root word for sisikwun
is sikwun, which means spring.

820
00:54:00,966 --> 00:54:05,930
(wind blowing and crickets)

821
00:54:11,100 --> 00:54:14,729
Young Wilfred:
One time, I fell asleep.

822
00:54:14,729 --> 00:54:16,356
My ancestors came

823
00:54:16,356 --> 00:54:19,526
and took me flying across
the great desert.

824
00:54:19,526 --> 00:54:20,903
(horse hooves galloping near)

825
00:54:20,903 --> 00:54:25,406
I saw something was coming,

826
00:54:25,406 --> 00:54:27,743
a woman on a pinto horse.

827
00:54:27,743 --> 00:54:30,620
(horse walking around)

828
00:54:30,745 --> 00:54:34,540
She looked at me and said,
"Sometimes we are lonely.

829
00:54:35,667 --> 00:54:37,961
"Do not miss me.
I'm on my way."

830
00:54:39,254 --> 00:54:41,923
Then, she galloped
away into the haze.

831
00:54:41,923 --> 00:54:43,591
(horse hooves galloping away)

832
00:54:43,591 --> 00:54:45,593
(horse whinny echoes out)

833
00:54:51,642 --> 00:54:53,102
Wilfred:
Those spirits they said,

834
00:54:53,102 --> 00:54:55,269
"Before you wake up,
tell me what happened."

835
00:54:55,269 --> 00:54:57,647
And so I had to repeat
the whole dream.

836
00:54:57,772 --> 00:54:58,982
And then when I did that,

837
00:54:59,107 --> 00:55:00,984
they looked at each other
and they said, "Good.

838
00:55:01,109 --> 00:55:02,778
He's gonna remember,"
they said.

839
00:55:02,778 --> 00:55:06,990
And that's when I woke up and
that dream was just clear.

840
00:55:07,115 --> 00:55:09,410
And I was wondering
what that dream was about.

841
00:55:09,410 --> 00:55:12,078
Then, probably about maybe
four or five years later,

842
00:55:12,078 --> 00:55:13,955
I'd met Connie.

843
00:55:13,955 --> 00:55:16,249
So, one morning, I'm coming
down the stairs

844
00:55:16,249 --> 00:55:18,919
and I hear her talking
to my son and my daughter.

845
00:55:18,919 --> 00:55:20,796
She's talking about
this dream she keeps having

846
00:55:20,796 --> 00:55:22,131
about this horse.

847
00:55:22,131 --> 00:55:24,133
She's riding this pinto horse.

848
00:55:24,133 --> 00:55:26,510
And right away that
dream hit me, eh.

849
00:55:26,635 --> 00:55:28,803
And I come down
and say, "You're the one!

850
00:55:28,803 --> 00:55:31,348
"You're the one that come and
told me you were coming."

851
00:55:31,473 --> 00:55:35,269
That's how my wife
told me she was coming

852
00:55:35,269 --> 00:55:37,104
before I even met her, eh?

853
00:55:40,982 --> 00:55:43,651
Connie: Wilfred Buck breathes
and dreams

854
00:55:43,651 --> 00:55:46,030
and lives the stars.

855
00:55:50,658 --> 00:55:54,287
I think his passion
for the stars

856
00:55:54,287 --> 00:55:57,207
probably came from
when he was young,

857
00:55:57,332 --> 00:55:59,834
when he was alone, you know?

858
00:55:59,834 --> 00:56:02,129
When he didn't have
his parents,

859
00:56:02,129 --> 00:56:04,631
when he was by himself
on those streets,

860
00:56:04,631 --> 00:56:07,343
in those mean streets,
wherever he was,

861
00:56:07,343 --> 00:56:11,805
and he could look up at the
night sky and say, you know,

862
00:56:11,805 --> 00:56:14,057
"What is up there?"

863
00:56:15,850 --> 00:56:17,519
And then,
when that Elder told him,

864
00:56:17,519 --> 00:56:19,062
"The way you want
to teach children

865
00:56:19,187 --> 00:56:23,191
"about land-based education,
take them outside

866
00:56:23,191 --> 00:56:25,861
"and let them
look up at the night sky.

867
00:56:25,861 --> 00:56:29,238
"There's so much
knowledge up there."

868
00:56:29,365 --> 00:56:30,908
Wilfred: I was teaching

869
00:56:31,033 --> 00:56:33,368
at South Winnipeg
Technical College,

870
00:56:33,368 --> 00:56:35,912
grade three
up to grade nine.

871
00:56:37,915 --> 00:56:40,084
In the wintertime,
we'd go down the trail,

872
00:56:40,209 --> 00:56:43,379
we'd make a fire, make tea,
make bannock, go snaring.

873
00:56:46,089 --> 00:56:48,216
Manitoba First Nations
Resource Centre,

874
00:56:48,216 --> 00:56:50,051
they called me and they said,
"Hey, what are you doing?"

875
00:56:50,051 --> 00:56:51,260
So, I told them.

876
00:56:51,385 --> 00:56:53,055
They said,
"Wanna come and work for us?

877
00:56:53,055 --> 00:56:55,557
"You'll be our science guy.

878
00:56:55,557 --> 00:56:58,435
"Your job will be to put First
Nations' perspective

879
00:56:58,560 --> 00:56:59,727
into sciences."

880
00:57:01,939 --> 00:57:03,064
"We can't tell you what to do

881
00:57:03,064 --> 00:57:04,899
"because it's never
been done before."

882
00:57:04,899 --> 00:57:07,736
And in that process,
one of the Elders said,

883
00:57:07,736 --> 00:57:10,113
"If you really
wanna learn about this,

884
00:57:10,238 --> 00:57:12,240
"you have to
sit down in ceremony

885
00:57:12,240 --> 00:57:14,118
"because it's all
connected to ceremony.

886
00:57:14,243 --> 00:57:17,120
"Everything is
connected to ceremony."

887
00:57:20,415 --> 00:57:24,711
When you do that, and then
you go look at that sky,

888
00:57:24,711 --> 00:57:27,589
sometimes it'll be just like
somebody moves a curtain

889
00:57:27,589 --> 00:57:29,758
and you'll see something.

890
00:57:29,758 --> 00:57:31,218
(crickets chirp, owl hoots)

891
00:57:32,635 --> 00:57:33,970
Young Wilfred:
We have to go back

892
00:57:34,095 --> 00:57:36,265
to the teachings
of our ancestors

893
00:57:36,265 --> 00:57:38,934
and we have to
understand what they mean.

894
00:57:38,934 --> 00:57:42,104
Not just verbally,
but also inside our spirit.

895
00:57:42,104 --> 00:57:44,064
What that actually means.

896
00:57:44,064 --> 00:57:46,984
It gives you
a sense of belonging.

897
00:57:47,109 --> 00:57:48,901
And once you have
a sense of belonging,

898
00:57:48,901 --> 00:57:52,113
then you know
you're part of something,

899
00:57:52,113 --> 00:57:55,825
and that part of something
is your responsibility,

900
00:57:55,950 --> 00:57:59,328
not to try to destroy that.

901
00:57:59,455 --> 00:58:02,124
Like, our Elders tell us
that all things are sacred,

902
00:58:02,124 --> 00:58:04,001
life is sacred.

903
00:58:04,126 --> 00:58:06,002
Be it these little
bugs here and whatever.

904
00:58:06,127 --> 00:58:08,129
They're all sacred, eh.

905
00:58:08,129 --> 00:58:11,966
And so, my process is
to get to a point where

906
00:58:11,966 --> 00:58:13,968
maybe I don't have to
kill all these little bugs

907
00:58:13,968 --> 00:58:15,178
that come and bother me.

908
00:58:15,303 --> 00:58:18,307
(laughing)
I'm not there yet, though.

909
00:58:21,392 --> 00:58:23,479
(church bell tolling)

910
00:58:23,479 --> 00:58:25,606
And there's
a big bloody church.

911
00:58:26,689 --> 00:58:28,024
Dad, go stand over there.

912
00:58:30,569 --> 00:58:32,446
You gotta hold something?

913
00:58:32,446 --> 00:58:34,448
(Autumn laughing)

914
00:58:38,160 --> 00:58:40,120
(crowd chattering)

915
00:58:40,120 --> 00:58:42,497
(chattering continues)

916
00:58:42,497 --> 00:58:44,332
You're our speaker tonight.

917
00:58:44,332 --> 00:58:45,374
- Yeah.
- Wilfred.

918
00:58:45,501 --> 00:58:47,002
Elizabeth Wood, MIT.

919
00:58:47,002 --> 00:58:49,129
Welcome. We're really looking
forward to hearing from you.

920
00:58:49,129 --> 00:58:51,006
- Yeah, thank you for coming.
- (laughing)

921
00:58:51,006 --> 00:58:53,133
Walter: So, you are
the star professor.

922
00:58:53,133 --> 00:58:56,010
- (laughing)
- Oh my God...

923
00:58:56,010 --> 00:58:57,845
(laughing)

924
00:58:57,845 --> 00:58:59,348
Oh, don't--
I'm gonna get embarrassed.

925
00:58:59,348 --> 00:59:00,848
I've been looking
forward to meeting you.

926
00:59:00,848 --> 00:59:02,350
- I'm a anthropologist.
- Okay.

927
00:59:02,350 --> 00:59:03,852
So, I've known about you
for a little while.

928
00:59:03,852 --> 00:59:05,019
Oh, that right?

929
00:59:05,019 --> 00:59:07,064
I can't wait to hear
your conversation today.

930
00:59:07,189 --> 00:59:08,231
All right.

931
00:59:08,356 --> 00:59:10,734
Walter:
Really nice to meet you.

932
00:59:10,859 --> 00:59:15,696
(audience applauding)

933
00:59:15,696 --> 00:59:17,406
All right.

934
00:59:17,533 --> 00:59:19,993
(speaking in Cree language)

935
00:59:32,756 --> 00:59:34,591
Greetings, my relatives.

936
00:59:34,716 --> 00:59:38,386
Pawaminikititicikiw is what
I'm known as from my people,

937
00:59:38,386 --> 00:59:42,557
and it means "he has dreamt
a dream and keeps it."

938
00:59:42,557 --> 00:59:46,727
Look around here. Everything
you see here was a dream.

939
00:59:46,727 --> 00:59:50,941
A dream provoked
a question, "What if?"

940
00:59:51,066 --> 00:59:53,443
And then, pursuing that dream,
it become a reality.

941
00:59:53,569 --> 00:59:56,905
So, science is a dream.

942
00:59:56,905 --> 00:59:58,781
Our knowledge is a dream.

943
00:59:58,906 --> 01:00:00,241
That's where it started.

944
01:00:00,241 --> 01:00:01,577
One of our esteemed Elders

945
01:00:01,577 --> 01:00:05,080
by the name of Dr. Leroy
Little Bear said,

946
01:00:05,080 --> 01:00:07,874
"Technology, maybe 30 years
ago, that was a dream

947
01:00:07,874 --> 01:00:09,459
"and now it's a reality."

948
01:00:09,584 --> 01:00:11,794
Other methodologies arrive
at knowledge

949
01:00:11,919 --> 01:00:15,716
in different ways,
but the same ideas are there.

950
01:00:15,716 --> 01:00:18,551
They're just seen from totally
different perspectives.

951
01:00:18,551 --> 01:00:20,803
We had a sweat lodge
last night,

952
01:00:20,928 --> 01:00:23,473
and one of the reasons
why we go into matotisân,

953
01:00:23,598 --> 01:00:26,267
the sweat lodge,
is to understand

954
01:00:26,267 --> 01:00:28,812
that we're part of something
that we'll never understand.

955
01:00:28,937 --> 01:00:31,439
And it's okay
we never understand it.

956
01:00:31,439 --> 01:00:32,774
It's okay.

957
01:00:32,774 --> 01:00:34,734
It's good that we don't
understand it because,

958
01:00:34,734 --> 01:00:35,944
if we tried to understand it,

959
01:00:35,944 --> 01:00:38,613
we'd get big,
huge, massive heads,

960
01:00:38,613 --> 01:00:40,281
'cause,
"Yeah, I know everything."

961
01:00:41,700 --> 01:00:44,452
And it's good that you make
peace with the unknown.

962
01:00:45,953 --> 01:00:49,249
Because the unknown is
where you get your questions,

963
01:00:49,249 --> 01:00:51,501
where you get the answers,
where you get the dreams,

964
01:00:51,627 --> 01:00:53,836
where you get all those
things from, the unknown.

965
01:00:57,173 --> 01:00:58,924
Yesterday was very
powerful to be invited

966
01:00:58,924 --> 01:01:01,260
by Wilfred into
his sweat lodge.

967
01:01:01,260 --> 01:01:02,595
What I found powerful about that

968
01:01:02,595 --> 01:01:06,015
is that you
invited us in your space,

969
01:01:06,140 --> 01:01:08,267
and I felt
that space was very different

970
01:01:08,267 --> 01:01:10,479
from a space like this.

971
01:01:10,479 --> 01:01:13,439
It was completely lacking of
the coordinates

972
01:01:13,439 --> 01:01:15,984
that I'm used to hold onto

973
01:01:15,984 --> 01:01:17,778
when I'm making sense
of the world.

974
01:01:17,778 --> 01:01:20,613
So, the only way I could
engage with that space

975
01:01:20,613 --> 01:01:24,450
was actually to let go and to
surrender to the experience.

976
01:01:24,450 --> 01:01:26,827
At a time when we look at
science and technology

977
01:01:26,827 --> 01:01:28,955
as the cradle of progress,

978
01:01:28,955 --> 01:01:32,834
I also recognize that you have
brought an understanding

979
01:01:32,834 --> 01:01:35,336
that is very sophisticated

980
01:01:35,336 --> 01:01:38,214
because it is embedded
in a community ethics

981
01:01:38,339 --> 01:01:41,468
and a way of living together
in harmony with each other

982
01:01:41,468 --> 01:01:43,010
and the environment,

983
01:01:43,010 --> 01:01:44,638
and it also encourages us to
question,

984
01:01:44,638 --> 01:01:46,348
"What is the purpose
of the work

985
01:01:46,348 --> 01:01:50,185
"that we are doing in our
academic institutions?"

986
01:01:57,066 --> 01:02:01,905
(chattering)

987
01:02:03,698 --> 01:02:08,537
(Wilfred singing)

988
01:02:09,787 --> 01:02:11,205
Wilfred:
There's no fixed agenda.

989
01:02:11,205 --> 01:02:13,040
We're just gonna go in
and whoever shows up

990
01:02:13,040 --> 01:02:15,419
and wants to go in,
can come in.

991
01:02:15,544 --> 01:02:17,546
(whistle)

992
01:02:17,546 --> 01:02:22,426
(Wilfred speaks in Cree)

993
01:02:30,934 --> 01:02:32,102
(whistle)

994
01:02:35,229 --> 01:02:36,272
Voice: Are you forgetting
a direction?

995
01:02:36,397 --> 01:02:39,066
Hey.
Are you going a direction?

996
01:02:39,066 --> 01:02:40,901
- (laughter)
- Sorry about that!

997
01:02:40,901 --> 01:02:43,405
- Five lashings.
- Okay.

998
01:02:43,405 --> 01:02:45,240
I was wr-- I was wr--

999
01:02:45,240 --> 01:02:48,243
(laughing)

1000
01:02:48,243 --> 01:02:51,872
(whistle)

1001
01:02:51,872 --> 01:02:53,915
(laughing)

1002
01:02:53,915 --> 01:02:56,417
(praying in Cree, chuckling)

1003
01:02:59,463 --> 01:03:00,714
We need the cedar
right away.

1004
01:03:04,133 --> 01:03:08,972
(crowd chattering)

1005
01:03:13,810 --> 01:03:16,104
(fire crackling)

1006
01:03:37,042 --> 01:03:41,629
(women singing and drumming)

1007
01:03:51,388 --> 01:03:57,770
♪

1008
01:04:08,906 --> 01:04:11,868
(singing and vocalizing
continues)

1009
01:04:13,702 --> 01:04:20,669
♪

1010
01:04:56,120 --> 01:04:59,874
(singing intensifies,
cheering)

1011
01:05:02,294 --> 01:05:04,044
(fire crackling)

1012
01:05:04,044 --> 01:05:08,048
(cheering, whooping)

1013
01:05:10,218 --> 01:05:11,385
(cheers fading)

1014
01:05:13,930 --> 01:05:17,850
(background chatter)

1015
01:05:23,272 --> 01:05:24,774
Wilfred:
Oh, man...

1016
01:05:37,912 --> 01:05:39,414
(crying)

1017
01:05:45,794 --> 01:05:47,254
(crying)

1018
01:05:47,254 --> 01:05:49,256
(background chatter continues)

1019
01:05:56,013 --> 01:05:58,892
(weeping)

1020
01:06:05,022 --> 01:06:07,274
(background drumming)

1021
01:06:10,153 --> 01:06:14,908
(drumming and singing
grows louder)

1022
01:06:16,283 --> 01:06:23,249
♪

1023
01:06:29,546 --> 01:06:31,423
(drumming and singing)

1024
01:06:49,526 --> 01:06:52,486
(audience applauding)

1025
01:06:53,863 --> 01:06:56,115
Kent: Thank you all, Kim,
Wilfred, and Leroy

1026
01:06:56,115 --> 01:06:57,200
for being here.

1027
01:06:57,325 --> 01:06:58,827
This is honestly,
like, the highlight

1028
01:06:58,827 --> 01:07:00,495
of this entire project
for me,

1029
01:07:00,495 --> 01:07:02,622
to have these incredible
people sit here with me.

1030
01:07:02,622 --> 01:07:03,957
So, thank you very much.

1031
01:07:03,957 --> 01:07:06,626
I'm humbled to be up here
with them.

1032
01:07:06,626 --> 01:07:09,461
This exhibition,
it ends with the stars,

1033
01:07:09,461 --> 01:07:14,133
and so I was able to also
paint Wilfred's portrait.

1034
01:07:14,133 --> 01:07:16,385
So, the exhibition
begins in the stars

1035
01:07:16,510 --> 01:07:19,305
and it ends in the stars,
and here we are tonight.

1036
01:07:19,305 --> 01:07:21,390
(audience applauding)

1037
01:07:24,394 --> 01:07:26,354
Wilfred: When I first
started this journey,

1038
01:07:26,354 --> 01:07:29,356
of looking at acakosuk,
those stars,

1039
01:07:29,356 --> 01:07:32,694
I never heard at one point
that there were anybody else

1040
01:07:32,694 --> 01:07:34,571
involved
in looking at the stars,

1041
01:07:34,696 --> 01:07:37,323
other than the Romans and the
Greeks and Western astronomy.

1042
01:07:37,323 --> 01:07:39,533
All these things
I learned about,

1043
01:07:39,533 --> 01:07:42,703
going through university,
was about my people,

1044
01:07:42,703 --> 01:07:45,372
but other people were
telling me about my people,

1045
01:07:45,372 --> 01:07:47,042
about who I was.

1046
01:07:47,042 --> 01:07:49,044
Other people were
telling me where I came from.

1047
01:07:49,044 --> 01:07:51,379
Other people were telling me
about what I believed.

1048
01:07:51,379 --> 01:07:53,006
All this learning that I did

1049
01:07:53,006 --> 01:07:56,760
was specifically through
a Western point of view,

1050
01:07:56,885 --> 01:07:59,720
written books making up these
fairy tales about my people.

1051
01:07:59,720 --> 01:08:02,223
And we believed them, going
through that colonial system.

1052
01:08:04,099 --> 01:08:06,059
(Wilfred chuckling)

1053
01:08:13,276 --> 01:08:16,196
Leroy Little Bear:
The Buffalo Treaty speaks to

1054
01:08:16,196 --> 01:08:21,076
the buffalo being a very
important part of our culture.

1055
01:08:21,076 --> 01:08:23,243
Many of our songs,

1056
01:08:23,243 --> 01:08:27,456
many of our stories,
many of our ceremonies

1057
01:08:27,581 --> 01:08:30,960
are connected
to that buffalo.

1058
01:08:32,670 --> 01:08:34,755
Wilfred: I have a friend
of mine, and he's working

1059
01:08:34,755 --> 01:08:37,800
on buffalo skulls and buffalo
hides for Sundance,

1060
01:08:37,925 --> 01:08:40,135
and when he sleeps
and he does ceremony,

1061
01:08:40,260 --> 01:08:43,889
paskwâw mostos, they come
to him and they tell him,

1062
01:08:43,889 --> 01:08:46,600
they tell him
what happened to them.

1063
01:08:46,600 --> 01:08:48,103
And what's happening
to our people,

1064
01:08:48,103 --> 01:08:49,938
it's exactly
the same thing.

1065
01:08:49,938 --> 01:08:52,314
- Yeah.
- And it's still happening.

1066
01:08:52,439 --> 01:08:54,983
And the Western world
has to acknowledge that.

1067
01:08:55,108 --> 01:08:56,944
They talk about Truth
and Reconciliation,

1068
01:08:56,944 --> 01:08:58,987
but there's no truth.

1069
01:08:59,112 --> 01:09:02,450
Leroy Little Bear: If they
were to tell the truth,

1070
01:09:02,450 --> 01:09:05,495
they would have to
change their story.

1071
01:09:06,703 --> 01:09:10,834
The Christian story
may be a good story

1072
01:09:10,959 --> 01:09:14,629
over there where
it originated...

1073
01:09:14,629 --> 01:09:17,840
but it was not
a good story for us.

1074
01:09:19,550 --> 01:09:22,804
Our stories grew up
right from the land,

1075
01:09:22,804 --> 01:09:25,764
from the sky, and so on.

1076
01:09:27,642 --> 01:09:29,643
At a cultural level,

1077
01:09:29,643 --> 01:09:33,814
it's almost as though they
wanted to make us empty.

1078
01:09:37,152 --> 01:09:40,530
When you have
somebody with no culture,

1079
01:09:40,655 --> 01:09:44,157
then there's
no guiding norms,

1080
01:09:44,157 --> 01:09:46,326
there's no guiding ways.

1081
01:09:46,326 --> 01:09:50,831
There's no grandmas,
there's no grandpas

1082
01:09:50,831 --> 01:09:55,295
to tell us the story and so
on that guides our life.

1083
01:09:58,380 --> 01:10:01,843
I would like to leave one
thought with the audience,

1084
01:10:01,843 --> 01:10:03,219
and that is,

1085
01:10:03,344 --> 01:10:07,473
it's kind of the vogue on
the part of scientists

1086
01:10:07,473 --> 01:10:12,187
to go and have a conversation
with the Dalai Lama.

1087
01:10:13,228 --> 01:10:15,523
Well, these
two scientists,

1088
01:10:15,523 --> 01:10:17,567
they went
to visit him.

1089
01:10:17,692 --> 01:10:20,527
He told them, "Hey,
in our tradition,

1090
01:10:20,527 --> 01:10:24,157
we have to make
tea for our visitors."

1091
01:10:24,157 --> 01:10:27,535
So, he got busy and
made some tea for them.

1092
01:10:27,535 --> 01:10:30,371
The cup was full,
but he kept pouring.

1093
01:10:30,371 --> 01:10:32,706
It was spilling
all over the place.

1094
01:10:32,706 --> 01:10:35,876
These two scientists were
looking at each other.

1095
01:10:35,876 --> 01:10:38,254
"What's wrong
with this guy?"

1096
01:10:38,379 --> 01:10:41,715
So, finally, one
of them said,

1097
01:10:41,715 --> 01:10:43,759
"Hey, the cup is full.

1098
01:10:43,884 --> 01:10:46,094
It's spilling
all over."

1099
01:10:46,219 --> 01:10:48,430
And he kind of
says, "Oh. Okay."

1100
01:10:50,265 --> 01:10:52,100
Then he looked
at the two guys,

1101
01:10:52,227 --> 01:10:55,063
and he says,
"You know what?"

1102
01:10:56,313 --> 01:10:58,441
"You guys know
too much."

1103
01:11:00,567 --> 01:11:04,363
"How about if you go
back home..."

1104
01:11:05,782 --> 01:11:08,701
"...and empty your minds
out a little bit?"

1105
01:11:10,452 --> 01:11:13,956
"Because if we
talk right now,

1106
01:11:14,081 --> 01:11:17,125
that knowledge will
be like this cup."

1107
01:11:17,250 --> 01:11:19,920
"It'll just spill over,

1108
01:11:19,920 --> 01:11:23,049
and we won't
learn anything."

1109
01:11:23,049 --> 01:11:25,718
Most of
our ceremonies

1110
01:11:25,718 --> 01:11:29,805
are about emptying
your cup,

1111
01:11:29,930 --> 01:11:33,308
emptying your
mind and so on,

1112
01:11:33,433 --> 01:11:36,728
so new knowledge can
come about.

1113
01:11:38,814 --> 01:11:41,608
And that's
why you go and see

1114
01:11:41,608 --> 01:11:44,778
an Elder for a teaching,

1115
01:11:44,778 --> 01:11:47,740
they always hold
a ceremony.

1116
01:11:49,032 --> 01:11:50,492
And in Western
science

1117
01:11:50,617 --> 01:11:54,956
and our
modern world,

1118
01:11:54,956 --> 01:11:57,416
ceremony is missing.

1119
01:11:59,501 --> 01:12:00,585
Thank you.

1120
01:12:01,629 --> 01:12:02,671
Hiy hiy.

1121
01:12:02,796 --> 01:12:04,756
(audience applauding)

1122
01:12:10,470 --> 01:12:17,437
♪

1123
01:12:58,060 --> 01:13:00,188
(song fades)

1124
01:13:01,898 --> 01:13:03,232
That first
Sundance lodge,

1125
01:13:03,358 --> 01:13:04,858
those Sundancers
that came,

1126
01:13:04,858 --> 01:13:06,693
the first thing they said
when they walked

1127
01:13:06,693 --> 01:13:09,405
into that arbor area where
that tree was,

1128
01:13:09,530 --> 01:13:11,157
okimâw ahtik,

1129
01:13:11,157 --> 01:13:12,700
they came in there,
and they cried

1130
01:13:12,700 --> 01:13:15,745
and they said, "I dreamt
about this place."

1131
01:13:15,870 --> 01:13:18,039
And we knew that the spirits
guided them there,

1132
01:13:18,039 --> 01:13:19,999
the dreams guided
them there.

1133
01:13:19,999 --> 01:13:21,334
And this was
meant to happen.

1134
01:13:23,126 --> 01:13:24,545
Dreams instruct us,

1135
01:13:24,545 --> 01:13:26,714
and they're not
some subconscious thing.

1136
01:13:26,714 --> 01:13:29,050
They're part
of our reality,

1137
01:13:29,050 --> 01:13:30,675
and then we make
them more so

1138
01:13:30,675 --> 01:13:32,385
when we follow through
on those dreams

1139
01:13:32,385 --> 01:13:35,098
and make them live,
make them live.

1140
01:13:37,892 --> 01:13:41,353
And these dreams showed me
this Sundance lodge,

1141
01:13:41,353 --> 01:13:43,898
and each dream showed
me a different step

1142
01:13:43,898 --> 01:13:45,774
of that
Sundance lodge.

1143
01:13:45,899 --> 01:13:48,402
And each dream instructed
me how I should go about

1144
01:13:48,402 --> 01:13:51,447
doing this,
what I had to do.

1145
01:13:51,572 --> 01:13:54,617
And when I went and told
the Elder about that,

1146
01:13:54,742 --> 01:13:57,620
he said, "Well, there's no
interpretation that's needed.

1147
01:13:57,745 --> 01:13:59,080
You know what
you have to do."

1148
01:14:00,456 --> 01:14:02,625
And of course, I knew
what I had to do,

1149
01:14:02,750 --> 01:14:05,752
but I didn't want
that responsibility.

1150
01:14:05,752 --> 01:14:10,258
I didn't
feel like...

1151
01:14:10,258 --> 01:14:11,925
I earned that
responsibility.

1152
01:14:21,477 --> 01:14:23,270
So I...

1153
01:14:23,270 --> 01:14:24,272
I ran away.

1154
01:14:25,606 --> 01:14:27,942
For four years,
I ran away,

1155
01:14:27,942 --> 01:14:30,318
trying to get away from
that responsibility.

1156
01:14:32,822 --> 01:14:34,157
Then I ran
into this man,

1157
01:14:34,282 --> 01:14:36,283
Don Cardinal,
an Elder.

1158
01:14:38,286 --> 01:14:41,080
I worked with him for
probably about six years.

1159
01:14:42,497 --> 01:14:43,957
He sat me down one day.
He said to me,

1160
01:14:43,957 --> 01:14:45,500
"You know, what are
you waiting for?"

1161
01:14:45,625 --> 01:14:47,795
He said,
"Look at me.

1162
01:14:47,795 --> 01:14:49,421
I'm not going to
be around forever.

1163
01:14:49,421 --> 01:14:51,299
What are
you waiting for?"

1164
01:14:54,676 --> 01:14:57,138
That's when it
hit me.

1165
01:14:57,138 --> 01:14:58,598
I said, "Okay.

1166
01:14:58,598 --> 01:14:59,849
Time to stop running."

1167
01:14:59,974 --> 01:15:02,809
"Time to step up

1168
01:15:02,809 --> 01:15:05,770
and time to start taking on
that responsibility."

1169
01:15:11,234 --> 01:15:16,157
Those dreams that
were given, I'm told,

1170
01:15:16,157 --> 01:15:18,658
were given
through acakak,

1171
01:15:18,658 --> 01:15:21,453
our spirits, our helpers,

1172
01:15:21,453 --> 01:15:23,289
our guides.

1173
01:15:23,289 --> 01:15:25,124
And it's not
up to me,

1174
01:15:25,124 --> 01:15:27,500
they've chosen me, and there's
nothing I can do about it.

1175
01:15:29,504 --> 01:15:31,505
And I still have doubt.
I have lots of doubt.

1176
01:15:31,505 --> 01:15:33,883
Sometimes, I just feel like
throwing everything down

1177
01:15:34,008 --> 01:15:35,175
and walking away.

1178
01:15:38,220 --> 01:15:42,974
Sometimes it feels like
there's a big void there,

1179
01:15:42,974 --> 01:15:45,185
especially
when you look

1180
01:15:45,185 --> 01:15:47,354
and you see all the pain
that's around you.

1181
01:15:50,942 --> 01:15:54,319
If it wasn't for
ceremony,

1182
01:15:54,319 --> 01:15:56,363
and if it wasn't
for prayers and dreams...

1183
01:16:00,451 --> 01:16:02,202
...then maybe I would've just
walked away

1184
01:16:02,202 --> 01:16:03,871
and said, "Fuck it."

1185
01:16:08,250 --> 01:16:10,210
But my family helped
me through that.

1186
01:16:12,295 --> 01:16:16,384
And this ceremony...

1187
01:16:16,384 --> 01:16:19,886
that we carry

1188
01:16:19,886 --> 01:16:22,598
hopefully will help
somebody along the way.

1189
01:16:33,108 --> 01:16:35,736
- Wilfred: Hey, sister.
- Chrissy: Hello.

1190
01:16:35,736 --> 01:16:36,903
(laughing)

1191
01:16:38,488 --> 01:16:40,073
So, this is it, eh?

1192
01:16:40,073 --> 01:16:41,742
Awesome job. Awesome job.

1193
01:16:41,742 --> 01:16:43,743
Chrissy: Yes.

1194
01:16:43,743 --> 01:16:46,414
- We found rock formations.
- Wilfred: Oh, yeah?

1195
01:16:46,414 --> 01:16:49,082
Chrissy: And we had a man
come in to look at them,

1196
01:16:49,082 --> 01:16:52,752
and he said, "That's a
Thunderbird nest and a sâpis."

1197
01:16:52,752 --> 01:16:54,045
Is that right?

1198
01:16:54,045 --> 01:16:56,381
Yeah, and it's
real close to the lodge.

1199
01:16:56,381 --> 01:16:57,716
Awesome.

1200
01:16:57,716 --> 01:17:01,929
You know what I'm thinking,
just looking at it?

1201
01:17:01,929 --> 01:17:04,264
This is it. We don't need
to do no more work on this.

1202
01:17:04,264 --> 01:17:05,640
That's what I was saying.

1203
01:17:05,765 --> 01:17:07,100
We just have to put up
the poles.

1204
01:17:07,100 --> 01:17:09,394
Yeah. The spirits come and
blessed this place already.

1205
01:17:09,394 --> 01:17:10,979
Yeah, yeah.

1206
01:17:11,104 --> 01:17:12,814
- Wilfred: That's good.
- Chrissy: Yeah.

1207
01:17:12,939 --> 01:17:14,108
Wilfred:
Awesome.

1208
01:17:17,987 --> 01:17:19,612
Skip: I work on bones.

1209
01:17:21,698 --> 01:17:23,158
I'm going to show you
this whistle.

1210
01:17:25,952 --> 01:17:29,247
That eagle was wounded

1211
01:17:29,247 --> 01:17:30,832
or hurt in some way.

1212
01:17:33,376 --> 01:17:36,255
And he healed himself.

1213
01:17:42,719 --> 01:17:44,929
So, if an animal can
heal himself like that

1214
01:17:44,929 --> 01:17:48,808
or a bird can
mend his bones,

1215
01:17:48,808 --> 01:17:51,644
why can't we as humans
do the same thing?

1216
01:17:53,022 --> 01:17:55,148
Wilfred: Okay,
straight back now.

1217
01:17:55,148 --> 01:17:56,942
Okay. Floor it
and slam on the brakes.

1218
01:17:56,942 --> 01:17:59,194
(laughing)

1219
01:17:59,319 --> 01:18:00,612
We'll unload it
that way.

1220
01:18:03,741 --> 01:18:05,992
Autumn: With all this
oskâpewis-in-training here,

1221
01:18:05,992 --> 01:18:08,496
it's like the young men
finding their way back home.

1222
01:18:08,496 --> 01:18:10,497
finding
where they belong,

1223
01:18:10,497 --> 01:18:12,332
where they're needed.

1224
01:18:12,332 --> 01:18:15,795
Can you get me about 10
or 12 good sized ones

1225
01:18:15,795 --> 01:18:17,713
so I can make a pit--
uh, circle for the fire?

1226
01:18:17,838 --> 01:18:20,549
Okay. Yeah, for sure.

1227
01:18:20,675 --> 01:18:22,218
As the healing starts,

1228
01:18:22,343 --> 01:18:25,011
the community starts
to realize what's going on,

1229
01:18:25,011 --> 01:18:27,014
and it's like, "Yeah.
Okay. This is real.

1230
01:18:27,014 --> 01:18:29,183
Like, this
helps people."

1231
01:18:29,183 --> 01:18:31,477
So they start coming,
and then they get more helpers

1232
01:18:31,477 --> 01:18:32,687
and they
get more dancers.

1233
01:18:32,687 --> 01:18:36,357
And then the Sundance grows.

1234
01:18:36,357 --> 01:18:38,024
So, when we're
looking for willows,

1235
01:18:38,024 --> 01:18:40,193
we're looking for
ones that come

1236
01:18:40,193 --> 01:18:42,822
from pretty close
to the ground,

1237
01:18:42,822 --> 01:18:44,697
maybe about
this diameter.

1238
01:18:46,282 --> 01:18:48,536
I'd say about eight
to 10 feet long.

1239
01:18:48,536 --> 01:18:50,662
And so what we'll do is, when
we get ready to go do this,

1240
01:18:50,662 --> 01:18:52,164
everyone will get
some tobacco.

1241
01:18:52,164 --> 01:18:54,250
You guys will put your tobacco
down, and some of the guys

1242
01:18:54,375 --> 01:18:56,501
will have some machetes,
and we'll start to cut them.

1243
01:18:56,501 --> 01:19:00,339
We need seven for
each Sundance lodge,

1244
01:19:00,339 --> 01:19:03,843
and then we need 16 for
the community lodge.

1245
01:19:03,843 --> 01:19:06,386
All right. So, let's go see
what we can scout out, then.

1246
01:19:20,608 --> 01:19:22,944
What I seen was,
I was flying behind him.

1247
01:19:23,069 --> 01:19:24,905
I was following.
I was following him.

1248
01:19:26,490 --> 01:19:27,700
Following him.

1249
01:19:27,700 --> 01:19:29,951
I went to
a white clear.

1250
01:19:30,076 --> 01:19:33,080
That was it. It was a quick,
fast dream.

1251
01:19:33,080 --> 01:19:34,290
Wilfred:
Mm-hmm.

1252
01:19:34,415 --> 01:19:37,375
White eagle, brown tips.

1253
01:19:37,375 --> 01:19:39,586
Wilfred: So, it looks like
you're going to have to fly

1254
01:19:39,586 --> 01:19:40,795
with the eagles.

1255
01:19:40,920 --> 01:19:42,881
It's like three seasons.

1256
01:19:42,881 --> 01:19:44,716
Those eagles are
summer.

1257
01:19:44,716 --> 01:19:47,094
So, within the next summer,

1258
01:19:47,094 --> 01:19:49,095
you've got to fly
with the eagles somewhere.

1259
01:19:52,308 --> 01:19:54,559
Shawn: Of the many
gifts that Wilfred has,

1260
01:19:54,559 --> 01:19:58,063
the name of Dreamkeeper
that he carries

1261
01:19:58,063 --> 01:20:00,608
is that gift of being
able to interpret--

1262
01:20:00,608 --> 01:20:04,277
interpret dreams to
tell us what they mean.

1263
01:20:04,277 --> 01:20:06,613
A lot of times,
there's connections

1264
01:20:06,613 --> 01:20:09,657
to that star world,
and we're fortunate enough

1265
01:20:09,782 --> 01:20:12,452
to have a guy like Wilfred,
who can explain

1266
01:20:12,452 --> 01:20:15,331
what it is we're seeing,
what are we dreaming about.

1267
01:20:15,456 --> 01:20:19,460
When we're in ceremony -
sweat lodge, Sundance -

1268
01:20:19,460 --> 01:20:22,170
things that are going
on that we don't know

1269
01:20:22,295 --> 01:20:24,255
are connected
to that star world.

1270
01:20:24,255 --> 01:20:27,843
Wilfred: Yeah,
well you got a year to...

1271
01:20:27,968 --> 01:20:30,679
to prepare, and if you're
meant to do this,

1272
01:20:30,804 --> 01:20:33,139
then during that year,
things will be clarified.

1273
01:20:33,139 --> 01:20:34,433
Yeah.

1274
01:20:34,433 --> 01:20:37,310
Okay, wrap it up and tie it.

1275
01:20:37,310 --> 01:20:39,188
Megean:
There's a lot of healing

1276
01:20:39,313 --> 01:20:42,148
that's needed to be
done on the lands.

1277
01:20:42,148 --> 01:20:45,693
And just seeing my cousins
come out,

1278
01:20:45,818 --> 01:20:48,613
and seeing how much they glow
from the ceremony

1279
01:20:48,613 --> 01:20:50,032
just makes my heart full

1280
01:20:50,157 --> 01:20:52,660
because there's
so much trauma,

1281
01:20:52,660 --> 01:20:56,705
and there's so much bad stuff
in our community right now

1282
01:20:56,831 --> 01:20:58,499
that we need
to be dealing with.

1283
01:20:58,499 --> 01:21:00,667
So, it's good to see them
starting to feel that,

1284
01:21:00,667 --> 01:21:03,336
so then we will someday

1285
01:21:03,336 --> 01:21:05,798
be holding the ceremony,
and you know,

1286
01:21:05,798 --> 01:21:07,550
teaching the younger ones.

1287
01:21:07,675 --> 01:21:10,678
Wilfred: Bend it over that
way, towards the doorway,

1288
01:21:10,678 --> 01:21:13,848
until you can get
the top leaves under.

1289
01:21:13,848 --> 01:21:15,683
Helper:
Over then under, right?

1290
01:21:15,683 --> 01:21:17,393
Wilfred:
Yeah. Same way.

1291
01:21:17,518 --> 01:21:19,060
Watch your fingers.

1292
01:21:19,185 --> 01:21:21,479
(laughing)

1293
01:21:21,479 --> 01:21:23,023
You'll be tied to the lodge.

1294
01:21:23,023 --> 01:21:25,024
Helper:
You'll be one with the lodge.

1295
01:21:25,024 --> 01:21:26,026
(laughing)

1296
01:21:29,405 --> 01:21:31,322
When you see
the children come here...

1297
01:21:32,867 --> 01:21:35,827
...there's--
there's a difference.

1298
01:21:39,247 --> 01:21:41,207
They, uh...

1299
01:21:43,251 --> 01:21:48,090
They know what it's like to be
in a community that loves them

1300
01:21:48,215 --> 01:21:50,175
and knows that they're safe.

1301
01:21:52,760 --> 01:21:53,929
And if they need a hug,

1302
01:21:54,054 --> 01:21:57,224
all they need to do is ask
for a hug,

1303
01:21:57,224 --> 01:21:59,893
and they get one.

1304
01:21:59,893 --> 01:22:02,020
Because they're here.

1305
01:22:02,020 --> 01:22:05,023
And they feel
so safe and loved.

1306
01:22:06,274 --> 01:22:08,443
And that's
the most important thing.

1307
01:22:08,568 --> 01:22:10,737
That's what Sundance
is about.

1308
01:22:15,910 --> 01:22:18,746
(women singing with rattle)

1309
01:22:48,358 --> 01:22:55,323
♪

1310
01:23:17,388 --> 01:23:19,598
This is one of the ways
we get reconnected.

1311
01:23:19,598 --> 01:23:21,099
We come to these places,

1312
01:23:21,099 --> 01:23:24,018
and we do these things,
and we humble ourselves.

1313
01:23:24,143 --> 01:23:25,645
You see those dancers
out there,

1314
01:23:25,645 --> 01:23:27,272
they're humbling themselves.

1315
01:23:27,272 --> 01:23:29,817
They're giving up their food,
they're giving up their water.

1316
01:23:29,817 --> 01:23:32,443
Because they know this
is what the people need.

1317
01:23:32,443 --> 01:23:36,490
(singing with rattle continues)

1318
01:23:38,157 --> 01:23:40,827
These dancers put themselves
in a certain state,

1319
01:23:40,827 --> 01:23:43,205
where they earn the right
to cry for those people.

1320
01:23:45,707 --> 01:23:47,166
(song ends)

1321
01:23:55,175 --> 01:24:00,139
(distant drumming,
whistles and singing)

1322
01:24:22,745 --> 01:24:24,662
There's a constellation
in the sky

1323
01:24:24,662 --> 01:24:27,750
called Namiw,
the Sturgeon.

1324
01:24:27,875 --> 01:24:30,044
His nose touches
one side of the Milky Way

1325
01:24:30,044 --> 01:24:33,005
and his tail touches the other
side of the Milky Way.

1326
01:24:34,923 --> 01:24:37,675
Where that sturgeon swims,
that's the present.

1327
01:24:37,675 --> 01:24:40,054
And where his nose touches,
that's the future,

1328
01:24:40,054 --> 01:24:43,098
and where his tail touches,
that's the past.

1329
01:24:44,599 --> 01:24:47,018
There's thirteen stars to
make up that constellation,

1330
01:24:47,018 --> 01:24:49,063
but there's seven main ones.

1331
01:24:49,063 --> 01:24:51,732
And those seven main ones
represent generations.

1332
01:25:00,115 --> 01:25:01,575
Right now, in the present,

1333
01:25:01,575 --> 01:25:03,367
we're right in
the centre of those seven.

1334
01:25:05,828 --> 01:25:08,916
So, at the two extremes, you
have your great-grandchildren

1335
01:25:08,916 --> 01:25:10,584
and your great-grandparents.

1336
01:25:13,461 --> 01:25:17,090
My people have a name for that.
They call those câpân -

1337
01:25:17,090 --> 01:25:18,591
the ones that tie together.

1338
01:25:21,929 --> 01:25:22,970
What you're speaking now,

1339
01:25:23,097 --> 01:25:24,264
you're going to give
to your children,

1340
01:25:24,264 --> 01:25:25,765
and your children
are going to give

1341
01:25:25,765 --> 01:25:27,643
your great-grandchildren.

1342
01:25:27,768 --> 01:25:29,603
And then your
great-grandchildren are going

1343
01:25:29,603 --> 01:25:32,731
to take those stories, those
understandings,

1344
01:25:32,731 --> 01:25:35,149
those perspectives
into the future.

1345
01:25:37,861 --> 01:25:40,447
So, if you want those people
in the future to be strong,

1346
01:25:40,447 --> 01:25:42,782
to be understanding,
to be proud, to be kind,

1347
01:25:42,782 --> 01:25:44,117
then that's the story

1348
01:25:44,117 --> 01:25:46,077
you have to give
these ones in front of you,

1349
01:25:46,077 --> 01:25:48,121
so the câpân
can take them forward.

1350
01:25:48,121 --> 01:25:55,170
♪

1351
01:26:17,692 --> 01:26:20,653
Person shouting:
Dancers, time to get up!

1352
01:26:24,366 --> 01:26:28,871
(background chatting)

1353
01:26:34,041 --> 01:26:37,670
(laughing)

1354
01:26:46,513 --> 01:26:47,514
(baby crying)

1355
01:26:47,514 --> 01:26:50,975
My family wants
to acknowledge the work

1356
01:26:50,975 --> 01:26:55,522
that these oskâpewis has been
doing for the community,

1357
01:26:55,522 --> 01:26:59,358
has been doing for
the Two Prayers Sundance Lodge

1358
01:26:59,358 --> 01:27:01,361
since it started,
thirteen years ago now.

1359
01:27:02,737 --> 01:27:05,907
We'd like to present
a gift to our brother here.

1360
01:27:06,032 --> 01:27:09,536
Connie: Thank you for all that
you've done for my family.

1361
01:27:09,536 --> 01:27:12,080
I really appreciate it.

1362
01:27:12,206 --> 01:27:15,709
(playing "The Boxer" by Simon
and Garfunkel)

1363
01:27:15,709 --> 01:27:18,670
♪ I am just a poor boy ♪

1364
01:27:18,670 --> 01:27:21,215
♪ Though my story's
seldom told ♪

1365
01:27:21,215 --> 01:27:23,090
♪ I have squandered
my resistance ♪

1366
01:27:23,215 --> 01:27:26,344
♪ For a pocketful
of mumbles ♪

1367
01:27:26,344 --> 01:27:28,263
♪ Such are promises ♪

1368
01:27:28,388 --> 01:27:30,224
♪ All lies and jest ♪

1369
01:27:30,224 --> 01:27:33,184
♪ Still a man hears
what he wants to hear ♪

1370
01:27:33,184 --> 01:27:35,603
♪ And disregards the rest ♪

1371
01:27:43,946 --> 01:27:46,907
♪ When I left my home
and my family ♪

1372
01:27:46,907 --> 01:27:49,283
♪ I was no more than a boy ♪

1373
01:27:49,408 --> 01:27:52,203
♪ In the company
of strangers ♪

1374
01:27:52,203 --> 01:27:54,456
♪ In the quiet of
the railway station ♪

1375
01:27:54,581 --> 01:27:56,582
♪ Running scared ♪

1376
01:27:56,582 --> 01:28:01,045
♪ Laying low, seeking out
the poorer quarters ♪

1377
01:28:01,045 --> 01:28:02,965
♪ Where the ragged
people go ♪

1378
01:28:03,090 --> 01:28:06,550
♪ Looking for the places
only they would know ♪

1379
01:28:11,974 --> 01:28:18,938
♪

1380
01:28:30,826 --> 01:28:33,120
♪ In the clearing
stands a boxer ♪

1381
01:28:33,120 --> 01:28:36,122
♪ And a fighter by his trade ♪

1382
01:28:36,122 --> 01:28:38,625
♪ And he carries
the reminder ♪

1383
01:28:38,625 --> 01:28:40,960
♪ Of every glove
that laid him down ♪

1384
01:28:40,960 --> 01:28:44,755
♪ Or cut him till he cried out
in his anger and his shame ♪

1385
01:28:44,755 --> 01:28:46,425
♪ I am leaving,
I am leaving ♪

1386
01:28:46,425 --> 01:28:48,300
(crowd cheering)

1387
01:28:48,300 --> 01:28:50,304
♪ But the fighter
still remains ♪

1388
01:28:50,304 --> 01:28:55,349
♪

1389
01:28:55,474 --> 01:28:57,810
Wilfred: One of the things
that Sundance represents

1390
01:28:57,810 --> 01:28:59,688
is community.

1391
01:29:00,856 --> 01:29:02,648
People say it's
a four-day commitment,

1392
01:29:02,648 --> 01:29:05,652
but in actual fact,
it's a life commitment.

1393
01:29:07,194 --> 01:29:10,322
You should be willing to make
community wherever you go.

1394
01:29:16,871 --> 01:29:18,165
(song ending)

1395
01:29:18,165 --> 01:29:21,500
(cheering and applause)

1396
01:29:21,500 --> 01:29:24,170
(crowd applauding)

1397
01:29:24,170 --> 01:29:26,630
The most powerful way
is the way of spirit.

1398
01:29:26,630 --> 01:29:29,175
And what our people believe

1399
01:29:29,175 --> 01:29:31,219
is just as valid as
it was a thousand years ago,

1400
01:29:31,344 --> 01:29:33,889
if not more so now.

1401
01:29:34,014 --> 01:29:35,682
We can regain
that knowledge.

1402
01:29:35,682 --> 01:29:37,392
It's been gone to sleep,

1403
01:29:37,517 --> 01:29:39,518
but we still practice
those methodologies.

1404
01:29:39,518 --> 01:29:41,353
We still practice
the Sundance,

1405
01:29:41,353 --> 01:29:43,482
we still practice
the sweat lodge,

1406
01:29:43,482 --> 01:29:45,524
we still practice
the vision quests,

1407
01:29:45,524 --> 01:29:48,027
we still practice
the traveling,

1408
01:29:48,027 --> 01:29:49,737
sharing and talking to people.

1409
01:29:49,862 --> 01:29:51,740
We still dream.

1410
01:29:51,865 --> 01:29:54,033
And all these things
are the methodology

1411
01:29:54,033 --> 01:29:56,536
of how we obtain knowledge.

1412
01:29:56,536 --> 01:29:58,662
So, we can regain
all that knowledge.

1413
01:30:00,581 --> 01:30:03,335
It's just out there
waiting for us.

1414
01:30:03,335 --> 01:30:05,379
And we just have to make
a commitment to do it.

1415
01:30:10,425 --> 01:30:11,926
Oh, we must be
going too slow.

1416
01:30:12,051 --> 01:30:13,719
People are trying
to pass us here.

1417
01:30:15,722 --> 01:30:17,599
I'm doing 98 here.

1418
01:30:17,724 --> 01:30:19,683
(Link Wray's "Rumble"
starts playing)

1419
01:30:55,679 --> 01:31:02,643
♪

1420
01:31:33,008 --> 01:31:35,009
♪ Where are you warriors? ♪

1421
01:31:35,134 --> 01:31:37,469
♪ The people call ♪

1422
01:31:37,469 --> 01:31:39,973
♪ They are cornered
by a monster ♪

1423
01:31:39,973 --> 01:31:42,600
♪ With their backs
against the wall ♪

1424
01:31:42,600 --> 01:31:45,312
♪ They are calling
for their leaders ♪

1425
01:31:45,312 --> 01:31:47,938
♪ To lead their pain away ♪

1426
01:31:47,938 --> 01:31:51,442
♪ They are crying
for you warriors ♪

1427
01:31:51,442 --> 01:31:53,152
♪ What do you say? ♪

1428
01:31:55,530 --> 01:31:58,032
♪ Are you stuck
inside an office ♪

1429
01:31:58,157 --> 01:32:00,660
♪ Working 9 to 5 a day? ♪

1430
01:32:00,660 --> 01:32:02,786
♪ Results don't
seem to matter ♪

1431
01:32:02,786 --> 01:32:05,624
♪ Oh, you just
collect your pay ♪

1432
01:32:05,624 --> 01:32:08,042
♪ Are you ridden
by the rule books ♪

1433
01:32:08,167 --> 01:32:10,879
♪ And not what
the people say? ♪

1434
01:32:11,004 --> 01:32:12,839
♪ Do you see their
fall from glory? ♪

1435
01:32:12,839 --> 01:32:15,341
♪ Do you help
them on their way? ♪

1436
01:32:16,550 --> 01:32:18,219
♪ Where are you warriors? ♪

1437
01:32:18,344 --> 01:32:21,014
♪ The people call ♪

1438
01:32:21,014 --> 01:32:23,849
♪ They are
cornered by a monster ♪

1439
01:32:23,849 --> 01:32:26,478
♪ With their backs
against the wall ♪

1440
01:32:26,478 --> 01:32:29,063
♪ They are calling
for their leaders ♪

1441
01:32:29,188 --> 01:32:31,691
♪ To lead their pain away ♪

1442
01:32:31,691 --> 01:32:34,693
♪ They are crying
for you warriors ♪

1443
01:32:34,693 --> 01:32:36,696
♪ What do you say? ♪

1444
01:32:36,696 --> 01:32:40,157
♪ They are crying
for you warriors ♪

1445
01:32:40,157 --> 01:32:42,493
♪ What do you say? ♪

1446
01:32:48,082 --> 01:32:52,420
Okay. That's it.
(laughing)

1447
01:32:52,545 --> 01:32:59,510
♪