Elders and Youth share traditional knowledge while traversing historic canoe routes sharing the history of the 9 Matawa First Nations in Northern Ontario.
In September 2019, Nibinamik First Nation Elders Tommy Yellowhead and Stephen Neshinapaise, both born at PinnaeMootang, were accompanied by a small group of youth and a Shebafilms crew as they travelled an historic canoe route to their birthplace. They paddled southward from Nibinamik First Nation to their old village site, with the journey and experiences captured for the film ‘Journey to Our Homelands.’ Elders Tommy Yellowhead and Stephen Neshinapaise hope to inspire all Matawa First Nations to ‘think beyond the Indian Act’ and start reconnecting with each other through their lakes, rivers and trails, as they have done for millennia.
The film hopes to encourage other Matawa members to connect socially with each other through their waterways and trails in order to demonstrate the current and traditional land usage for all Matawa communities and First Nation members.
Director/ Composition
Adrien Harpelle:
Growing up in a family of filmmakers, I have been on film sets my whole life. I am a professional music producer, composer, and filmmaker. I am a bilingual (English, French) artist who creates music and film with a focus on documentary, sound design and composition.
I was the mentor, director, and composer for the 24min documentary Journey to our Homeland which premiered in September 2022. The film follows two elders and six youths traveling by canoe to the old village sites where their families lived from time immemorial. It is made with the support of Matawa First Nations, Shebafilms, and Four Rivers.
Editor/Composition
Derek Okeese:
Derek Okeese is a self-taught editor and musician. Starting his journey in 2018 he has since edited over a 1000 videos on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. In late 2020 he started working on the film “Journey To Our Homeland” where he edited, coloured corrected and composed music.
Since then, he has worked on multiple projects like, “Stories of Anishinabe Resilience Project”, “Reel Memories”, and “Nishinabe-Aski Legal”
Available on: APTN LUMI & Researchtv.ca
Awards & Nominations:
- Nominee: Northern Ontario Music & Film Awards – Outstanding Short Film Nomination 2024
- Winner: Latino & Native American Film Festival – Native American Social, Political, Cultural Impact Award 2024
- Winner: Yorkton Film Festival – Research Craft Award 2023
- Nominee: Yorkton Film Festival – Best Emerging Filmmaker Nomination 2023
- Nominee: Yorkton Film Festival – Kathleen Shannon Award Nomination 2023
- Winner: Vox Popular Media Arts Festival – People’s Choice Award 2022
Festivals:
- IndiFest Festival de Cinema Indigena de Barcelona 2024
- Asinabka Film & Media Arts Festival 2024
- Minnesota Film Festival 2023
- Spotlight on Academics 2023
- SOAR-Sudbury Outdoor Adventure Reels 2023
- Skoden Indigenous Film Festival 2023
- Weengushk International Film Festival 2023
