You Are on Indian Land is a 1969
documentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about the confrontation between police and a demonstration by Mohawks of the St. Regis Reservation on a bridge between
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
near
Cornwall, OntarioCornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada and the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario. Cornwall is Ontario's easternmost city, located on the St...
that stands on Mohawk land. By blocking traffic on the bridge, Mohawks sought to call attention to their grievance that they were prohibited by Canadian authorities from duty-free passage of personal purchases across the border, a right they claim was established by the 1794
Jay TreatyJay's Treaty, , also known as Jay's Treaty, The British Treaty, and the Treaty of London of 1794, was a treaty between the United States and Great Britain that is credited with averting war,, resolving issues remaining since the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which ended the American Revolution,, and...
.
Mike Mitchell
You Are on Indian Land was produced by the
National Film Board of CanadaThe National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
as part of its
Challenge for ChangeChallenge for Change was a participatory film and video project created by the National Film Board of Canada in 1967, the Canadian Centennial...
series. While Mort Ransen is credited as director, Ransen stated that he worked collaboratively with Mike Mitchell, a Saint Regis Mohawk who was both an activist shaping the event itself, and a filmmaker and film narrator. Mitchell was part of the NFB’s "Indian Film Crew", a training program for First Nations filmmakers, and had brought the impending protest to the attention of the NFB.
Knowing that a breakdown in negotiations between the Mohawks and government was imminent, Mitchell asked
Challenge for Change executive producer
George C. StoneyGeorge C. Stoney is a professor of film and cinema studies at New York University , and a pioneer in the field of documentary film. Stoney directed several influential films including All My Babies and How the Myth Was Made...
for an NFB film crew to be present when Natives planned to block the international bridge. Asked to direct, Ransen agreed only after ascertaining that no Native directors were available, making it clear that he saw his role as one in which he'd be working collaboratively with Mitchell. Ransen also stated that Mitchell and Studio D founder Kathleen Shannon were responsible for the film's final edit.
Mitchell would go on to work with
Challenge for Change for several more years before leaving filmmaking and the NFB to become more involved with First Nations issues. He was elected to the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne in 1982, served as its Grand Chief from 1984 to 2002.
Indian Film Crew
The Indian Film Crew was formed at the NFB's
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
headquarters in 1968, as part of the Challenge for Change program. The program was jointly sponsored by the
Company of Young CanadiansThe Company of Young Canadians was a short-lived Canadian youth program sponsored by the Canadian federal government, which existed from 1966 to 1977. It was inspired by the U.S...
and the Department of Indian Affairs. Trainees spent five months being learning about various aspects of filmmaking and then worked on community development projects and research for future films.
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