Revolution Moosehide

Director: Lesley Johnson
Country of origin: Canada
*Screening Sponsor: Dene Nahjo

In Dene culture the newly created earth was made beautiful by a moosehide. Revolution Moosehide follows Melaw Nakehko’s extraordinary journey of cultural resurgence and revitalization, by learning the practice of moosehide tanning from elders across the Northwest Territories. Joined by several young women, moosehide tanning leads to deeper realizations about community and identity, while intersecting with a new wave of ideas and politics coming from Indigenous movements across Canada. Melaw’s story is an answer to what is happening in the post-Idle No More era, with the formation of grassroots organizations focused on leadership skills rooted in cultural identity, forging a bright and strong vision for the future of communities in the North.

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I Hold The Dehcho In My Heart / Sedze Tah Dehcho E'Toh

Director: Lesley Johnson
Runtime: 22 minutes
Country of origin: Canada
*Screening Sponsor: Dene Nahjo

In July and August of 2017, a group of Indigenous students, elders and educators, embarked on a six week paddle trip down Canada’s longest river, the Mackenzie, known as the Dehcho in the Dene language, in an effort to reconnect with land and culture. Stretching over 1738 kilometers of the Northwest Territories, the Dehcho is an Indigenous homeland, but accessing traditional territories via river travel has become difficult for the majority of today’s Dene youth. “I Hold the Dehcho in my Heart / Sedze Tah Dehcho E’toh” focuses on the experience of two students, Kristen and Jiah, as they overcome the physical and mental challenges of such a rigorous and remote excursion, while learning land-based skills from Dene elders. Many of the the elders were born and raised along the river, and have a considerable wealth of cultural knowledge and leadership experience, despite having been forcefully removed from their families to attend residential school as children. The students are on a mission to learn from these elders, to repair the severed connection their generation has experienced with the land, and reclaim their identity. Kristen and Jiah challenge themselves to learn this way, by spending 42 days on the river retracing the historic route of their ancestors, for over 1200 km. These young Dene women overcome exhausting days and occasionally treacherous weather conditions, to feel cultural pride and gain valuable leadership skills to bring back to their home communities in the North.