It is #IndigenousHistoryMonth and this is the story of Alanis Obomsawin, one of Canada's top filmmakers!
Alanis Obomsawin was born on Aug. 31, 1932 in New Hampshire. When she was 6 months old, her family moved to the Odanak Reserve near Sorel, Quebec.
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The family moved to Trois-Rivieres when she was nine. As the only Indigenous family there, she held onto the stories and songs she learned from elders on the reserve near Sorel.
By the time she was in her 20s, she spoke Wôbanakiak, English & French.
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Starting as a folk singer-songwriter, she began to work with the National Film Board of Canada in the 1960s.
In 1971, she made her first NFB documentary, Christmas at Moose Factory.
Over the next 50 years, she would make over 50 celebrated films with the NFB.
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Her most celebrated film is Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, released in 1993, documenting the Oka Crisis of 1990.
Her work primarily focuses on the Indigenous experience in Canada. Her most recent film is Bill Reid Remembers, released in 2022.
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Obomsawin has won numerous awards including the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, the Order of Canada, the Glenn Gould Prize and the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. She has also received numerous honorary degrees.
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Tommy Prince was one of the most decorated soldiers in Canadian history through two different wars.
But after his war service finished, he was forgotten by the country he had served.
This is the story of Tommy Prince.
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Tommy Prince's ancestors had served in support of the Crown during the 1870 Red River Resistance, and his father Chief William Prince was a member of the Nile Expedition in 1885. Family members also served in the First World War.
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Tommy Prince was born on Oct. 25, 1915. Growing up, Prince was an excellent marksmen. He also developed tracking and stealth skills.
Prince's father taught him to shoot using a target the size of a playing card at 100 metres.
Chief Dan George led an amazing life.
A gifted poet. An activist for his people. A movie star.
Remembered as the first Indigenous person to receive an Academy Award nomination, he was so much more than that.
This is his story.
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Dan George was born Geswanouth Slahoot on the Burrard Reserve on July 24, 1899.
He was a descendant of Chief Wautsauk, who met Capt. George Vancouver when he landed in the area in 1792.
From an early age, he went by the first name Daniel.
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After he was forced into Residential School at the age of five, his last name was changed to George.
At the age of 16, he left Residential School and began working various jobs. These jobs included as a bus driver, longshoreman and construction worker.
On July 12, 1855, some drunk clowns got into a massive brawl with a bunch of firefighters at a Toronto brothel.
By the next day, several firefighters were beaten and the circus was burned to the ground.
This is the story of Toronto's Firemen And Clown Brothel Riot.
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In 1855, Toronto was a bustling city in between its two terms as the capital of the Province of Canada.
On July 12 of that year, the Star Troupe Menagerie and Circus arrived in the city for a series of shows.
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After giving a sold-out performance that night, the clowns in the circus decided to celebrate. After drinking for awhile, the clowns made their way to a brothel located at King and Jarvis. This also happened to be a favourite place for local firefighters.
Coming Out was a groundbreaking documentary series that aired in Canada in 1972.
It was the first Canadian television program to target the LGBTQ community.
It became a landmark series that is mostly forgotten today.
This is its story.
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In 1972, only three years after homosexuality was decriminalized in Canada, Maclean-Hunter's cable community channel in Toronto launched Coming Out.
The series was targeted specifically to an LGBTQ audience, running for 13 episodes in total.
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Focused on the gay community of Toronto, it premiered on Sept. 11, 1972.
It was hosted by Paul Pearce and Sandra Dick of the Community Homophile Association of Toronto.
The show provided a positive portrayal of the LGBTQ community that was rare at the time.
Canada has over 8,500 named rivers that have helped shape our landscape, culture and history.
Some rivers are short, some are very long, but where do they begin?
Every great river starts as a trickle of water.
These are the sources of some of our major rivers.
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The Mackenzie River is the longest river in Canada at 4,241 kilometres long. Its drainage basin is 1.7 million square kilometres, second in North America to only the Mississippi.
That all begins at Great Slave Lake, the source of the Mackenzie River.
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The Yukon River is the second longest river in Canada, running for 3,185 kilometres.
It stretches from British Columbia, through Yukon, and into Alaska.
The source is generally believed to be the Llewellyn Glacier at Atlin Lake in BC (or maybe Lake Lindeman).
For a time in the 1930s, five sisters were the biggest tourist attraction in Ontario, surpassing even Niagara Falls.
But behind the scenes, they were exploited by everyone around them, including the Ontario Government.
This is the story of the Dionne Quintuplets.
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On May 28, 1934, five girls (Yvonne, Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie) were born to Oliva-Édouard and Elzire outside Corbeil, Ontario.
Born premature, they were the first known quintuplets to survive infancy.
They were delivered by local doctor Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe.
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Their total weight at birth was 13 pounds six ounces (6.1 kg). The babies were kept in a wicker basket borrowed from neighbours, covered with heated blankets. They were each massaged with olive oil and given water sweetened with corn syrup.