Film screenings at the Center for Contemporary Arts aren鈥檛 of the blockbuster variety 鈥 and that鈥檚 a good thing. 疯客直播 Fe is fortunate to have a theater for the quiet, independent movies that leave the audience thinking long after the theater lights have been turned up.
One such film 鈥 the documentary Sugarcane 鈥 is showing at CCA through Thursday. It has already been held over, a tribute to the good taste of 疯客直播 Fe audiences. Soon, the documentary will be available on streaming services for anyone who misses it in the theater.
It鈥檚 a must-see, despite being a difficult film to watch, focusing on the legacy of abuse of children at residential schools that served Canada鈥檚 First Nations. All such schools 鈥 whether in the United States or Canada 鈥 sought to 鈥渒ill the Indian in him and save the man,鈥 in the words of the infamous quote. But the abuse at St. Joseph鈥檚 Mission in British Columbia was on a level that reflects the worst of humanity, leaving the survivors damaged and seeking answers.
Yet despite the lingering legacy of decades of abuse over generations, the genius of this film is that it leaves viewers feeling hopeful.
Directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, the documentary is part detective story and part reckoning. For NoiseCat, the accounting is personal because the focus of the film is St. Joseph鈥檚 Mission, the school members of his family attended near Williams Lake, British Columbia. There is the broader story of the tribe seeking to find out what happened to children there, the tale of a tribal elder seeking answers about his own abuse and the revelations between NoiseCat and his father, Ed Archie NoiseCat, as they reckon with their family鈥檚 heritage.
The documentary resonates here 鈥 it was shown during 疯客直播 Fe Indian Market this summer 鈥 because 疯客直播 Fe is a center for Native creativity and experience. Pueblo, Navajo and Apache tribal members have relatives who attended boarding schools in the United States. Under the leadership of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the U.S. is trying to account for what happened to Native children at those schools, whether run by the government or religious organizations such as the Catholic Church.
That process is further along in Canada, with the discovery of unmarked graves at an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church prompting a national outcry. Kassie, a filmmaker, saw those stories and decided to investigate human rights abuses 鈥 not abroad, as she had done throughout her career, but in her home country of Canada.
She asked NoiseCat, a former colleague and friend, to help her. He didn鈥檛 agree at first 鈥 the topic is painful 鈥 but by the time he said yes, Kassie had found a tribal nation, the Williams Lake First Nation, that agreed to let her document its quest for answers about unmarked graves found at the school where its children were sent. Incredibly, the school at the heart of the abuse was where NoiseCat鈥檚 father, Ed, was born.
To many in 疯客直播 Fe, the NoiseCat name is familiar. A sculptor, Ed Archie NoiseCat, grew up on a reserve in Canim Lake, British Columbia, and lived here for a number of years, showing in galleries and participating in 疯客直播 Fe Indian Market. His journey in the documentary to understand the circumstances of his birth is gut wrenching.
The story has no end 鈥 people affected by the abuse at residential schools must deal with intergenerational trauma. Countries who took Native children and attempted to forcibly assimilate them into the majority culture have amends to make. In the U.S., Haaland directed a three-year investigation, concluding nearly 1,000 Native children died at residential boarding schools.
She is calling for the government to apologize and to direct $23.3 billion in investments into tribal nations 鈥 a figure, the report says, 鈥渢hat is, at a minimum, commensurate with the investments made in the Federal Indian boarding school system between 1871 and 1969.鈥 The report also calls for a national memorial to acknowledge the harm to tribes and people, and to serve as a lasting reminder for all Americans.
Watching Sugarcane, it becomes clear why this past must be acknowledged. As former tribal Chief Rick Gilbert says in a key scene: 鈥淏eing sorry is the first step; you have to take action.鈥
The聽疯客直播 Fe New Mexican observes its 175th anniversary with a series highlighting some of the major stories and figures that have appeared in the paper's pages through its history. The collection also includes archival photo galleries.
