Festival
Ne:Kahwistará:ken Kanónhsa’kówa
A Multimedia Panoramic Installation by 2RO MEDIA, in collaboration with members of the Six Nations Community. The installation consists of a 34 foot panorama screen, where multiple video projectors are used to create an immersive environment, with 14 channel surround audio. This artwork is a fictional re-telling of the Haudenosaunee Creation Story, with a cyclical narrative that weaves through the past, present, and future.
Open to the public from October 19-22 (1-5pm) at Thru the Red Door. *limited space available.
Director
Jackson 2bears
Producer
January Rogers
Tékeniyáhsen Ohkwá:ri (Jackson 2bears) is a Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) multimedia installation/ performance artist and cultural theorist from Six Nations and Tyendinaga, who is currently based in Treaty 7, Blackfoot Territory, where he is currently Associate Professor of Art Studio and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Arts Research & Technology at the University of Lethbridge.
January Rogers is a Mohawk/Tuscarora writer from Six Nations of the Grand River, where she owns and operates Ojistoh Publishing and Productions. She works in page poetry, spoken word, performance poetry, video poetry and recorded poetry with music. She is a radio broadcaster, media producer and sound artist.
Tom Wilson | Tehoh’ahake
Tom Wilson is a Canadian music legend, famed storyteller and visual artist. Wilson’s memoir, Beautiful Scars published by Penguin/Random House has become a national bestseller. The memoir has been adapted into a TVO Original documentary (directed by Shane Belcourt) exposing incredible truths about Wilson’s biological family and Indigenous heritage, the documentary delves into the singer-songwriter’s lifetime quest to find him self and ultimately uncover his true identity as a Mohawk man. Tom Wilson's extensive career and tireless efforts as a musician has bestowed upon him numerous nominations and awards from the Hamilton Music Awards to the Polaris Prize to the Juno Awards, including certified gold and platinum records. His song writing has seen his works recorded by and with artists such as; Sarah McLachlan, City and Colour, Jason Isbell, Colin James, Lucinda Williams, Billy Ray Cyrus, Mavis Staples, The Rankin Family, as well as his own bands Lee Harvey Osmond, Junkhouse, and Canadian treasure, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. Lee Harvey Osmond was awarded a 2020 Juno Award for the album “Mohawk”. After the success of his show at the Art Gallery of Burlington Beautiful Scars: Mohawk Warriors, Hunters and Chiefs, Tom’s paintings are now on display in various galleries across Canada. In 2020, Tom established the Bunny Wilson Indigenous Scholarship fund at McMaster University, supporting year one indigenous students from Ontario secondary schools completing an undergraduate program in any faculty. Wilson was appointed as a Companion of the Order of Canada in June 2023, with this citation: For his multifaceted contributions to the arts in Canada, notably as an iconic musician, as well as for his advocacy of Indigenous communities in Canada.
Beautiful Scars
Growing up in a blue-collar Hamilton neighbourhood filled with factory workers and nuclear families, Tom Wilson knew he was different. His dad George was a blind war veteran—stoic and reserved—and his mother, Bunny, a very private and protective housewife. Tom learned to express himself through music, successfully getting a record deal and achieving fame and its trappings with his 90s band Junkhouse and later Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. Through all his achievements, his parents kept a secret from their son, one he would not uncover until they both died. After years of hard living, revelations about his family led him on a path to connect with his true identity. Based on his memoir, Beautiful Scars shares Tom’s remarkable gifts as an artist and storyteller as he learns about his Mohawk heritage and embarks on a healing journey that reflects on his past and present self.
Shane Belcourt is a Métis award-winning filmmaker, writer, musician, and media-maker whose work often explores the Aboriginal experience. He grew up in Ottawa the son of a prominent Aboriginal rights leader (Tony Belcourt) in a home of artistic siblings (Christi and Suzanne Belcourt). He moved to Toronto to pursue a career in film and has since worked as a producer, writer, director, story editor, cinematographer, and picture editor on countless productions, in both narrative and documentary fields. Shane is also a sought-after instructor, workshop facilitator and mentor, who finds joy in helping artists tell their stories through film and other storytelling platforms.
Director/ Screenwriter
Shane Belcourt
Producers
Shane Belcourt
Key Cast
Tom Wilson
Ohskennón:ten Owí:ra (Little Deer)
On Christmas Eve, 1967, two young Indigenous girls are forced to battle the elements, confront their darkest secrets and work together in order to return home to their families after a daring escape from the Mohawk Institute Residential School. This harrowing coming-of-age story was developed with survivors of the Mohawk Institute and is based on their real experiences.
This film is a story about the resilience of Indigenous youth, the power of friendship, and the intergenerational impacts of the residential school system on Indigenous people and communities.
With Filmmakers in Attendance!
JONATHAN ELLIOTT is a Mohawk filmmaker from the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. Since attending York University’s Film Production program, he has worked as a director and cinematographer on a variety of projects, including: Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On (feature documentary), Beautiful Scars (feature documentary), Standing Proud – TD Bank (commercial), Play New – Lesley Hampton (Nike commercial), Ghost Hunters of the Grand River (APTN series), Wild Archaeology (APTN series), Friday Night Thunder (APTN series), Amplify (APTN series), Tsi Teyoto:te – Even in the Silence, Along the Water’s Edge, Acknowledgment, and Her Water Drum.
Jonathan’s award-winning body of work focuses on telling contemporary Indigenous stories that explore individuals’ complex relationships to their cultural identity, families and communities.
His projects have been nationally broadcast on TV and screened at various international film festivals in New Zealand, Italy, London, the United States, Canada, etc. Some of these festivals include: imagineNATIVE, Vancouver International Film Festival, LA Skins Festival, Red Nation International Film Festival, Maoriland Film Festival, Art With Impact, etc.
Jonathan is a member of the advisory board for Art With Impact, a LA-based company that focuses on creating and showcasing short films that promote positive representation of mental health issues in schools across North America. He was a participant in the 2021 ImagineNative Feature Screenwriting Intensive program, where he developed his feature script Little Thunder. Jonathan was the 2018 artist-in-residence for the imagineNATIVE/CSV development program. He was selected as one of the Emerging 20 artists at the 2018 Reel World Film Festival and has been the recipient of grants through Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, imagineNATIVE, Charles Street Video, Taking it Global, Art With Impact, William F. White’s and Astrolab Studios Inc. to produce his work.
Currently, Jonathan is in development on several projects, including his first feature film.
Director/ Screenwriter
Jonathan Elliott
Producers
Jessie Anthony, Jonathan Elliott
Key Cast
Cherish Violet Blood, Isla Grant, Kiera Van Der Ploeg, Kevin Allan Hess, Paul d’Entremont
Kanatenhs – When The Pine Needles Fall
The ancestral territory is a place of memory. The women who took part in the Mohawk resistance in 1990 are once again speaking out to reaffirm their attachment to the pine forest and the cemetery there. And their voices have lost none of their relevance 33 years later. Artist and Mohawk activist from Kanehsatà:ke, Ellen Gabriel recalls the central role, too often overlooked, of women in the struggle to preserve the territory.
With Filmmaker in Attendance!
Ellen Gabriel (born 1959),also known as Katsi'tsakwas, is a Mohawk activist and artist from Kanehsatà:ke Nation – Turtle Clan, known for her involvement as the official spokesperson, chosen by the People of the Longhouse, during the Oka Crisis.
On March 1990, she joined in the movement against the expansion of a golf course in Oka, Quebec. That event eventually escalated into the Oka Crisis. In order to raise awareness of the crisis, she traveled internationally, including visits to The Hague, Strasbourg and Japan. During this time, in May 1990, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University. In 1993, the documentary Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance was released; she was a prominent part of the film. The next decade after the crisis had been settled, she worked as an Art Teacher for the Mohawk Immersion School at Kahnawà:ke.
In 2004, she was elected president of the Quebec Native Women's Association. She held the position until December 2010. During this time she brought changes to the Indian Act in the form of Bill C-31. On 19 May 2009, she gave a speech to the eighth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Between 11 and 15 July 2011, she gave a speech to the fourth session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
In the Summer of 2012, she ran for National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. She passed to the second round of votes and was eliminated in the second round due to misinformation on the floor which rumored she had withdrawn and given her votes to Shawn Atleo. On 7 May 2013, in regards to Bill S-2, she gave a speech to the 41st Parliament, 1st Session at the Standing Committee on the Status of Women.
Director
Katsi'tsakwas Ellen Gabriel
Cinematographer
Katsi'tsakwas Ellen Gabriel
Producer
Katsi'tsakwas Ellen Gabriel
Editor
Katsi'tsakwas Ellen Gabriel
Six Nations Women Singers
As women raised in the tradition and culture of the Iroquois people, the Six Nations Women Singers continue to practice and share their beliefs, pride, knowledge and gifts through their traditional Iroquois songs. Their home is the Six Nations of the Grand River community located in Ohsweken, Ontario. The women in the core touring group currently represent the Onondaga, Cayuga, Mohawk and Seneca Nations, and includes three members that have been singing together for over fifty years. The Six Nations Women Singers find their roots in the Singing Societies which are prevalent throughout the Haudenosaunee communities of Canada and the United States. A Singing Society is a benevolent association that assists its people within the communities by providing them with monetary donations, food or simply helping them with chores and any other assistance that may be needed. Through their performances, the Six Nations Women Singers not only raise cultural awareness, but utilize their fees to contribute to their community fund, which is administered through their Singing Society.
MUSIC VIDEOS Program
2RO MEDIA Festival 23 hosts an afternoon of Six Nations Music Videos
Saturday October 21st 3-5pm
Chiefswood Park 1037 Brant County Hwy 54 Ohsweken
Featuring Live Painting by CJ Smith and Digital Music set by DJ Wes Day, and music videos by: The Johnnys, Logan Staats, Lacey Hill, Josh Miller, Derek Miller, and DJ Shub
LOCATIONS
Thru the Red Door Media Centre:1579 4th Line Ohsweken, Ontario
Chiefswood Park, Upper Pavilion Indoor and Outdoor spaces 1037 Brant County Hwy 54, Ohsweken, ON