Reflection 2 – Documentary Vaani Thavalingam

Tasha Hubard’s documentary “nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up” follows the

Boushie family, navigating the unjust-Canadian- “justice” system ensuing closure for the

murder of Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Indigenous man from the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in

Saskatchewan. Colten, drove onto white farmer, Gerald Stanley's, property which led to the

farmer to fatally shoot Colten. Audiences follow the Boushie family’s persistent pressure on both

national and international government bodies’ following the acquittal of Colten Boushie’s

murderer, Gerald Stanley. Yet, the most horrid aspect of this documentary was the public. The

way the public treated the Boushie family and the lack of productive public-discourse.

Personally, I was incredibly disappointed at myself at the fact that I had no recollection of

Colten’s story prior to viewing; especially considering the documentary was published only two

years ago. Of course, I was aware of the maltreatment of Indigenous people at the hands of

government bodies, yet I realized that I could never recall a specific name, person or even a story

of an Indigenous person wrongfully ensued by the legal system. I was just aware of it being a

common occurrence. But that’s the problem. The lack of personal stories in mainstream media

has desensitized the public, including myself, of unfair treatment inflicted upon Indigenous

people. To the point it’s expected. It’s normal. It’s nothing. It was an incredibly disgusting and

depressing thought. But that’s the exact reason filmmakers like Tasha Hubard and

documentaries like “nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up” are so incredibly necessary. It’s the

only way compelling stories, like Colton’s, can reach the public because the mainstream media

seems to prompt more harm than good; as seen by the narrow-minded racist comments on vague

article headlines. This documentary, including the genuine hardships, pitfalls, constraints of

Indigenous activism, provided a perspective unavailable to the public thus creating more

appreciation for the community’s resilience and awareness of the issue.

 Settler colonialism is depicted in both a historical and contemporary manner, as Hubard

parallels the genesis of settler-native relations through whimsical illustrations alongside, an

active case of a racially motivated murder entrenched with modern-day media coverage, and its

various dispositions. By adopting both a colonial and post-colonial lens, Hubard urges the

audience to question the stagnancy of mistreatment upon the Indigenous community and why it

persists into the present. This question is provided with some clarity near the end of the

documentary as the Boushie family meet with various political powers. The Prime Minister of

Canada and, Conservative, NDP, and Liberal MPs as well as Liberal and Independent Senators;

as all leaders discussed the goal of reaching “reconciliation” but did not provide any concrete

steps, plans nor ideas on how to reach said goal. These meetings acquainted audiences to the

somber truth of Canadian politics and Indigenous rights; if you want to get stuff done, you’re

going to have to do it yourself. Political figures are no strangers to empty promises, but for some

odd reason, it seems to be disproportionately more used apparent when discussing issues

affecting Indigenous people. The notion that Indigenous people are the only ones who fight for

their rights must be dismissed and hopefully, will with more publicly accessible Indigenous-

made medias like Hubard’s documentary. With more Indigenous stories slowly reaching

mainstream audiences, it is my hope, that the deliberately ignorant will become socially

apprehensive as they’ll find the importance in signing petitions, sharing stories on social media,

and participating in Indigenous activism. Therefore, Hubard illustrates settler colonialism in a

manner that displays its long-standing ripples in such a grandiose way and, that it still effects

how current political powers view Indigenous issues; which is not so grandiose.

Hubard’s “nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up” enlightened me on how resilient

historical Indigenous leaders. The film slips in historical context, where needed, flabbergasting
viewers like myself on the colonial violence and deception of the Crown during the late 1800s to

early 1900s. I, for one, was never aware of the gritty details of Treaty 6 nor the admirable

leadership demonstrated by Cree chiefs during the North-West Rebellion and the Frog Lake

Massacre. Hubard discusses amid the starvation of the Cree and Nakoda people, chief,

Wandering Spirit and 7 other brave warriors fought for their people to be fed. The story is both

saddening and enriching due to its somber ending and allowing me to truly understand the

incredible strength of Indigenous. As a Canadian student, who had the unfortunate pleasure of

reading several outdated history textbooks, I’ve come to a certain understanding that Indigenous

people are portrayed in two ways in history; lazy gambits and unhinged savages. North

American and European historical texts are inherently Eurocentric as the reference sources are

often white-supremacist-explorers’ journals. It’s like the old saying, “winners get to write

history.” Therefore, the information is heavily biased and minimizes the horrors of settler

colonialism from and post-colonial struggles. Thus, any sound person would understand the

portrayals of Indigenous people in textbooks are a cumulation of ever racist in history. That’s

why it was so striking to hear about a determined and heroic group of Indigenous warriors

resisting the Indian agents’ denial for rations and then, continued to fight against the European

traders’ deceit and transgressions. Although, the story does end with the unfair hanging of the

warriors, it provides insight to how during such an ill-fated era of oppression and despotism,

Indigenous people were still able to able show such great fortitude and tenacity; despite all the

odds being stacked up against them.