Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell
Directing
Biography
Mike Kanentakeron Mitchell (or simply Mike Mitchell) is a longtime Canadian Mohawk politician, pioneering First Nations film director and a leading figure in First Nations lacrosse. First elected to the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne in 1982, he began his first term as Grand Chief in 1984. He served on the Mohawk Council almost continuously for more than 30 years, having been reelected as Grand Chief as recently as 2012. Prior to entering politics, Mitchell studied and directed films with the National Film Board as part of its Indian Film Crew. Invited to be an active part of the Challenge for Change program, he got actively involved in the border crossing dispute. His films include the 1969 documentary film about the 1969 Akwesasne border crossing dispute, You Are on Indian Land, for which he belatedly received directorial credit almost 50 years after its completion.
Known For
This adaptation of the epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow tells the tale of a mighty Ojibwe leader as he falls in love and strives for peace.
Song of Hiawatha
This western began in 1812 when the settlers tried to take away more and more territories from the indians. Tecumseh, who is the leader of the Shawnee indians, tries to do something. He plans a big indian state, and tries to win the English settlers over to this plan...
Tecumseh: The Last Warrior
This short film was created by a group of Indigenous filmmakers at the NFB in 1972 and is essentially a song by Willie Dunn sung by Bob Charlie and illustrated by John Fadden: "Who were the ones who bid you welcome and took you by the hand, inviting you here by our campfires, as brothers we might stand?" The song expresses bitter memories of the past, of trust repaid by treachery, and of friendship debased by exploitation upon the arrival of European colonists.
Who Were the Ones?
This documentary short is the first film made by an all-Aboriginal film crew, training under the NFB's Challenge for Change Program. It was shot at Akwesasne (St. Regis Reserve). Two spokesmen explain historical and other aspects of Longhouse religion, culture, and government and reflect on the impact of the white man's arrival on the Indian way of life.
These Are My People...
The territory of Akwesasne straddles the Canada-U.S. border. When Canadian authorities prohibited the duty-free cross-border passage of personal purchases - a right established by the Jay Treaty of 1794 - Kanien'kéhaka protesters blocked the international bridge between Ontario and New York State.
You Are on Indian Land
Many lacrosse players and coaches often don’t know that the origins of the game of lacrosse has it’s roots in North American Indigenous nations.This short documentary provides a brief history of the sacred and cultural aspects of this sport, originally played for the Creator, as well as for the health and welfare of the people. The movie also defines the three types of North American, Indigenous lacrosse: Iroquois, Great Lakes, and Southeastern.