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Grandmother

Encounter between an Innu grandmother and her granddaughter who is expecting a baby. Nukum, the grandmother, decides to pass on traditional values about birth to her granddaughter. They compare the methods of different American aboriginal nations: Innu, Mohawk, Guajira, Quechua, etc.


  • Granddaughter
    3:40 min - Encounter between a grandmother and her granddaughter. “I remember when you were little and you came into the bush with ...
    Near a river, a grandmother massages her pregnant granddaughter’s feet
  • Importance of the Circle
    5:01 min - “In the past, when we lived in tents, everyone gathered in a circle. Always in a circle. Everyone is equal ...
    Around a fire, in Bolivia, traditional dance dedicated to Mother Earth
  • Creation Story
    2:42 min - Recounting of the tale about the woman who fell from the sky. This creation story comes from the Mohawks.
    "The women who Fell from the Sky": illustration of a Mohawk legend
  • Mohawks Girls' Initiation
    10:20 min - Akwesasne Mohawk initiation ceremony to mark the passage from girlhood to womanhood
    Initiation ritual: group of young women around the tree of life
  • Guajira Girls' Initiation Ceremony
    5:05 min - In certain nations, like the Guajiras in Venezuela, the passage from girlhood to womanhood is very important. The entire community ...
    A young Guajira woman receives teachings from a grandmother
  • Birth and Identity
    3:13 min - Ceremonies during pregnancy play an important role for Mohawks.
    Evelyne St-Onge and her granddaughter, Laura Pinette, take a walk in the bush
  • Delivery and Medication
    9:41 min - Each Nation has its own methods of delivery, and uses remedies from its immediate environment during birth.
    In the bush, Evelyne St-Onge explains the properties of a medicinal plant to Laura Pinette
  • Delivery, Role of the Father
    3:41 min - The man in Innu society was the provider, the hunter. He brought food home. Women stayed in the camp and ...
    Young couple listening attentively to a grandmother’s teachings
  • Hospital Delivery
    3:15 min - We all go to the hospital now. As soon as we have the slightest problem, we go see a doctor ...
    Close-up of Laura Pinette, mother-to-be
  • Methods of Delivery
    8:39 min - “I’ve delivered breech babies and babies that presented by the feet. And they all survived. I’ve seen babies ...
    Group of Guajira women and a few children in a Bolivian village
  • Midwife
    3:35 min - Interview with two midwives working in the Mohawk community, Jennifer Stonier and Katsi Cook.
    Woman sitting on the ground in a field near Kahnawake, Quebec
  • Preparations for Delivery
    6:11 min - Our Innu grandmothers never went to school. They possessed a great treasure, that of passing on values. They were always ...
    Young pregnant woman listening to a grandmother’s teachings
  • Unusual Delivery
    8:19 min - A story about the grandmother’s second delivery. It was a girl, whom they called Michèle.
    Mother-daughter interview about the mother’s delivery
  • Huron Newborn Ceremony
    4:47 min - When a child is born, friends and relatives gather and the new arrival is introduced to them.
    Birth ceremony in a wooded area of Wendake, near the city of Quebec
  • Social Context
    7:07 min - Michèle, the grandmother’s daughter, mentions the importance of passing on traditional values to her descendants, particularly values related to ...
    Mother-daughter interview about the daughter's delivery
  • Breakdown in the Transmission of Values
    1:36 min - Not going into the bush occasions a loss of the language and traditional way of life. However there is still ...
    Close-up of an infant swaddled in a traditional blanket
  • Conception, Delivery
    8:03 min - Laura, the grand-daughter, tells the story of her delivery.
    Close-up of a newborn infant
  • After the Birth
    3:46 min - Difficulties that arise after a birth.
    Grandmother, mother and aunt gathered around a newborn infant
  • Breastfeeding
    3:57 min - Breastfeeding can prevent pregnancy, but only under certain conditions: the baby must be fed breast milk only, 8 to 10 ...
    Young couple with baby: the mother is breastfeeding
  • Relationship between Life and Death
    6:08 min - Remark about birth, breastfeeding and dreams. The importance of dreams.
    Grandmother, mother and infant in an intimate moment
  • Portrait of the Grandmother
    3:37 min - Portrait of Evelyne, presentation to Laura of her grandmother.
    Photograph of the St-Onge family in the 1950’s
  • Evelyne in Montreal
    4:52 min - Shortly after the residential school period, Evelyne goes to study in Montreal.
    Photograph of Evelyne St-Onge in a nurse’s uniform
  • Return to Innu Culture
    9:37 min - Evelyne tells about the path she took to reclaim her culture.
    A woman comes out of the sweat lodge
  • Transmission of Knowledge
    3:43 min - Passing on traditional knowledge to young Innu and others is the goal Evelyne, our grandmother, has set for herself.
    By a fire, a woman dresses a partridge before cooking it


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