Ever Good Hunter Me (55 Minute Version)
Catalogue Number: MUME00
Producer: Mushkeg Media Inc.
Producing Agencies: Achimist Film Inc.
Subject: Canadian Social Studies, Character Education, Indigenous Peoples, Nature
Language: English
Grade Level: 9 - 12, Post Secondary, Adult
Country Of Origin: Canada
Copyright Year: 2011
Running Time: 55:00
Ever Good Hunter Me is a documentary about five Aboriginal youths on a traditional Cree spring goose hunt along the shores of James Bay in Northern Ontario, Canada. The film follows the filmmaker’s four nephews and niece over the course of a week as they learn the importance of the hunt, overcome the many challenges that come with it, and in the process begin to take their place as young adults in the family. The documentary focuses on these young hunters during the day-to-day activities of the hunt - from early morning departures, gun safety instruction, the setting up of blinds and decoys, plucking, hunting and hanging around the camp to kill time between the hunts.
The documentary also highlights the filmmaker’s own father, their grandfather, who acts as a commentator. His perspective is intercut with the young hunters as they take part in the hunt on their own, in a group, or with their father and uncles. The film captures the beauty of the landscape and the importance of traditions but mainly it’s a story about Aboriginal youth being youth caught on film in a naturalistic approach with a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking.
English and Cree narration / English subtitles