Augusta - DVD
Catalogue Number: NFB525863
Producer: National Film Board Of Canada
Producers: John Taylor, Peter Jones
Directors: Anne Wheeler
Producing Agencies: National Film Board of Canada (Montreal)
Subject: Biography, Documentary, First Nations Studies, Indigenous Peoples, Seniors, Women's Studies
Language: English
Country Of Origin: Canada
Copyright Year: 1976
Running Time: 16:33
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This short documentary offers an intimate portrait of Augusta Evans, an 88-year-old Secwépmec woman who has spent her life in the hills of the Williams Lake area of British Columbia, where she lives alone in a log cabin without running water or electricity. Born the daughter of a Chief, Augusta was forced to attend residential school and lost her treaty status when she wed her non-Indigenous husband. After seeing a woman lose her life in childbirth, Augusta taught herself midwifery from a book and delivered many babies, including her own daughter, whom she birthed alone in her cabin. Having lived through many losses and now surviving on a $250 monthly pension that barely covers wood and groceries, Augusta is a cherished member of her community, where she shares her knowledge and songs, and laments that the young people are not learning their language.