Screening of Haudenosaunee Canoe Journey and Q&A with Roxann Whitebean
Thursday, March 9, 2023
6:00-7:00pm
This event is provided at no charge
“It is not by accident that we have been called back to the water to protect, learn and pass on the knowledge of these trails.” – Hickory Edwards
A single Iroquois father brings his daughter on a canoe voyage, as he seeks to unlock the ancient trade routes of his ancestors in this historical journey across Haudenosaunee Confederacy waters.
Haudenosaunee Canoe Journey is an adventurous first-hand account of one Onondaga man, Hickory Edwards, who has devoted his life to the rediscovery of the path of his people. Relying on knowledge from elders and intuition to guide his team in the right direction, Hickory hopes to navigate the full waterways and travelling routes long forgotten by his people.
Hickory finds himself in a new position as his five-year-old daughter begins to take interest in her roots and culture. He hopes that by bringing her along, she will get some answers to her query.
The one-hour documentary consists mainly of live action on location footage of the voyage and on-camera interviews. The piece will feature the evolving relationship between Hickory and his daughter, Ellie, as he tries to teach her about her people, their ways and their culture.
The event is co-sponsored by Syracuse University.
Roxann (Karonhiarokwas) Whitebean is from the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawà:ke and a member of the Wolf Clan. She began her career on APTN’s television series, Mohawk Girls, as an assistant director.
She made her directorial debut in 2014 with financial assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts to produce Legend of the Storm. In 2016, she opened a production company called Whitebean Media Arts, which has been producing work for CBC’s digital platform; Thunder Blanket, Karihwanoron: Precious Things and Little Hard Knox, available to stream.
She won the best drama pitch prize at the 2015 ImagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts festival and was selected by the Whistler Film Festival as an Aboriginal Fellow. She is a National Screen Institute Alumni, where she produced Flat Rocks, that aired on APTN in 2018.
In 2017, she wrote and directed 10 episodes of Raven’s Quest, a 20-part children’s series for Apartment 11 Productions for TVO Kids. Her most recent work is The Paradigm, which had its world premiere at the L.A Skins Film Festival in Hollywood. She was a nominee for Hot Doc’s Lindalee Tracey emerging artist award and a recipient of the Reveal Indigenous Arts Awards as well as a profiled artist in the 2017 fall issue of Playback magazine entitled “Talent on the Rise.”
A recent achievement is that she was selected as a ‘Top 25” in the Diversity of Voices initiative hosted by the Banff World Media Festival.
