A documentary that follows an investigation into abuse and missing children at a residential school near the Sugar Cane reserve in Williams Lake has been nominated for an Oscar.
Sugarcane, from Secwepemc filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat and Toronto journalist Emily Kassie, is up for the best documentary feature award.
The documentary is a haunting account of deaths, abuse, suicides and missing children at the former St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School.
William Lake Chief Willie Sellers says he was emotional when hearing of the nomination. “Proud moment in Indian country today with the Oscar nomination that we were able to listen on this morning. It’s a story that is just so much bigger than all of us, and now we’re on this international stage, and we get to be a part of telling it, and being a part of that education journey around reconciliation. Is is it an emotional morning, to say the least.”
“I personally cried tears of joy, and we think about the individuals that were in the film Julian Brave NoiseCat, Ed NoiseCat, Charlene Beaulieu, Whitney Spearing and of course, the late Rick Gilbert. We’re very proud, and I’m feeling really good today about a lot of different things. We welcome these conversations with open arms.”
“The story isn’t just about the city of Williams Lake in the Cariboo Regional District,” said Sellers. “The story is about indigenous peoples across this country. Everybody that has watched the film, all the stories that are being told in the film are stories in every single one of the indigenous communities in this country, and arguably into the United States or the Indian boarding school movement that happened historically as well. It’s the most disturbing part of it.”
“We always talk about healing. We talk about telling the truth. We we talk about how we’re going to get there and empower those survivors, those suffering from the trauma, those suffering from the intergenerational trauma. Story is going to be an important part of this journey that we are on as a country.”
“As we hold up this reconciliation discussion, we would like to think it’s not a buzz word in this country, but what we need to understand is non-Indigenous Canadians in this country, is that we need to learn about the indigenous territories that we occupy. The history of those indigenous peoples. We have to look at how we hold each other up in this journey of healing, this journey of reconciliation.”
The 97th Academy Awards will take place March 2nd in Los Angeles. Sellers says he is looking to see if he can fit the trip into his schedule, but notes it is a very busy time.
