Tracey Penelope ''Tekahentakwa'' Deer (born February 28, 1978,

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...

) is a screenwriter,

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and newspaper publisher based in

Kahnawake The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (french: Territoire Mohawk de Kahnawake, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, C ...

, Quebec. Deer has written and directed several award-winning documentaries for

Rezolution Pictures Rezolution Pictures is a film and television production company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, focusing primarily on Canadian Aboriginal productions. The company was founded in 2001 by the husband and wife team of Ernest Webb and Catherine ...

, an Aboriginal-run film and television production company. In 2008 she was the first Mohawk woman to win a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

, for her documentary ''

Club Native ''Club Native'' is a 2008 documentary film by Tracey Deer, exploring Mohawk identity, community and tribal blood quantum laws. The film looks at how women in Deer's home community of Kahnawake risk losing their right to live on the reserve, after ...

''. Her TV series ''Mohawk Girls'' had five seasons from 2014 to 2017. She also founded her own production company for independent short work. In March 2021 Deer's dramatic film ''

Beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

'' was featured at the

New York International Children's Film Festival New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) Established in 1997, NYICFF’s mission is rooted in the belief of film as a path for young people to understand themselves and others. All programs are designed to celebrate the beauty and po ...

. Set during the

Oka crisis The Oka Crisis (french: links=no, Crise d'Oka), also known as the Kanehsatà:ke Resistance (), was a land rights, land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted 78 day ...

of 1990, which Deer lived through as an adolescent, it stars Kiawenti:io Tarbell (Mohawk), a young actress from

Akwesasne The Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne ( ; french: Nation Mohawk à Akwesasne; moh, Ahkwesáhsne) is a Mohawk Nation (''Kanienʼkehá:ka'') territory that straddles the intersection of international (United States and Canada) borders and provincial (Ont ...

Early life and education

Tracey Deer was born in 1978 and grew up in a large, close-knit Mohawk family in

, a

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

that is south of the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

, across from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. She attended local schools: Karonhianhnonha School Elementary and Queen of Angels Academy. Deer moved to the United States for college, attending

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in New Hampshire. She graduated with a degree in film studies.

Film career

Documentaries

*''

Mohawk Girls ''Mohawk Girls'' is a 2005 documentary film by Tracey Deer about the experiences of adolescent girls growing up on the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake, across the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal, Quebec. Deer, who was born and raised in Kahnawake, f ...

'' (2005) Deer's first Rezolution/NFB co-production explored the lives of three teenage girls from her reserve. They faced the same decision as she had at their age: to move away and risk losing their rights as Mohawks, or stay and give up the possibilities offered by the outside world. ''Mohawk Girls'' received the

Alanis Obomsawin Alanis Obomsawin, (born August 31, 1932) is an Abenaki American Canadian filmmaker, singer, artist, and activist primarily known for her documentary films. Born in New Hampshire, United States and raised primarily in Quebec, Canada, she has writ ...

Best Documentary Award at the 2005

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world's largest Indigenous film and media arts festival, held annually in Toronto in the month of October. The festival focuses on the film, video, radio, and new media work of Indigenous, Abori ...

. *''One More River: The Deal that Split the

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

'' (2005) Deer co-directed '' One More River: The Deal that Split the Cree''. This won the Best Documentary Award at '' Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois'' and was nominated for Best Social/Political Documentary at the Gemini Awards. *''Kanien'kehá:ka/Living the Language'' (2008), about the Kanien'kehá:ka

language immersion Language immersion, or simply immersion, is a technique used in bilingual language education in which two languages are used for instruction in a variety of topics, including math, science, or social studies. The languages used for instruction ...

program at

, a

Mohawk Nation The Mohawk people ( moh, Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) are the most easterly section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people of North America, with communities in southeastern Canada and northern Ne ...

reserve that covers parts of Canada and the US across the St. Lawrence River. *''Club Native'' (2008) Deer became the first Mohawk woman to win a

, for ''

'', a documentary on Mohawk identity, community, and tribal

blood quantum laws Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to establi ...

. The film received the

Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize the achievements of the over 4,000 Canadian film industry and television industry professionals, most notably through the Canadian Scre ...

Canada Award The Diversity Award is presented by Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to honour excellence in English-language television programming that "reflects the racial and cultural diversity of Canada." It was introduced in 1988 as the Multicultural ...

for best Canadian multi-cultural program, while Deer received another Gemini for best writing. ''Club Native'' also received the award for Best Documentary at the

Dreamspeakers Festival The Dreamspeakers International Film Festival is an annual film festival in Edmonton, Alberta, which programs a lineup of films related to First Nations, Métis, Inuit and other international indigenous peoples.Doug Johnson, "Festival to connect wit ...

in Edmonton, the award for Best Canadian Film at the

First Peoples' Festival Terres en Vues/Land InSights is a Montreal-based association that promotes Indigenous cultures and encourages intercultural communication by drawing attention to First Peoples' artistic and cultural creations in various media, such as: films and ...

, and the Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Documentary at the

DOXA Documentary Film Festival The DOXA Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is held annually held for 10 days in May, and is presented by The Documentary Media Society, a non-profit organization. The festiva ...

. The film was co-produced by Rezolution Pictures and the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

Other film work

In 2009, Deer collaborated with Montreal writer Cynthia Knight on ''Crossing the Line'', a live-action 3D short for

Digital Nations The Digital Nations or DN (previously the Digital 5, Digital 7 and Digital 9) is a collaborative network of the world's leading digital governments with a common goal of harnessing digital technology to improve citizens' lives. Members share w ...

. This was an NFB and

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN, stylized aptn) is a Canadian specialty channel. Established in 1992 and maintained by governmental funding to broadcast in Canada's northern territories, APTN acquired a national broadcast lice ...

joint project, featuring Aboriginal talent at the

2010 Vancouver Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

. Deer and Knight also worked together in 2009 on the comedy

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

''Escape Hatch''. A spin-off of a short she had directed in 2007, it explores the lives of four young Mohawk women at Kahnawake making their way in the 21st century, including looking for relationships. In 2014 it was picked up as ''Mohawk Girls'' (the same as her documentary) and ran for five seasons. Deer formed her own production company, Mohawk Princess Productions. She wants to produce her own short fiction films. Her drama film ''

'' was featured at the New York International Children's Film Festival in March 2021. Set during the

of 1990, it features a young Mohawk girl nicknamed "Beans", played by Kiwaenti:io Tarbell of

TV work

In 2014 Deer wrote and produced the first season of ''Mohawk Girls'', adapted from her documentary of the same name. Broadcast on CBC, the show follows the daily lives and struggles of four young women who live in Kahnawake. The fifth and final season was to be completed in 2017. In 2019, Deer joined the writing room for the third season of the television series ''

Anne with an E ''Anne with an E'' (initially titled ''Anne'' for its first season within Canada) is a Canadian television series loosely Literary adaptation, adapted from Lucy Maud Montgomery's 1908 classic work of children's literature, ''Anne of Green Gables' ...

'', loosely based on the classic book ''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...

''. In that season the writers added an indigenous storyline and new characters. Ka'kwet, a young

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northe ...

girl, is played by Mohawk actress Kiawenti:io Tarbell. She befriends Anne, and her family members are also part of the season.

Personal life

Deer is married to a non-First Nations person. In April 2017, ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' reported that there were rumours that authorities on the First Nations Reserve where Deer lives, and where her hit show is set, had sent her an eviction notice. The Kanahwake membership rules do not allow non-Natives, even spouses, to live on the Reserve. Deer said the rumour was false. She was concerned that she might yet face eviction because of her political activism; she had long opposed the eviction of non-Native spouses from housing on the reserve.

References

External links

*
"Tracey Deer, Biography"
Rezolution Pictures website *
''Club Native''
Women Make Movies, Smithsonian Institution {{DEFAULTSORT:Deer, Tracey First Nations filmmakers Canadian Mohawk people Canadian Screen Award winners Dartmouth College alumni Canadian women film directors Canadian newspaper publishers (people) 1978 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people People from Greater Montreal Canadian women screenwriters First Nations screenwriters Canadian television writers Film directors from Quebec 21st-century First Nations writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women television writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian television directors Canadian women television directors First Nations women