''Club Native'' is a 2008

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

Tracey Deer Tracey Penelope ''Tekahentakwa'' Deer (born February 28, 1978, Mohawk nation, Mohawk) is a screenwriter, film director and newspaper publisher based in Kahnawake, Quebec. Deer has written and directed several award-winning documentaries for Rezol ...

, exploring

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 ...

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 establ ...

. The film looks at how women in Deer's home community of

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 Queb ...

risk losing their right to live on the reserve, after marrying non-natives. The film received the

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 Multicultura ...

from 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 cinema of Canada, film industry and television in Canada, television industry professionals ...

for best Canadian multi-cultural program and a Gemini Award for best documentary 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 wi ...

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 film was co-produced by

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 ...

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 ...

References

2008 films National Film Board of Canada documentaries Documentary films about First Nations Documentary films about Indigenous rights in Canada Canada Award-winning shows Mohawk-language films Documentary films about women Films directed by Tracey Deer Rezolution Pictures films Women in Quebec 2000s Canadian films {{2000s-Canada-documentary-film-stub