NFB Collection
First Journey, Fort William
198723 min 52 secFilm: Fiction
Direction: Joan Henson
Production: William BrindBarrie Howells
Script: Thomas LackeyGloria Demers
Set in 1815, this is the dramatic story of a child of the fur trade, son of a Native mother and a Scottish-Canadian fur trader. John Mackenzie's father is a wintering partner of the Montréal-based North West Company, which was for decades the wealthiest merchant enterprise in North America. To mark his entry into adulthood, twelve-year-old John is travelling for the first time to Fort William, the Company's lavish winter headquarters by Lake Superior. In following his journey, the film reveals the complex network of people--Scottish, French and Native Canadian--that made up fur-trading society and gave a unique flavor to the opening up of Canada's northwest. Meticulously recreated from historical records and shot on location at the restored Fort William, this is the second film in a series of Canadian historical re-enactments.
Availability
Other versions
Subject categories
- Children and Youth > Cultural GroupsIndigenous Youth
- Industry and Commerce > Fur IndustriesOntario
- History - Canada - Pre-1867 > Fur TradesOntarioRelations between Indigenous Peoples and Europeans
- Indigenous Peoples in Canada (First Nations and Métis) > Fur Trades, Hunting and TrappingHistoryLiving in non-Indigenous CommunitiesQuébec and Ontario
- Cultural Diversity and Multiculturalism > Historical PerspectivesIndigenous intercultural relationsIntercultural RelationsOntario
Credits
- director
- Joan Henson
- producer
- William Brind
- executive producer
- Barrie Howells
- commentary
- Thomas Lackey
- Gloria Demers
- cinematography
- David De Volpi
- sound
- Yves Gendron
- Donald Cohen
- editing
- Judith Merritt
- sound editing
- Jackie Newell
- re-recording
- Hans Peter Strobl
- Adrian Croll
- narrator
- Walter Massey
- music
- Chris Crilly
- cast
- James Hughes
- Bobby Kitchkeesic
- Cheryl Kylander
- Denis Malette
- Daniel McGoey