The Last Mooseskin Boat

198228 min 4 secFilm: Documentary

Direction: Raymond Yakeleya

Production: Raymond YakeleyaBill StewartJerry KrepakevichCheeko DesjarlaisTom Radford

Script: Klane King

Co-produced by the NFB and the Native Communications Society of the Western Northwest Territories.

This documentary records the passing of a tradition of the Shotah Dene of the Northwest Territories. For many generations, the Shotah Dene built mooseskin boats each spring, from dried hides and sinew, to carry their families and cargo down the mountain rivers to trading settlements such as Fort Norman. Gabe Etchinelle returns to the mountains of his youth to build one last mooseskin boat, now preserved in a museum in Yellowknife, a tribute to an earlier way of life.

Subject categories


  • Indigenous Peoples in Canada (First Nations and Métis) > Arctic RegionBoating and CanoeingCrafts
  • Crafts > BoatbuildingFirst Nations Crafts
  • Transportation > Boats
  • Social Studies > Communities in Canada/World
  • Diversity > Identity
  • Indigenous Studies > Identity/Society
  • History and Citizenship Education > Issues in Society Today
  • Indigenous Peoples: Canada > Dené
  • Education > Indigenous Education – Canada
  • Community > Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Intellectual Property
  • Nature & Ecological Knowledge > Logging & Forest Products Traditional Forest Use
  • Tangible & Material Culture > Vehicles & Transportation canoes, travois, etc.

Credits


director
Raymond Yakeleya
producer
Raymond Yakeleya
Bill Stewart
Jerry Krepakevich
executive producer
Cheeko Desjarlais
Tom Radford
script
Klane King
camera
Bill Stewart
sound
Nora Jim
editing
Joe Jr. Viszmeg
Bill Stewart
narrator
Don Rollans

Awards


  • Honorable MentionAnnual Alberta Film and Television Awards