Nimmikaage (She Dances for People)

Both a requiem for and an honouring of Canada’s First Nations, Métis and Inuit women, Michelle Latimer’s Nimmikaage (She Dances for People) deconstructs the layers beneath the recorded pageantry of Canadian nationalism.

Images of the natural world alternate with archival footage of Indigenous women asked to perform in traditional roles for an audience. The women are observed from a distance, objectified to serve the agenda of those behind the camera. But Nimmikaage reverses the colonial lens. Wide shots of the white Canadian audiences for whom these images were captured are intercut with hauntingly intimate individual close-ups of Indigenous women and girls. It is eventually the First Nations, Métis and Inuit women who emerge as grounded in the real world and the European Canadian audience members who appear curious and exotic.

Set to Tanya Tagaq’s emotionally resonant “Flight,” Nimmikaage shifts the balance of power to reclaim the Canadian narrative, putting the enduring strength and resilience of Indigenous women at the forefront.

Nimmikaage is part of Souvenir, a four-film series addressing Indigenous identity and representation by reworking material in the NFB’s archives.