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Hands of History is the 1994 video directed by Loretta Todd for the National Film Board. In this gentle quest, the director focuses on the artistic achievements of four Native women artists: Joane Cardinal Schubert, Doreen Jensen, Jane Ash Poitras, and Rena Point Bolton. This look at First Nations art, views the works not as women's craft work but rather as arts that encompass all aspects of Native cultural life. While academics and art critics freeze Aboriginal art in a specific time period, Todd respects the dignity and creativity of each artist. Doreen Harris Jensen is a Northwest Coast artist who specializes in carving and painting. This Gitksan artist creates wooden masks, button blankets, bent boxes, jewelry, and prints. Rena Point Bolton is a Sto:lo basket weaver who worked to revive the cultural arts and who was also involved in politics. She learned her unique basket weaving skills from her mother. The coil-wrapped cedar root basketry was a skill that she has passed on to younger women. Her political activity involved creating cedar outfits for her family during times when the potlatch was banned. She does not consider herself an artist, she thinks of her skill as part of being obedient to the teachings of her Elders. Blood installation artist Joane Cardinal Schubert works with mixed media and the installations provoke the viewer to question and criticize colonialism as it relates to First Nations. Jane Ash Poitras was born in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta and her education in science and fine arts has led her to a career in art. The film shows her mounting her exhibition in a Southwest gallery. Each artist talks about her early influences, her identity, and creativity. Interspersed throughout the film are archival images in black and white that contrast with the expressive works of the present-day artists. This is an intriguing film about the artistic achievements of First Nations women. Recommended for high school students and anyone interested in the arts of the First Nations. |
