POPLAR HILL — Anishinaabe film star Adam Beach visited Ahgwahbuush Memorial School in Poplar Hill First Nation to announce the creation of a new film school for Northern Indigenous communities next year.
Beach is best known for his performance in Flags of Our Fathers and co-starring in Windtalkers. He was also nominated for three awards for his role in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
The Lake Manitoba Dog Creek actor announced the new school as part of the community’s celebration connecting to the provincial power grid.
“One of the things I’m happy about is seeing that technology, seeing that government is actually working with communities, but communities have invested in themselves with this project,” said Beach.
“They own it to a certain degree till the time management is up and then the power will eventually be in their hands and I’m always trying to voice that our people need to own and operate every existence on their tribal lands.”
From running the stores and airplanes to gas and fuel products, he said when communities can get that, they can start their identity of being sovereign and showing people that working with and allowing them to evolve economically, they are a "valuable asset in Canada."
He also made a stop at the community's newly expanded Keewaytinook Internet High School to speak on behalf of his plans with students and staff.
"We are very excited to know of this new endeavour and we look forward to our students taking part in the future," said Linda Johnson, the KiHS's vice principal of student success, in a written statement.
Beach initially ran a film school for about 12 years called the Adam Beach Film Institute.
However, he said he shut it down during the pandemic and has since been trying to create a new way to "teach and train."
While it is in its initial planning stages, Beach resolved to now put his film school into a Winnipeg high school called R. B. Russell Vocational School.
“We’re testing it to see if we can adjust the school system to fit into the Hollywood aspect of how a studio works, production works, building in the school, creating a TV show (and) using YouTube as a filtration to create a documentary, so other communities can look and see and say 'we could do that'," said Beach.
“And I hope that we can create these mini hubs of production, movies, etc. within our communities.”
He added that he also thinks the lack of that people have regarding northern isolated communities is they "don’t know who they are."
“Some people think they still live in igloos and tipis and hunt buffalo and have horses and we need to utilize who they are in regards to accessing the historical significance of how they have survived this long in regards to the 200 years of ‘killed the Indian, save the man’,” said Beach.
“We can’t dismiss the struggle we’ve had to maintain our identity. Like I was saying, earlier in the 50s we got arrested for ceremonies and they finally changed it and we have a lot of catching up to do.”
He said he is hoping with the integrity of storytelling that they have as Indigenous peoples, they can utilize talents like himself and other educators to create stories that can exist on a reservation, so places like Poplar Hill can be able to communicate with their elders, document their stories, tell stories, tell spiritual stories and share guidance for their next generation.
“We’re dealing with a part of the world that is trying to damage history, that is trying to change history, that is trying to say that didn’t happen or create a different existence. It’s complicated right now in politics and I just want to be able to have our people be able to say this is who we are,” said Beach.
This story was updated to include a new statement and information from the KiHS.