Movie Description

The Ballad of Crowfoot

(1968)

Overview

Released in 1968 and often referred to as Canada’s first music video, The Ballad of Crowfoot was directed by Willie Dunn, a Mi’kmaq/Scottish folk singer and activist who was part of the historic Indian Film Crew, the first all-Indigenous production unit at the NFB. The film is a powerful look at colonial betrayals, told through a striking montage of archival images and a ballad composed by Dunn himself about the legendary 19th-century Siksika (Blackfoot) chief who negotiated Treaty 7 on behalf of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The IFC’s inaugural release, Crowfoot was the first Indigenous-directed film to be made at the NFB.

Posters

Facts

Original TitleThe Ballad of Crowfoot

Status Released

Release Information

  • 1968-01-01

Original LanguageEnglish

Runtime 00h 10m

Homepagehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/ballad_of_crowfoot/

Production CompaniesONF | NFB,Challenge for Change / Société Nouvelle

Genres

  • Documentary
  • Music