A National Film Board of Canada Production

To Heather Campbell, her grandmother Evelyn was a teacher, a matriarch and a beloved family member, but to everyone else in the small community of Rigolet, Labrador, she was a force of nature otherwise known as Miss Campbell.

As a trailblazer for an Inuit-led educational system, Evelyn was the only teacher in a one-room school, teaching grades K–12. Although she had inherited the methodologies of earlier educators, her motivation was entirely different. In a career that spanned more than 35 years, she embraced her Inuit heritage and passed on her passion for learning through music and stories. In 1986, Evelyn Campbell was awarded the Order of Canada.

Part oral history and part visual poem, Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher combines Heather’s exquisite water colour paintings of narwals, polar bears, seals and birds with home movies, family photos and lively animation to capture the spirit of this extraordinary woman for her documentary portrait.

To Heather Campbell, her grandmother was a teacher, a matriarch and a beloved family member, but to everyone else in the small community of Rigolet, Labrador, she was a force of nature otherwise known as Miss Campbell.

Part oral history and part visual poem, Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher combines Heather’s exquisite water colour paintings of narwals, polar bears, seals and birds with home movies, family photos and lively animation to capture the spirit of this extraordinary woman for her documentary portrait.

From a young age, Evelyn Campbell possessed a keen sense of justice. At residential school, she helped her fellow students study and pass exams, an experience that forged her desire to be a teacher. As one of the first Indigenous educators in the public school system in the country, she wanted to instill a sense of pride in her students, teach them about their culture and break the cycle of stigma and trauma that she herself had suffered at residential school. “She knew that all of the kids in this town were smart,” explains her granddaughter Heather. “She knew that we could succeed.”

As a trailblazer for an Inuit-led educational system, Evelyn was the only teacher in a one-room school, teaching grades K–12. Although she had inherited the methodologies of earlier educators, her motivation was entirely different. In a career that spanned more than 35 years, she embraced her Inuit heritage and shared her passion for learning through music and stories. In 1986, Evelyn Campbell was awarded the Order of Canada.

Recreating not only the events of a life, but also the spare beauty of the landscape in fluid, free-flowing images that embody traditional knowledge passed on from generation to generation, Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher is a loving testimony to the ability of one person to help shape an entire community.

Part oral history and part visual poem, Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher is the story of Evelyn Campbell, a trailblazer for an Inuit-led educational system in the small community of Rigolet, Labrador.

To the best of my knowledge, my grandmother, “Miss Campbell,” was one of the very first accredited teachers of Inuit ancestry in Canada. During her time, the ethnicities of educators were not documented in Newfoundland and Labrador. Through this film, I want to make sure her historic contributions will not be forgotten.

After completing her education in the residential school system, Miss Campbell received her teacher accreditation and taught the children from her hometown for 37 years. Over the years, I thought of many ways of honouring my grandmother and her remarkable story. Upon returning home to Labrador from Ontario, I gained a greater understanding of how difficult her situation must have been. She had to navigate two worlds: one of the colonial education systems and the other of her Inuit culture. This film has been a way for me to revisit and better understand my memories of my grandmother and to see them through an informed lens.

As an artist, I wanted to honour my grandmother using my own art. All the film’s animated scenes are from my watercolour paintings, intended to tie the threads of my grandmother’s life together. I splatter and swirl droplets of ink, then let it dry to create an abstract background. In that background I find familiar shapes of people and animals, then outline them and add details to make them pop. Through animation, they come to life on the page. Each figure symbolizes an aspect of my grandmother’s life that has been brought into focus for me during the film.

My hope is that Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher inspires many other Inuit children and youth to believe in themselves, make it through the education system, and go on to fight for positive change for themselves and their communities.

The Labrador Documentary Project (Lab Doc Project) supports Indigenous storytelling by working with first-time Labrador Inuit filmmakers to create and distribute Inuit stories from Inuit perspectives. The Lab Doc Project is led by Inuit through community collaboration, and focuses on topics selected by the filmmakers through a process of reflection and community engagement. This initiative aims to elevate Indigenous storytelling in Newfoundland and Labrador, create film opportunities for Inuit, and proactively diversify our industry. There are four films in this Project, with two launching in 2021, and the remaining films launching in 2023.

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