In this inspired musical documentary, writer/director Marie Clements connects a major turning point in Canada’s civil rights history—the beginnings of Indian Nationalism in the 1930s—with the powerful momentum of First Nations activism today.

Interviews with key members of Canada’s oldest First Nations organizations, the Native Brotherhood and Native Sisterhood, reveal the starkly racist politics that inspired the movement as well as how a humble newspaper became a powerful force for change. The Native Voice established a lifeline between the First Nations of British Columbia, uniting them to advocate socially, politically and legally in order to effect profound change on a national level.

The documentary’s stunningly shot musical sequences, performed by an ensemble of some of Canada’s finest vocalists and musicians, bring to life the past 80 years of politics and protest on the West Coast and across the country. Inspired by articles from The Native Voice, the superbly produced story-songs range from heartbreaking ballads about the missing and murdered Indigenous women to inspirational anthems for moving forward, seamlessly connecting past and present with soaring vocals, blues, rock, and traditional beats.

Interwoven throughout the documentary are deeply moving interviews with the musicians and singers speaking intimately about what it means politically and personally to be contemporary First Nations artists, and the passion behind their work.

The Road Forward is a rousing tribute to the fighters for First Nations rights, a soul-resounding historical experience, and a visceral call to action.

The Road Forward, a musical documentary by Marie Clements, connects a pivotal moment in Canada’s civil rights history—the beginnings of Indian Nationalism in the 1930s—with the powerful momentum of First Nations activism today.

Clements paints an electrifying picture of how a tiny movement, the Native Brotherhood and Native Sisterhood, became a powerful voice for social, political and legal advocacy, eventually effecting profound change at the national level. The Road Forward’s stunningly shot musical sequences, performed by an ensemble of some of Canada’s finest vocalists and musicians, seamlessly connect past and present with soaring vocals, blues, rock, and traditional beats.

The Road Forward is a rousing tribute to the fighters for First Nations rights, a soul-resounding historical experience, and a visceral call to action.

1. This film had an unusual evolution. Could you tell us a little bit about how it grew to become this fabulously inventive and inspiring feature-length musical documentary?

This project originally began as a 10-minute live performance piece commissioned by the Vancouver Cultural Olympiad for the Aboriginal Pavilion in conjunction with the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The idea was to honour B.C.’s history, so I started researching and reading online and came across the archives of the Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood, the oldest Native organization in the country. Their parent organization, the Native Fishing Association, is located in West Vancouver, close to me.

Bill Duncan gave me access to their archives—actually a huge boardroom, filled with stacks of 60 years’ worth of their newspaper, The Native Voice. It was profoundly moving to read our history written by Aboriginal news editors and news stringers, mostly activists grounded here in BC, but also spanning across Canada and into the United States.

It made sense, then, that these stories should somehow be expressed in voice, because that is what they were bearing witness to. The story songs I wrote for The Road Forward drove a narrative inspired by The Native Voice articles. I reached out to Jennifer Kreisberg as a lead composer, not just because of her immense talent, but also because of the legacy of her work: the layering of voices that come together in harmonies, which again mirrored the will of the Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood that their voices be brought together in unity.

I also felt strongly that this project should be female-led, as The Native Voice newspaper was probably one of the only newspapers at the time led by women. Not only the founders of the newspaper, but also top editors and news writers were women, which is extremely rare today, never mind in the 1930s. I think this lent itself to a certain distinct viewpoint.

After the 10-minute performance in the Aboriginal Pavilion at the 2010 Winter Olympics, it became clear that the aesthetic for The Road Forward was less theatrical and more musical; there was a natural evolution toward adding more songs, more stories and more singers and musicians. Other male guest composers collaborated with Jenn and with me on new songs, and we began to form a really tight ensemble committed to the stories and how they came to be vocalized. So the first 10-minute performance in 2010 turned into a workshop production in 2013 at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver, which later evolved into a live-performance production that premiered to sold-out crowds at the PuSh Festival in 2015.

These shows featured some of our finest Aboriginal talent from across Canada and the US, many of whom are featured in the film we are talking about now.

2. So after working with many of the same artists in various incarnations of The Road Forward over the years, what do you feel that this collaborative process brought to the project?

Many of us have worked together artistically on different projects over a long period of time, so the process was natural in the sense that we knew each other, or knew each other’s work, or appreciated each other’s commitment and practice. There was a strength in musically bringing together traditional and contemporary artists from different parts of the country: everyone had the understanding that their own personal, cultural and political histories contributed to the larger vision of The Road Forward.

3. Your background as a writer/director for live performance and theatre probably freed you to turn the conventions of historical documentary upside down when making this film. Can you talk about how you chose which historical moments to highlight, and how you decided to weave the story elements together?

The Road Forward was a beast, but a beautiful beast. I wanted to replicate how we experience information from newspapers: how we read, how we are caught by certain headlines, how that draws us in and how we can be so affected by a headline and story that we begin to see it, to imagine what it might have been like. The Road Forward has always been led by word: I selected newspaper articles that inspired me, wrote lyrics for the story songs based on those articles, then worked with the composers to fuse together both the intention and the musicality so we could get inside the mind of the witness. The Road Forward became its own distinct form, encircling documentary—those early activists and those who followed—and integrating stories through song that were told musically and cinematically.

The best thing about coming from a writer/director practice and a highly visual live/performance background is that it is very disciplined. The bones of the story, the script or words, are the structure, and the responsibility of finding how that is executed comes in the layering of a story that is always changing, yet demands precision in intention, rhythm, visuals, sound and music. The process of how that manifests in live performance versus film is very different, but they are both disciplines that are very alive, each insisting on an unrelenting vigour.

4. In the conservative, racist times of Canada in the 1930s, the Native Brotherhood and Native Sisterhood used their newspaper, The Native Voice, as a powerful grassroots vehicle for political activism. Against staggering odds, they managed to effect profound change. How did you come up with the idea to bring the hope and energy of those times to life using the very powerful (and incredibly catchy) “story-songs” you wrote for the film?

It’s hard not to be influenced by the Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood in an extremely positive way. I think there is something so profound about being able to resist in a way that has grace and dignity, and yet brings incredible and lasting change. The legacy of this is why we are seeing the power of current movements, from Idle No More to Standing Rock.
We are literally standing on the shoulders of giants.

5. Along with hearing from some of the founders of the Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood, you integrate past and present by interviewing some of the best Indigenous musicians, singers and performers in the country. You have said, “Being an artist is an act of activism.” Can you talk a little bit about your connection to that idea from your perspective as an Aboriginal artist?

A good friend once told me when I was starting out that a brown person just standing on a stage was an act of activism. I didn’t totally get the depth of that until later, but it has definitely stayed with me because it is a simple and hard truth. I think there is a time in every Aboriginal artist’s life where you just want to practise your art, but you come to realize that you will have to fight for that right on every level imaginable. This realization brings its own hardship, but also its own purpose and artistic freedom. The Road Forward features some of our most renowned musical talent; it also speaks to their ability to survive and their commitment to fight for change through their own individual work.

6. The Road Forward not only revitalizes a very important trajectory in our country’s history, but also celebrates and honours the shift happening now as First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples step into their power as rightful stakeholders in our country’s present and future. You have described the film as “a tribute and a call to action…”

I think Aboriginal activism in Canada is a multigenerational experience. It is deeply personal and often ignited by the injustices suffered by our grandfathers and grandmothers, our fathers and mothers, our sisters and brothers. In this way, it is rising not just from a political ideology or cultural perspective, but from a cellular cry for justice—that every human has a right to experience humaneness.

Native Brotherhood of British Columbia (NBBC)

The Native Brotherhood of British Columbia (NBBC) is the oldest active Indigenous organization in Canada. It was founded in 1931 in response to the conditions of the Great Depression. During that time, the price of fish had plummeted and Indigenous people were not eligible for relief. The situation was dire; Aboriginal leaders knew they had to organize in order to advocate for their people. Alfred Adams (Haida) led the formation of the NBBC and modelled it on the Native Brotherhood of Alaska. At the time, it was illegal for groups of Indigenous people to meet, but the NBBC got around the law by organizing under the umbrella of the Church. For this reason, the Brotherhood’s anthem was “Onward, Christian Soldiers.”

The Native Brotherhood ushered in a new phase of Indigenous activism that focused on the socioeconomic improvement of Indigenous lives.

The Native Sisterhood of British Columbia was formed in 1933. It used already established women’s auxiliary groups to form the basis of its membership. The Sisterhood worked at the local branch level, holding meetings and raising funds for the Brotherhood.

The Native Voice Newspaper

Launched in 1946, The Native Voice newspaper featured stories about and by Native people. It was technically the “official organ of the Native Brotherhood of British Columbia” and originally served as a kind of newsletter about the group’s activities, providing a larger social context as well through pieces from across North America. Because of its affiliation with the NBBC, The Native Voice offered an excellent record of the changes to the fishing industry in B.C. and to the numerous canneries that served as a major employer for Coastal First Nations people.

The Native Voice featured a number of notable activists as regular columnists and editors. Maisie Hurley was instrumental in getting The Native Voice started, and served on the editorial board as publisher and director for years. Without her commitment, it’s doubtful the paper would have existed as a forum for Natives and non-Natives to discuss issues relevant to the Indigenous communities in BC. Kitty Carpenter, the President of the Native Sisterhood of British Columbia, was a regular columnist, reporting on the group’s activities. Jimalee Burton, an artist well known for her poetry, prose, and graphics, served as an editor for 15 years, sharing her stories and relevant news from Oklahoma.

The last issue of The Native Voice was published in 2002.

The Constitution Express

In 1867, the British Parliament passed the British North American Act, legislation that outlined the Constitution for the new Dominion of Canada. The Act was British law and therefore could only be changed in British courts.

In the early 1980s, Prime Minister Trudeau began the process of patriation; transferring the Act from the authority of the British government to the Canadian government.

After reviewing the position of the federal government in the proposed patriation of the Constitution, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) discovered that First Nations people would lose their Indigenous rights through this new legislation.

Led by George Manuel, the UBCIC decided to take action. They launched the Constitution Express, a massive movement to fight any attempt at patriation that left out the rights of Indigenous people. Two trains were chartered to make the 4,360-km trek from Vancouver to Ottawa and deliver a message to the federal government: that First Nations peoples have rights, and that these rights have legal basis through treaties and historical agreements with the British government.

The Express did not receive any federal funding. First Nations fundraised for train fares, and First Nations communities from all across Canada came together to support the cause, making the Constitution Express a people’s movement as well as a political lobby.

The final result was the addition of Section 35 to the Constitution. It entrenched the rights of Indigenous people into law.

Timeline

The Road Forward: History. Red Diva Projects http://www.theroadforward.ca/about1

The Indian Act, 1876. Government of Saskatchewan and First Nations.  Retrieved from http://www.tidridge.com/uploads/3/8/4/1/3841927/the_indian_act.pdf

Enns, C. (2015, April 30). The Journey of the Constitution Express to Ottawa. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0103579

Brown, P. T. (1993). Cannery Days: A Chapter in the Lives of the Heiltsuk (Thesis). University of British Columbia.  Retrieved from https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0087322

Fortney, S. Entwined Histories: Exploring Native-Newcomer Relations via The Native Voice. North Vancouver Museums & Archives and The Squamish Nation. Retrieved from http://nvma.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Newcomer_Relations_Online_Materials.pdf

Government of Saskatchewan and First Nations. The Indian Act, 1876. Retrieved from http://www.tidridge.com/uploads/3/8/4/1/3841927/the_indian_act.pdf

O’Donnell, J. P. (1985). The Native Brotherhood of British Columbia 1931–1950: A New Phase in Native Political Organization (Thesis). University of British Columbia. Retrieved from https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/831/items/1.0096506

red diva projects. The Road Forward: History. http://www.theroadforward.ca/about1