Alanis Obomsawin

Alanis Obomsawin, (born August 31, 1932) is an American Canadian Abenaki filmmaker, singer, artist and activist primarily known for her documentary films. Born in New Hampshire, United States and raised primarily in Quebec, Canada, she has written and directed many National Film Board of Canada documentaries on First Nations issues. Obomsawin's described "the basic purpose [of my films] is for our people to have a voice[...] no matter what we're talking about whether it has to do with having our existence recognised, or whether it has to do with speaking about our values, our survival, our beliefs, that we belong to something beautiful, that it's O.K. to be an Indian, to be a native person in this country." Her best known documentary is Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, about the 1990 Oka Crisis, Quebec.