Circle of the Sun

This short documentary by Colin Low is an invitation to a gathering of the Káínaa of Alberta - as the Sun Dance is captured on film for the first time. The film shows how the theme of the circle reflects the bands' connection to wildlife and also addresses the predicament of the young generation, those who have relinquished their ties with their own culture but have not yet found a firm place in a changing world.
Directed by Colin Low - 1960 | 29 min
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[@Pure_Havoc.]

I’m very glad to be apart of this reservation community! It’s still going on strong years later! I’m proud of my Blackfoot roots.

[@cameronleeheavyrunner7394]

My great uncle Pete Standing Alone. I love this documentary of our traditions and tribe.

[@disguyfluffy82]

cousiiiiiiin

[@YooTuba]

It's great that the tribe permitted this ceremony to be filmed.

[@georgesanchez4965]

What a monumental documentary!Wow!

[@davidvignola7060]

Being able to attend a few of these as a child this is nice too see

[@utqiagvik1991]

Thanks to Boards Of Canada for introducing me to that.

[@aishiapinto]

Thanks for posting this! Very informative!

[@Nomphalos]

A few seconds in and I have to say I love the 3-D effect in the opening.

[@lfufyxh9818]

It makes me so happy to hear Blackfoot being spoken, my life time goal is to learn Blackfoot and have my children grow up speaking the language.

[@dustin-tu5jq]

Did Boards of Canada directly reference this film with their song Pete Standing Alone 🤔🤔🤔🤔 I know they take their name from the NFB

[@75YBA]

Many thanks NFB!

[@lorenzovillegas2457]

Awesome old footage… thank you

[@adrianneoldshoes6428]

🔆

[@deyorizata335]

WOWWW

[@joepalm2823]

Another great NFB documentary.

[@robertahenakew7760]

How does one get involved in doing this kind of film? I am a First Nation Plains Cree! I have some great ideas I would like to document of our people and how are way of life is now.

[@seb_5969]

What do you mean how to get involved? If your elders allow use a smartphone or camera to capture what you can

[@briancocstale4203]

I can’t speak for everyone but it would be very rare to be allowed to document ceremonies that might get stolen by other societies

[@milesium-487]

Bonds

[@leorickt.9604]

God i love the NFB

[@eodezis]

шикарная вещь

[@aishiapinto]

How many other People’s still do the Sundance?

[@runnerfromjupiter]

🌩

[@stoneboyscout5823]

Oki

[@jq4136]

Plains Indians . Aho

[@meanwhile4308]

Hmmm

[@SAHogan-ih3bo]

author of THE DEATH TAX sez: While disappointingly little about the Sun Dance here, an intriguing glimpse of a culture that--save for rodeos--seems largely foreign to Western Anglo culture, one I view with the nostalgia of watching something strange and beautiful die. Check out S.C. Gwynne's Pulitzer-nominated EMPIRE OF THE SUMMER MOON for a harrowing, no-holds-barred history of the Comanches in particular and Native Americans in general as they struggled to preserve both their hunting grounds and their very identity in the tumultuous Old West. May this singular culture not only survive, but THRIVE!

[@saxassaxas6916]

What a beautiful and highly civil-ised representation of a HUMAN BEING..... and then the white nan came. I don’t know if it’s degenerate amygdala or what but it seems wherever those short of adequate melatonin appear, there’s death and destruction.

[@EzekielGoldbergII]

You're an ethnomasochist

[@swayzefan3600]

lmao these people would still be sacrificing and eating eachother if it weren't for white people.