Muffins For Granny

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Documentary, 88 minutes: In the late 1880’s and for the following 100 years, the government of Canada imposed a policy of assimilation that required every First Nation’s child be placed in Residential Schools. Parents who refuted these laws were placed in jails and their children as young as 5 years old, left in the hands of strangers. These schools were run by the churches of the times and within those walls unspeakable abuses came down upon the children day in and day out. Unspeakable only until now… “Muffins For Granny,” will take you deep into the Canadian Shield, North of the great Lake Superior on a journey to reawaken the ancient ghosts of the Anishnawbe (people of this land), who carry a sadness left unresolved for 100 years. As a little girl, Nadia McLaren witnessed many tears fall from her Granny’s (Theresa McCraw of the Heron Bay Pic River reservation) eyes. In 2004, she traveled home to speak with Elders and family members in search of a better understanding to her life-long confusions about her Granny’s pain. A sacred tobacco offering was given to each of the 35 Elders interviewed, and for many it was for the first time they spoke of the abuses they suffered within Residential Schools. “Muffins for Granny,” takes you through the personal stories of 7 Elders who have lived through one of the darkest chapters in Canada’s History. There are times when each has almost given up. True stories of rape, murder and suicide are told with only the hope that somehow it may begin the healing this country and its people so desperately need. We begin to see that truth can be a bitter medicine but once absorbed it begins to heal from within, no longer causing pain from the outside. With this documentary Nadia McLaren invites you to fall in love with the spirit of her Ojibway Granny when we are shown the precious 8mm family footage. Held inside the breathtaking landscapes of Northern Ontario we begin to realize that love has told this story. With nothing left hidden we are welcomed home inside the stories of 7 First Nation's Elders who speak the familiar language of tears and of laughter, the ancient language of hearts. ..You should create your own MySpace Layouts like me by using nUCLEArcENTURy.COM's MySpace Profile Editor!..