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You Are on Indian Land

“You Are on Indian Land” is a documentary film and directed by Mike Kanentakeron

Mitchell in 1969, duration of this film is 36 minutes and 48 seconds. This film is about the

border crossing dispute of 1969 Akwesasne and confrontation between police and Mohawk of

“St. Regis Reservation” on the bridge between the United States and Canada, which stands on

the Mohawk land near the Cornwall, Ontario. The film showed the increasing activism of

Mohawk and the demands for the self-determination which has sustained.

Audio-visual components are important to create a film. Audio elements or sounds and

music in the film can be unified during a film production or post-production. Individually, the

audio and visual seem simple however combination of both aspects has ability to entirely shape

the viewing experience of an audience and making one of the influential aspects of the

filmmaking. The audio-visual components of “You Are on Indian Land” are color, music, and

sound. These are key components that used throughout the film and influence the audience. In

“You Are on Indian Land” there is no sound in background however sound of the blizzard which

has made the view of the film more depressed. This is a black and white film; no color has been

used as well as the use of police costume in the film highlighting the feelings of tension. In

addition, this film is composed completely of archival material (generally still photographs

however also used of some old film footage and the contemporary newspaper pieces) allied to

the “conquest of the West.”

The film was not started with a protest however with a segment that functions as a

preface to the repose of the film. The film is started with a shot of a largely native assembly

which is gathered at “Cornwall Island Community Hall.” Mitchell is addressing with the

audience. Animated lines were signifying the border between Canada and U.S. voice over

demonstrated the brief history of the dispute over the bridge and new Customs house. In some

segment, the use of map and diagram are displayed as well as the cultural and legal conversation

in support of the native empowerment. The protest and conversation of public and police on the

road is another segment of this film.

This film is a straightforward informative and instructive commentary might be some

imply a “throw-back” to the aesthetic device connected with the earlier period in the history of

cinema. Expository, interactive and observational are also some elements that used in this

documentary film. The arrangements such as intermittent interview, an acknowledged presence

of camera and crew, and filming of the printed word, as well as call attention to cinematic

artifice, has made the film more apparent with the series that records protest itself. The middle

segment of “You Are on Indian Land” the voice-over rhetoric steadily becomes less central as

well as the focus shifts towards the unfolding events, appearing along intervals. Through the

sequence of the blockade the commentary functions as a source to provide the background

information for “what is occurring in front of the camera.”

The remainder of the segment of “You Are on Indian Land” rotates around the struggle

of Mohawks to keep blockade together. Sounds and images are recorded vigilantly, however,

cameras follow a large number of the arrests and each protestor is directed and forced into the

police car, a plenty of shoving and pushing, in intermittent calm moments the youngsters tease

the officers and sing. At the ending segment, Ernie stands on the truck back and talks to the

assembled crowd.

There is a criticism of some band council members who according to voice-over offered support

however at the time of action they were not there (Egoyan, 2006).

“You Are on Indian Land” was one of the widely distributed and most influential

productions which are made by the “Indian Film Crew (IFC).” The Canadian authorities have

prohibited the “duty-free cross-border” passage of the personal purchases; therefore, the

protesters blocked the “international bridge” between the Ontario and New York State. The film

watched extensively across the continent and also helped to mobilize the new wave of

“Indigenous activism.” This documentary was produced by the challenge for change (CFC).

(Ransen, 2016)

References:

Egoyan, A. (2006). The Cinema of Canada. Wallflower Press. Ransen, M. (Director). (2016). You Are on

Indian Land [Motion Picture].