Every Step: A Healing Circle

Screened at FCFF 2019

Film Synopsis

In 1989, a small group of athletes set out on a Healing and Solidarity run to bring peace and healing to the communities impacted by conflicts over recently affirmed Ojibwe treaty rights to spear fish in the ceded territories around the central Great Lakes. The run began as a reaction to a specific issue, but evolved to address challenges faced by communities along its route.

Related Films

Place of the Pike (Ginoozhekaaning)

2019 • USA • 7 min • Finn Ryan

Filmmaker in Attendance

In 1971, A.B. LeBlanc set a gill net in Pendills Bay on Lake Superior. The Michigan DNR arrested LeBlanc and he was later convicted of fishing commercially without a license and for fishing with an illegal device. This story highlights the treaty challenge and struggle for the Bay Mills Ojibwe community to maintain their identity through treaty reserved rights asserted in the signing of the 1836 treaty with the United States.

Weweni Bimibatoo - Running Gently

2023 • Canada • 3 min • William Binamé

Family Friendly

Melissa Arnott from Indigenous Women Outdoors, in Squamish, British Columbia, recites how spending more time on the land and starting a trail running program helped her reconnect with mother earth (niimaamaa aki) and her Anishinaabe culture.

All Too Clear: Beneath the Surface of the Great Lakes

2024 • Canada • 90 min • Yvonne Drebert & Zach Melnick

Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, Staff Pick

Cutting-edge underwater drones explore how quadrillions of tiny invasive quagga mussels are re-engineering the ecosystem of the Great Lakes at a scale not seen since the glaciers. Part scientific exploration, part natural history adventure – the film shines a spotlight on freshwater wildlife and environments like never before.