Original subtitles

I can't have a drink of that.

Ew, it stinks.

It's my hideout.

I come every day.

Just playing around.

Look at this, a bike.

Put this here last week. Now look at it. Yeah, right.

You should take this home. Oh, no.

Come on, get in.

Check this out.

I think I can sit on that.

What can we do?

I'm bored, guys.

You can do it for me.

Okay, I'll try it later.

Hey, save some for me.

Try this, try this.

I think that's a good.

He is fired.

In the beginning, the Creator sent out His thought, and His thought went out

into the darkness.

And it had a feeling sound.

But nothing came back to Him.

So He began to create. He created this world, this universe, man and woman,

so that when His thought went out, it would come back to Him.

Okay, creation story.

Thank you, Cecil.

Okay.

I know you're trying to do a good thing here, Victor, doing these videos.

But culture isn't just what we've been talking about.

The old days and the old ways and good stuff that

makes us who we are.

But it's also what goes on today.

If you look around you, culture is on display every day.

Family violence, alcoholism, drug abuse,

incest, suicide, corruption.

That's our culture now.

As far as my family is concerned, they were destroying

incriminating files before a government audit, and my sister and her children

were their victims.

Blast film chief Andy Fraser reiterated his claim the fire that spread from the

band office was accidental.

The result of janitor Ricky Baptiste's kill was smoking.

Bullshit!

We expect the investigation to be concluded early next week. We've already

posted notice for a band meeting.

I didn't hear about any band meeting.

Fuck it, Leona, honestly!

Is that going to do anything?

Let me ask you something.

Why is it the first thing the media throws in our faces?

is that Indian people are allegedly mismanaging Canada's precious tax

Answer me that.

Oh, I see.

You've never spent one single solitary day on a reserve in your life, have you,

honey?

Well, I suggest you come and live in our communities.

Deal with the things that we have to deal with on a daily basis.

The drugs, the alcohol, the suicide, the glue sniffing.

I said it before, and I'll say it again. The underlying problem is with

inadequate funding, period, end. And the only way out from underneath it is to

get out from underneath the Indian Act to exercise our right to self

-government. God damn you, Victor.

You're supposed to be filming elders, that's all.

The chief saw you there.

Now he's going to think you're one of them and put us on a shit list.

Sanitation services budget passed.

Boys, I'm not the queen of shithouses north of the 49th parallel.

That'll be all for you today, gentlemen. You can see the lady about your checks

on the way out.

Hey, tell your wife I'll be home in an hour.

She'll be at my house.

Okay. Now, about the TLE selection at Wolf Willow.

Blackstone Holdings grants the mortgages as security for an operating line of

credit for New West to manage the band farm.

And INAC will sign off?

They'll consider it an internal TLE agreement, especially with no BCR.

In that case, pursuant to the revenue sides agreement, I say we up it.

I don't know.

Eight dollars an acre for each of us sound about right, boys?

Ten hours.

Hey,

man, fuck off with that camera.

Natalie.

Hey, um, mind if I have a word with you?

No way.

You want to fuck me too?

I'll come and talk to you later when you're straight.

Beautiful experience we had last night.

For a moment in our life, we forgot where we were.

Even time didn't exist while we were there in the sweat lodge.

So leave your pain there.

Leave your anger there.

Leave your doubt there.

Leave your prayer there. Come out a new person and go on in life.

And then you leave the safety and the comfort of the treatment center and

back here on the res and the negativity.

Crowds in.

Am I going to make it this time?

And I know because I've been where you are now.

Fighting my demons.

Blaming the world for my misery.

It's like, oh, that Indian affairs. Oh, that mean white man.

That dirty cop, that fucking judge, that, that, that, that busy blaming.

People, places, and things for my problems.

And I forgot somebody.

I forgot me.

And when I turned the focus on me and took responsibility for my life, I

couldn't find anybody else to blame.

I know you can do this.

Honey, put the puzzle away. It's time for dinner.

I mean, everybody knows there's things going on in the band office, but we all

keep quiet about it.

What does it matter?

So it's okay this place stays a shithole as long as we get to run away.

We're not running away.

Is that how you think of it?

Anyways, what can any of us do about it?

People point fingers at chief and council.

But the band members themselves are the bigger problem.

They parade into the band office any time, demanding checks for this and

And it's always right now, right away.

Just... Crisis management every day.

The van office will cover it. That's the motto.

They want everything done for them, from womb to tomb.

That's when you see intimidation working both ways.

Guys go up to the chief and say, $3 .20, I voted for you.

The chief doesn't want to be voted out.

box open.

But that's just it. I haven't been receiving the notices.

I'm a band member and I want to be informed when meetings are called, not

hear about it on TV.

You know, that's the problem with all you off -reserve C -31 buzzards.

You want the whole fucking world handed you on a plate.

But you don't want to give anything back.

I may live off -reserve, but I am still a part of this community, and you know

it.

Or did you already forget your time at the treatment center?

And his wife said, why won't rubbing toilet paper between my breasts make

bigger? And he says, worked for your ass, didn't it?

Harley came in this morning looking for an advance on his contract.

He hasn't done bugger all yet.

He does have a big family.

There's at least 12 votes there.

Hey, all right.

Come on, I won't tell.

It's that a minicube boy, isn't it?

No. Oh, I saw you hovering around him last time I was here.

Natalie.

Natalie, are you okay?

Natalie!

Natalie! Natalie!

Natalie!

She's missing more now.

She's worse now than after Mom died.

You don't think I don't know? I'm not fucking blind, okay? It's my daughter.

You know, I even asked her.

I asked her, you want to go stay with your aunt in the city?

Huh? You know what she said to me?

She loved me.

And Mr. Baptiste, after David was found to be consistent with the forensic

evidence, that having had too much to drink, he fell asleep with a lit

cigarette.

And the investigation further confirmed that flying sparks ignited tar shingles

on the roof of the Nipus house.

Unfortunately, the water tanker truck couldn't get started.

Because you gave the maintenance contact to your cousin, and he doesn't know his

ass from a hole in the ground.

Thank you, Counselor.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all for coming.

I'd just like to say that now that the investigation is over and done with,

it's my sincere hope that we can move on from this terrible, terrible tragedy

and work together as a community to do the things that we need to do to make

this community a better place to live in.

Thank you.

Chief Fraser, I'm wondering about the audit.

Will it still proceed even without all the documentation and whatever happened

to all that TLE money?

I don't think it's appropriate to get into that at this moment.

But if you have any more concerns, I suggest you stop by the office in the

morning and we can go through what we have with you.

Thank you. Thank you.

But I'd rather wait for the official audit, as I'm sure all of us would.

Hey, Victor, who the hell are you? And when were you appointed?

Who is he?

He's a member of this band and he's entitled to know what's happening to our

money. So we all are.

He's one of the people our grandfathers signed treaty for.

He's one of those.

future generations they had in their heart when they touched the pen.

You guys just don't get it, do you?

Leadership is about submission to duty, not elevation to power.

Okimagan? Okimagan means pretend chief.

Not exactly a compliment then.

No, not exactly.

And TLE?

TLE, that's Treaty Land Entitlement. An agreement between Ottawa and the bands

to compensate them for lands they didn't receive during the time of treaties and

to accommodate growing populations.

There's always been a certain degree of corruption, sometimes only penny on any

stuff. But everything changed big time when the TLE monies came in, $14 million

in our case.

One -time money to be used to buy land for future securities, but instead is

used for a free -for -all fund.

My apologies, Ms. Amos. I don't believe I officially welcomed you last time you

were here.

Thank you.

I'd like to keep in touch. Perhaps there's some follow -up? Oh, by all

Come back any time you like.

Come on. Let's go for a ride.

I think I have to be somewhere, though.

It won't be long.

People are afraid to take them on.

As soon as you start asking questions, the knives come out.

The white people have the mafia.

We have chief and counsel.

Where's Victor?

What do you want, Vic?

A new house? Is that it?

How about world peace?

You know, a lot of my supporters don't like these questions you've been asking.

You're making me look bad, Vic.

I'll take you to the truck.

You know, it's a nice day. I have to walk.

Thanks.

Owen Beck, tell Gloria I said hi and we're trying our damnedest to get a

loan pushed through.

Last year's audit.

Crazy salaries listed at $45 ,000. But additional entries for

travel allowances, per diem, meeting fees, council fees, committee

fees, and honorariums spread across multiple departments added another $72

That's not all.

Contracts he awarded himself added another $106 ,065, giving him a grand

of... $223 ,235 for the year.

So what's needed is to separate the politics of the reserve from the

administration.

Yeah, sure.

His sister's welfare administrator, a brother head of housing, his mother -in

-law's a health worker.

His aunt works in finance.

Yeah, that family's going to be sorry ass when he loses this election.

No, thanks.

I gotta go.

Leona, I know what's going on here.

I'm sorry. I'm not that person.

Leona, wait.

I've been to the healing lodge.

I've seen you work with people.

Helping change lives.

Victor. Oh, yeah.

Hey, Victor.

Mind if I walk with you?

Yeah.

Come on.

This community is sick.

We do need someone like you, a healer.

Someone who's been elsewhere, done things with their life.

If not, we're left with a bunch of guys that have never been anywhere.

Never worked for anybody except for band jobs. No skills, no education, nothing.

What about Victor?

You all heard him tonight. His wife's going back to college.

He's moving to the city.

I'm sorry.

I know what you want.

I just, I don't think that I can do it.

Leona!

Thank you.

Sorry, I know this looks bad, but please just hear me out.

On behalf of the council, I'd like to offer my condolences to

Gail here and the Stoning family.

Natalie's death was a tragedy to the whole community.

A tragedy that we've probably seen one time too many.

One that probably could have been avoided if it weren't for the

an apathetic, indifferent administration in Ottawa, who might as well have been

on the other side of the world as far as we're concerned.

You see, this is why I fight so hard for self -government.

Do you see?

This is why we need to be the authors of our own destined... You cut the

recreation program.

You killed my baby.

And now she's in a cheap Indian Affairs coffin because

you said there was no money.

Why, Ann?

You said that with no money for a decent coffin, Andy.

Why?

You cunt. You come here and you campaign.

Who the fuck do you think you are?

Lauren, Leonard, all on side.

Little child.

He'll be okay.

Put up his welfare anyway.

Ricky Baptiste.

Another five grand.

I heard he's suicidal.

I wish he'd do us a favor and get on with it.

He's all stupid.

He knows about the rumors. He's playing us as much as we're playing him.

Send it to him anyway.

What started off that gas sniffing?

That gas sniffing?

Well, my grandfather's death.

Your grandfather died in June?

My grandmother died in June.

My grandfather died when I was 12.

Andrew, drop this TV off.

Turn it off.

Don't you want to wait until you're sober?

Because I was hallucinating about them.

I wanted to see them.

I wanted to see them some more. And that was the only way I could see them.

Mom's drinking.

She's drinking, so I said, why can't I drink too?

How do you feel about your future in Blackstone?

My future?

Section 10.

Hmm. Residency requirements.

Better than two -parent or blood quantum?

We cast that net.

It gets way more than one fish.

All we have to do is create development.

Post notice for a band meeting.

Question her entitlement.

Off reserve.

Bill C -31.

Fucking drivel's gotta be good for something.

Huh?

I think I got them all.

There's no sense tearing them all down. They're just going to put them back up

again.

But you know you can stay here.

Natalie's room.

Look, I'm still not drinking if that's what you're thinking.

You've been on council.

You know how things work.

Run with me.

We need to get the band members off their asses so they give a shit about

going on.

And don't expect the membership to rally around change.

Where else can you sit at home in a band house with free utilities, collect

welfare, and watch satellite TV all day?

It's bad as things are.

There's also a real fear of losing all that.

Then help me make change.

Cheers.

It's like Johnny and his wife are on board.

So we go next.

Talk to Leon.

What? What?

Are you going to run with her?

Go ahead, Victor. You can't fuck around with that. With the Fraser family?

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

All you talk about is accountability.

What about some fucking accountability to your own daughter?

You finished?

I told her no. I said I'd help out. That's all.

Oh, you think that makes a difference?

I told you, after that bad...

That's it.

The candidate has been staying with her sister.

She's been living and working off -reserve for years now, and she's Bill C

I'm telling you, if we can't control our own membership and the requirements for

those seeking office, we have no business even dreaming about self

I'm only going to say this, and it's hard because it's something I never talk

about.

Not too long ago in this hall, Cecil de la Ronde spoke about our ancestors who

signed treaty.

My great -grandfather was one of them.

That treaty pipe was entrusted to him.

He, in turn, handed it down to my grandfather.

He handed it down to my father.

And after I quit partying and sobered up, my father entrusted it to me.

I've tried hard to honor that pipe, to live in a good way, to give back to my

community. And I've never needed the Indian Act or INAC or a band chief to

tell me who I am or where I belong.

I want to talk about what we're doing.

There's a bigger problem here than what's been going on in the band office.

Our silence.

We don't need to sit and wait for Ottawa to impose a governance act.

We don't have time to waste.

Our indigenous title is this close to being taken away from us.

We need to act now.

place until she finds a place closer to the college.

It'll work out, Victor.

Thanks for helping out with this.

Ready?

I'm Leona Stoney. This is Victor Morasty.

We'd like to talk to you about the... You think I don't know who the fuck you

are? And I know what you want to fuck off.

All I want to know is are you going to fix my fucking house?

I keep asking them, and all they ever say is there's no money.

So what the fuck will you do?

The van will take care of any maintenance and upkeep that it's

But if your husband gets drunk and kicks in the door, I'm not going to fix it.

I survived cancer twice because of our culture, the good things of our

culture. I will not stand by while it sinks to despair and disgrace.

That's why this is my chief.

Congratulations to Chief Stoney.

for you dumb fucking Indians.

Go ahead.

Shit.

Fucking bitch. She changed the locks already.

Clever little minx, isn't she?

Holy shit, it's real.

It's not going to be easy, and I'm going to need a lot of help.

I'm still on council, Rick.

Now, I know she's got another regional meeting to go to next week.

And I'm betting she'll take Norma because she knows the ropes when it

that type of thing.

I'll tell you what.

Start a weiner that will cut off welfare next month.

She'll have to name Victor as acting chief while they're away.

She'll pass a BCR while they're gone.

Your points are set.

I can do that.

Rick, you're a band chancellor. You can do whatever the fuck you want.

Just hold a meeting and spouse them.

And don't fuck it up this time.

I need a drink.

I'm gonna make you a baby. Yep. Sink that bitch's battleship if you want.

I'm gonna wave

that smile off your face.

And if there's a war...