Goal

The goal was to create an informational video featuring School District 48 teachers and trustees participating in a day of learning the traditional ways of the Sk̲wx̲wú7mesh and Lil̓wat7úl peoples. Tanina Williams taught staff how to make Plank Drums and play a traditional Sk̲wx̲wú7mesh and Lil̓wat7úl game during a professional development day in Pemberton BC.

Pre-Production

Tanina Williams and I began this project by determining what would be included in the video through a shot list and reviewing existing Sk̲wx̲wú7mesh and Lil̓wat7úl videos. We decided to focus on the people involved in the teachings, rather than the teachings themselves, as the video was intended to connect with other School District staff and students by featuring familiar faces.

We finalized pre-production with several video calls to confirm the requirements and the desired look and feel of the video. I wrote a comprehensive shot list to streamline production.

Production

Filming began early in Pemberton, BC, where I captured the excitement of staff gathering for the professional development day. Documenting the creation of plank drums led by Norman Wallace was especially rewarding. Norman, acting as our fire manager, guided staff through burning coals and sandwiching them between wood planks.

The day's atmosphere was filled with respect and curiosity, which shines through in the footage. We wrapped up with interviews featuring School District 48's trustees, who reflected on the importance of passing down Indigenous teachings within the school system.

Post-Production

The editing process was smooth. Tanina invited me to record members of the Lil̓wat7úl nation performing, providing background music for the video. I also gathered images to illustrate the steps and story for Lahal (the bone game) and the plank drum process, combining them with motion graphics and text to complete the narrative.

Four months later, Tanina was a guest speaker at The Sea to Sky Student Short Film Festival, which I co-founded. She was so thrilled with the video that she requested to play it for an audience of over 350 people during the festival's screening night.