Dreamspeaker celebrates Walk of Honour inductees

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The stars came out early on the evening of June 24 when the Dreamspeakers Society threw a black tie gala to celebrate the end of this year's Dreamspeakers Film Festival and the creation of the Aboriginal Walk of Honour.

Actors, directors, producers, municipal and provincial politicians, and the public were in attendance.

The first inductees into Neka'new'ak (the Walk of Honour) were actors August Schellenberg, Gordon Tootoosis and Jimmy Herman, producer/director Wil Campbell and producer/director/playwright Willie Dunn.

Campbell gave special thanks to Dunn for inspiring him to get into film-making. Schellenberg also thanked those who came before him in film for making his career possible.

Dunn said it was important that Aboriginal people tell their own stories.

"Hollywood has done enough," he said.

Herman talked about what the honor meant to him.

"After years of working, for a while I didn't think it had worked. Little do you realize that a lot of young people are following you. Hopefully this kind of thing will help young people say if I can do it, they can do it too."

Grand Chief Sanford Big Plume of the Treaty 7 First Nations brought greetings from southern Alberta.

"At this time we live in an age of electronic communication and of images," said Big Plume. "There is no escaping that reality, one that surrounds us all the time," he said.

"I sincerely believe that if we attempt to avoid, ignore or attempt to down-play the importance of these new means of communication ... we will miss a glorious opportunity to represent ourselves, our history, and our people as we wish and prefer to be represented."

Sonny Skyhawk is an actor originally from the Rosebud Sioux reservation in South Dakota. Skyhawk is also the founder of American Indians in Film and Television, which is an advocacy group that promotes the accurate portrayal and use of Native peoples in film and television.

Skyhawk refers to himself as the Indian police in Hollywood and has been a member of the Screen Actors Guild for 23 years.

"Dealing with politics (in Hollywood) and the lack of representation (of Aboriginal people), it's typical of Hollywood to misrepresent, exclude, you name it," said Skyhawk.

"Hopefully, First Nations people take the initiative to pay attention to the representation that is done about them," he said.

The Dreamspeakers Society supports, promotes and markets Aboriginal culture, art and heritage. It is a resource for Aboriginal film-makers- directors, scriptwriters, cameramen, technicians, actors, musicians, storytellers, artists and craftspeople. Dreamspeakers Film Festival provides a venue for film-makers and offers a unique exploration into Aboriginal cultures from all parts of the globe.

The name springs from the story of the first Dene film-maker who returned home to Canada's Northwest Territories. His people had no words for his new art. They called it dreamtalking. When you make films, a Dene Elder said, you are speaking your dreams.