My Indian Name Explained

My Indian Name
Director:Abraham Côté
Producer:Jason Brennan
Music:Pierre-Yves Martel
Cinematography:Patrick Kaplin
Editing:Randy Kelly
Studio:Nish Media
Distributor:APTN
Runtime:42 minutes
Country:Canada
Language:English

My Indian Name is a Canadian television documentary film, directed by Abraham Côté and released in 2022.[1] The film explores the history of personal names in First Nations communities in Canada, both the way traditional indigenous names were often stripped away from First Nations peoples and their contemporary efforts to reclaim them.

Côté, an Algonquin/Anishinabeg filmmaker from Kitigan Zibi, Quebec, is himself descended from a family whose traditional surname was Pizindewatch, which meant "listener" and was thus changed to Écouté by a French priest before morphing into the more common French surname Côté.[1]

The film premiered on APTN in September 2022, and was screened theatrically at the 2023 Asinabka Film and Media Arts Festival.[1]

The film was a nominee for the Donald Brittain Award for best social or political television documentary at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Peter Hum, "'We're still here'; Anishinabe filmmakers shine spotlight on Kitigan Zibi reserve". Ottawa Citizen, August 5, 2023.
  2. Pat Mullen, "2023 Canadian Screen Award Nominations for Documentary". Point of View, February 22, 2023.