For fifty-seven years the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has been interpreting Canada to Canadians through documentary films which have simultaneously reflected and shaped the identity of this country and its peoples. This study is concerned with the NFB's documentary film portrayal of Native Canadians. Over the half century that the NFB has been making films about Canada's indigenous peoples their portrayal has undergone much change. Comparisons are made in this study between three of the earliest examples and three of the most recent examples of such films, with regard to attitude, voice, and technique. The effect these choices have upon representation is also discussed. Changes in technical, artistic, and philosophical aspects of the documentary film genre have also had a significant effect upon representation of Native peoples over the past fifty years, and are considered as well. Educationally, the study considers issues of manipulation of knowledge and hidden curricula. Playing an increasingly important role in education today, the media is a powerful tool both for teaching and for the inculcation of social norms. Suggestions are made as to ways in which this medium can best be used in the classroom.

For fifty-seven years the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has been interpreting Canada to Canadians through documentary films which have simultaneously reflected and shaped the identity of this country and its peoples. This study is concerned with the NFB's documentary film portrayal of Native Canadians. Over the half century that the NFB has been making films about Canada's indigenous peoples their portrayal has undergone much change. Comparisons are made in this study between three of the earliest examples and three of the most recent examples of such films, with regard to attitude, voice, and technique. The effect these choices have upon representation is also discussed. Changes in technical, artistic, and philosophical aspects of the documentary film genre have also had a significant effect upon representation of Native peoples over the past fifty years, and are considered as well. Educationally, the study considers issues of manipulation of knowledge and hidden curricula. Playing an increasingly important role in education today, the media is a powerful tool both for teaching and for the inculcation of social norms. Suggestions are made as to ways in which this medium can best be used in the classroom. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate