Tag Archives: APTN

Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Wild Archaeology visits Head-Smashed-In

This week our intrepid explorers from Wild Archaeology headed to Head-Smashed-In, the oldest known buffalo jump—it goes back at least 6,000 years—located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. This particular site has been widely studied due to the deep connection between those communities in the plains and the buffalo.

Upon arrival on site we met Dr. Reg Crowshoe, a Piikani Elder, who described the story of Head-Smashed-In:

“Way back when Creator gave us the buffalo, Creator said, ‘You ask the buffalo to feed you.’ They couldn’t find the buffalo. They looked all over. Then one woman went to get water and she heard this song. So when she heard this song she seen it. It was a buffalo stone. She heard this buffalo stone singing. She took it and gave it to the elders and other sacred people. The sacred people said that buffalo stone is going to find us buffalo to eat. So there was a ceremony. That song was part of that ceremony.”

Dr. Crowshoe then summarized: “That story told us ‘You ask the buffalo for the rights to hunt buffalo.’ So when they went through the ceremony, that song that woman heard, that song was like a hunting permit in the white man world.”

Next, archaeologist Jack Brink described the science of how the plains people managed to drive a herd of buffalo through this narrow drive lane, taking advantage of their poor eyesight, and the optical illusion that the downhill run naturally creates. It was here at the end of a stampede, encouraged by the hunters, the buffalo would meet their demise, spilling over the ledge and falling to their deaths. These communal buffalo hunts necessitated the cooperation of hundreds of people, skinning, butchering, cooking and preserving the products the buffalo provided.

Jack then demonstrated how the lines of cairns, or what he calls traffic markers, were used to steer the herd through the final drive lane leading the buffalo to the jump. To illustrate how these markers worked, Jacob and Jenifer each constructed one from rocks and brush found from the vicinity. The object was to create a large peripheral mass using brush secured by rocks the buffalo would naturally avoid as they stampeded through what appeared to be a valley.

This episode, although no artifacts were found, was such a fascinating story to learn about. I am truly sad there are only three more episodes to cover this season. Each week I look forward to all that I learn, and I am still telling people, “you have to watch this show!”

Wild Archaeology airs Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. ET on APTN.

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Featured, Mohawk Girls

Mohawk Girls: That’s just the way it is

This week on Mohawk Girls, reality is not all it is cracked up to be for our fab four. Caitlin (Heather White) realizes all of her past relationships have been dysfunctional, Bailey (Jenny Pudavick) feels Watio (Jimmy Blais) is forcing her to compromise her wedding dreams, Zoe (Brittany LeBorgne) feels she needs to dumb down her election platform in order to be elected, and Anna (Maika Harper) may not be ready to fit in at Kahnawa:ke after all. And that, folks is just the way it is. Sometimes life is not how we envision it to be.

This week, Caitlin and Luscious Leon (Dwain Murphy) went on their first dates and Leon was not sparing any romantic detail. Fancy restaurant, champagne, presents and he COOKS too—where do I sign up? Leon is definitely out to woo and Caitlin—having only dated Mohawk men like Butterhead (Meegwun Fairbrother)—is completely off balance as Leon treats her like the princess she deserves to be. Bailey and Anna seem happy for her. However, Zoe lashes out, worried Caitlin’s reputation will suffer and—dare I suggest—her own reputation by association? Despite these little hurdles, Caitlin continues on her path of self-improvement and starts her own home business with Leon’s support.

Meanwhile, Bailey and Watio are planning their wedding. Now we all know relationships are all about compromise, but given these two and their differences, are these compromises going to prove too much? Watio wants a simple wedding with a barbeque so they can include everyone, but Bailey has always dreamed of the huge fairy tale celebration. Auntie Velma (Ashley Michaels) steps in to pay for Bailey’s dream, but that causes some consternation. Watio’s pride is hurt. Eventually, he relents and Bailey gets the perfect wedding gown. After all, as Bailey’s dad Sose (Glen Gould) says: “Happy wife, happy life!” But how long can that type of happiness last?

Since Anna dropped out of school, she has found a job waitressing at the local bar. This provides an opportunity to make new friends at Kahnawa:ke, and a perfect place to start hunting for a replacement for Thunder (Kyle Nobess). But who should appear as her new BFF? Butterhead. I definitely smell trouble ahead for Anna now that she is taking advice from Butterhead; not to mention, how is Caitlin going to react to this news?

And finally, Zoe  has refined her election platform for Chief but the girls find it too highbrow for Kahnawa:ke. Determined, Zoe heads out into the community to get  some input. Left feeling defeated, Ohserase (Shawn Youngchief) rallies around her, and I think I even saw a brief glimmer of a spark. But Zoe is still taunted by her sex addictions. Can she pull off this election without stumbling back into her old naughty “good girl” habits?

As a side note, in what I like to call “our cultural lesson of the night,” this episode touched on what is commonly referred to as “white guilt.”  Ironically, it occurs in the Caitlin/Leon storyline as Caitlin suspects Leon’s kindness comes from some need to “save the Indian.” This type of over reaction or compensation is common in mainstream society. When those of the settler populations come to learn of past horrors perpetrated on Indigenous populations they oftentimes overstep and try to take over in a need to quell their guilt. In tonight’s episode, it becomes clear Leon is not at all committing this but rather is just trying to demonstrate to Caitlin how much he cares.

What do you think is going to happen next? What is going on with Butterhead and Anna? Let me know in the comments below!

Mohawk Girls can be seen Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET on APTN.

If you are looking for more Mohawk Girls content, you can slide on over to their website and pick up some tips from “Butterhead’s Guide to the Galaxy,” along with other quizzes, pictures and news.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Wild Archaeology — Heiltsuk Nuyems

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First, I apologize for a lost week as I was attending a conference in New England. But I am ready to jump back in with a summary of Jenifer and Jacob’s adventures on Wild Archaeology as we explored the central coast of British Columbia.

The thrust of this episode focused on the Kelp Highway Hypothesis, which builds on the Pacific Coast Migration Model. This theory is based on the abundance of food contained within the kelp forests, including shellfish, marine mammals, seabirds and seaweed. By tracking these forests along the Pacific Rim, located along the coastal perimeters of Beringia (which we explored in Episodes 1 and 2), it would suggest a migratory route for populations in this region. Jenifer gets to explore with the sea otters that are indicative of a kelp forest.

Jacob goes diving again to explore the various kinds of kelp that populate a kelp forest and gets a first-hand look at the other creatures that populate this underwater ecosystem.

Then we moved inland to check out the remains of an old and remote Heiltsuk potlatch house once used by the communities that lived in this region at the time when potlatch was outlawed by the Canadian government. Like the one seen in this episode, these potlatch houses were located in an area that could be accessed quickly but still hidden deep within the coastal forests.

Finally, we visited Namu, an abandoned salmon cannery town that also housed one of the largest archaeological sites in existence. Microblades that carbon date back to 8250 BCE have been found in this region of coastal B.C. We also find some stone carvings deep in the inner tributaries in these territories.

A really picturesque episode exploring the B.C. coast. Can’t wait to see where we visit next week!

Wild Archaeology airs Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. ET on APTN.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Mohawk Ironworkers talks about health

Mohawk health has always been tied to the land. This week on Mohawk Ironworkers we explored health, home and heritage and what these mean to ironworkers. Additionally, how do the three H’s influence lives once you retire from ironworking?

Hayden Hemlock, a retired Mohawk ironworker from a long line of ironworkers, discussed the importance of family and community. “No matter how far you travel from home to work you always return to that home base.”  Even with his time spent growing up in New York while his father worked as an ironworker, home was still Kahnawa:ke. In the business of ironworking, there are many Mohawks, and their camaraderie is the envy of others who work in the trade. But even with this close-knit working community, home beckoned from afar.

Hayden suffered a fall while working, and his injuries have prevented him from returning to ironworking. Despite his injuries, he refused surgery and turned instead to traditional medicines in order to assist with his body’s healing process. Raised with his grandparent’s influence, Hayden developed a deep connection to the land, fostering a deep respect for, and responsibility to, protecting it. Now, instead of walking iron he spends his time building houses in his community of Kahnawa:ke.

Kaniehtakeron Martin is also an ironworker; he has taken a different approach and runs 20 miles every week to maintain his fitness.   When he first started the job, Kaniehtakeron fell into the trap of work hard, play hard, and repeat. Recognizing this lifestyle was unhealthy, he began eating and exercising regularly. “Gegs” now runs marathons in his spare time to take care of his body and to withstand the rigors of his chosen occupation.

This was one the stronger episodes in Mohawk Ironworkers. We got a real sense of the these two men, and how ironworking has affected them on and off the job. Kudos to executive producer Michelle Smith.

Mohawk Ironworkers airs Tuesdays at 7 p.m. ET on APTN.

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Featured, Podcast

TV, eh? podcast episode 215 — Fishing in Honey Holes

Recording on Halloween night means talking The Hilarious House of Frightenstein before the scariness of the November calendar.

Greg recounts his Anne of Green Gables set visit where he spoke to Martin Sheen, who portrays Matthew Cuthbert in the YTV TV-movie before talking about his next trip: the set of CBC’s Pure. Then he and Anthony close out by discussing APTN’s foray into the U.S. in 2017 with All Nations Network.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

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