These male students at the St. Joseph's Mission Indian Residential School participated in an Air Cadets program and summer camp as part of being integrated into white society. The Oscar-nominated film, "Sugarcane," explores the treatment of students at the school.
HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—For the first time, an Indigenous North American filmmaker has received an Oscar nomination. Julian Brave NoiseCat joined documentarian Emily Kassie to create, "Sugarcane," based on investigating systemic abuses inflicted by the government-funded St. Joseph's Mission in Williams Lake First Nation.
The documentary tells the story of NoiseCat's father, who was born in a dormitory at the school and found in the school's incinerator.
He was one of an estimated 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children forced to attend the schools, which were designed to assimilate them into Canadian society between 1893 and 1996. Up to 6,000 are said to have died.
NoiseCat had heard the stories about his father being born nearby and found in a dumpster. While making the film, he lived with his father for the first time since he was a young child. During that time, NoiseCat helped his father address the questions of his birth and upbringing.
Williams Lake reported in October 2024 that at least 55 children had died or disappeared while attending St. Joseph's-more than three times the number recorded by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation [NCTR] in Winnipeg.
In the year since it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, "Sugarcane" has screened for Canadian Parliament, at the U.S. White House and in various North American Indigenous communities and has won numerous awards. It has become a catalyst for dialogue and healing, shedding light on the dark past of institutions and has empowered survivors to share their stories, as well as to build understanding and reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. The film's website, http://www.sugarcane.com, offers resources for dialogue after watching the film in group settings.
The movie is nominated in the Oscars' Best Documentary Feature category. It also marks the first time that an Indigenous North American filmmaker has received an Oscar nomination.
In 97 years of the Oscars, no Native American person has ever won a competitive acting prize. Lily Gladstone, who is an executive producer on "Sugarcane," was nominated for best actress in 2024, but did not win the award.
