Haley Reynolds

Yvonne Tiger
NAS 1000
November 1st , 2018

Movie Review For “Older Than America”

I really enjoyed this movie, as I found it highlighted a lot of the information we had been

going over in class. I thought it really made a point to show the hardships and detrimental things

that the non- First Nation people did to the First Nations and the lasting impacts that they made. I

found that a lot of what Rain went through concerning her visions contributed to the Indigenous

ways of knowing. When Rain’s visions start they reflect on all of the various postulates that are

within Indigenous knowledge. One of the postulates is known as Reciprocity, which recognizes

the “dual nature of every action and reaction [and] … that nothing occurs without a

corresponding reaction” (Frideres,56). Reciprocity is evident within the film as it relates to the

knowledge that Rain gains when she begins having her visions of the past. She is transformed by

this knowledge as a person, thus she is assumed responsibility of it and begins to question why

everything around her is happening the way that it is, and how it connects to the past.

Another postulate is inner and outer space is based on the notion that “all the elements

that make up the world are connected and that the individual is interconnected to the whole-

bringing about a sense of exclusiveness” (Frideres,57). This is evident when Rain is visited by

the spirit of her uncle. Throughout the story, he is there trying to communicate to her about

different events that have happened in the past that have contributed to her own future as well as

her families. His presence contributes to how the textbook describes how the spirits in our lives

“give meaning to existence and establish a starting point for Aboriginal epistemology”

(Frideres,57). At the end of the film in the sweat lodge, Rain’s uncle shows himself to her
demonstrating how he was always there to help her understand herself and her relations with the

land and her people.

The term “redress” which refers to settler views of “innocence and entitlement”

contributes to the treatment of First Nations (Frideres, 137). Within the movie, this treatment is

evident when John Goodfeather is not acknowledged for as his work as a policeman. Many of

the non- First Nation people’s do not treat him with the respect he deserves, as they consider

themselves and their jobs of more importance than his own. It was hard to watch, knowing that

the church still had so much power over what could happen to Rain, and John was left helpless

until he was able to convince one of his friends to help him.

Over all of the devastating impacts that Residential Schools made, the movie shows how

these impacted the First Nations culture so severely. It demonstrated the role of the church, and

how much of an impact it had even years later. This type of control, and deceit was scary to see,

and it was hard to contain feelings of anger towards structures that so many people turned to for

help. Rain’s mother demonstrated many of the First Nation’s that were affected by these power

structures and the way that they chose to run these institutions.

The movie brought up a lot of issues that First Nations deal with on a day to day basis, it

opened my eyes up to these issues and then throughout class learned about the history behind

these issues even more. I’m very glad I have the opportunity to be educated on these issues and

see where non- First Nation peoples need to admit to their mistakes and work on making a

difference.
 Works Cited

Frideres, James S. First Nations in the Twenty-First Century. Oxford University Press,

2016.