Funeral rites Pacific Northwest Indian tribe

Young Native American man Thomas is a nerd in his reservation, wearing oversize glasses and telling everyone stories no-one wants to hear. His parents died in a fire in 1976, and Thomas was saved by Arnold. Arnold soon left his family, and Victor hasn't seen his father for 10 years. When Victor hears Arnold has died, Thomas offers him funding for the trip to get Arnold's remains.

2012, John Dalli, the European Commissioner for Health, is accused of corruption and influence peddling related to the tobacco industry. French Member of the European Parliament José Bové, maverick politician and prominent figure of the environmental party, suspects a setup by the tobacco manufacturer Swedish Match, potentially involving the President of the European Commission, José Barroso. Standing alone against all odds, he decides to investigate and unravel this story, which shook the foundations of the entire European institutions.

Two brothers struggle to uncover the truth behind the mining accident that killed their father and bankrupted the town.

Blues Documentary

A young, self-destructive Montana Blackfoot Indian, his mind groggy with alcohol and tormented by childhood memories, discovers that his wife has left him, taking with her his prize rifle. He sets out to find her, but what he's really searching for is his own uncertain identity and a glimpse of salvation.

At the request of a dying Tiwi man and his family on Melville Island, this film was made of the pukumani (bereavement) ceremony to follow his death. The film observes the family through the long period of preparation for the ceremony, following age-old traditions. Dancing and face-painting are rehearsed, to the family’s satisfaction, and because “things should be right for this film”. For the two days of ceremony, the community moves to Carslake Beach where a smoking ritual is held to protect the participants from spirits. The cemetery poles are erected, traditional dances are performed along with personal dances by family members. Facial and body decoration is elaborate and spectacular. After saying a final farewell to the old man, the community and the family leave the Beach and return to the village where routine life resumes.

Funerals are of enormous cultural significance in the Kingdom of Tonga. In contrast with the taboos regarding death in Western society, death in the Kingdom of Tonga follows a highly ritualized grieving process. The last journey is accompanied by joyous song, hair cutting, gift giving, changing of the garb, lovingly made mats and tapa and social protocol. This documentary video provides an ethnographic window into the Tongan funeral ceremonies and explains the process through which the people elevate their deceased to the role of ancestor.

Because of work commitments and the influence of Christian Missions, traditional mourning ceremonies among the Tiwi people of Melville Island were becoming rare at the time of making this film (1974). The full, elaborate ceremony, called the Pukumani ceremony, lasted several days and involved large numbers of people in ritual roles. It was performed here with full awareness that this may be one of the last times such a ceremony would be staged in the traditional way. The ceremony was prepared by the Mangatopi family of Snake Bay after the death of a 35-year old family member killed by his wife. The dead man’s father, Geoffrey Mangatopi, and his family requested this film to be made as a public record of a disappearing tradition. Unique to the Tiwi people of Melville and Bathurst islands, the Pukumani ceremony was not only performed to safe-guard the passage of the dead person into the spirit world, but to re-affirm kinship relationships and traditional Tiwi culture.

A look at the Kwakiutl Indians of north Vancouver Island, prolific totem carvers. At Fort Rupert, George Hunt, in headress, carves a totem pole with an adze. He and his wife, in headband and blanket and an authority on traditional medicine and religion, perform a ritualistic dance. They are joined by other Indians in the dance which includes the use of ceremonial masks, drums, and rattles. Concert soprano and student of Indian lore, Juliette Gaultier de la Vérendrye, observes and practices the drums and chants. Mrs. Hunt is also seen making baskets, digging for clams, and gathering wild rice and carrots. Lucy Moor and her husband John Monkey arrive in a dugout canoe. Exceptional footage: commemorative totems at Fort Rupert, and a profile shot of Lucy Moon whose head is unnaturally elongated as a result of childhood binding