The Ballad of Crowfoot

The Ballad of Crowfoot

| 10 min
Free
streaming

Also available

Released in 1968 and often referred to as Canada’s first music video, The Ballad of Crowfoot was directed by Willie Dunn, a Mi’kmaq/Scottish folk singer and activist who was part of the historic Indian Film Crew, the first all-Indigenous production unit at the NFB. The film is a powerful look at colonial betrayals, told through a striking montage of archival images and a ballad composed by Dunn himself about the legendary 19th-century Siksika (Blackfoot) chief who negotiated Treaty 7 on behalf of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The IFC’s inaugural release, Crowfoot was the first Indigenous-directed film to be made at the NFB.

The Ballad of Crowfoot is among the most popular and most widely screened films from the CFC/SN program. Filmed entirely by members of the Indian Film Crew, the First Nations unit founded by the NFB's National Indian Training Programme in cooperation with the Company for Young Canadians, The Ballad of Crowfoot asserted Aboriginal rights and placed the media in targeted community's hands. The skilful compilation of archival photographs in combination with the stirring use of director Willie Dunn's original song create a space in which deference and tribute are paid to the legendary Blackfoot leader while the stakes for contemporary First Nations struggles are laid bare. A rousing finale of contemporary newspaper headlines cataloguing a series of injustices against the First Nations people through Canada's history establishes an informative bridge to the actions and issues captured in CFC films You Are on Indian Land (1969), God Help the Man Who Would Part With his Land (1971), Cree Hunters of Mistassini (1974), and Our Land Is Our Life (1974).

Thomas Waugh, Ezra Winton, Michael Baker
From the playlist: Challenge for Change

Notable for being one of the first films produced by the NFB’s Indian Film Crew, The Ballad of Crowfoot is also remarkable for its haunting archival images set to an impassioned ballad written and performed by director Willie Dunn: “Crowfoot, Crowfoot, why the tears? You’ve been a brave man for many years, Why the sadness? Why the sorrow? Maybe there will be a better tomorrow.”

Gil Cardinal
From the playlist: The Aboriginal Voice: the National Film Board and Aboriginal Filmmaking through the Years

Pedagogical evaluations and study guides are only available to CAMPUS subscribers.

CAMPUS

Features designed specifically for teachers. Learn more

Already subscribed? Sign in

Embed this code on your site

The Ballad of Crowfoot, Willie Dunn, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Video player width

by Reset
Credits
  • director
    Willie Dunn
  • script
    Willie Dunn
  • music
    Willie Dunn
  • producer
    Barrie Howells

  • Elemental

    A powerful, fast-moving video showing the desecration of the native way of life in the 19th and 20th centuries.

    Elemental, 14 May 2023
  • None

    Very moving video...Thank you for sharing this and educating me.

    None, 3 Jan 2022
  • MTMohawk

    I heard this was Canada's first music video.

    MTMohawk, 7 Sep 2016
  • lgemmel

    A haunting story... I have only discovered this now, but the ballad is so very relevant.

    lgemmel, 30 Sep 2014
  • kenprue

    It's 2012 and nothing has changed. The government's still at their diminishing game. In Attawapiskat they take what pride remains. They tally your losses and then they blame. They treat you like children. Control you with shame.

    kenprue, 11 Jan 2012
  • kenprue

    It's 2012 and nothing has changed. The government's still at their diminishing game. In Attawapiskat they take what pride remains. They tally your losses and then they blame. They treat you like children. Control you with shame.

    kenprue, 11 Jan 2012
  • jcurell

    An incredibly powerful digital story--unfortunatly still so relevant today...

    jcurell, 6 Dec 2011

The NFB is committed to respecting your privacy

We use cookies to ensure that our site works efficiently, as well as for advertising purposes.

If you do not wish to have your information used in this way, you can modify your browser settings before continuing your visit.

Learn more