Birth of a Family

Birth of a Family (2017) is a touching feature-length documentary that I viewed at the Indigenous Film Festival at the Midland Cultural Centre last week.  Since I heard filmmaker Tasha Hubbard speak about this project a year or so ago, I have wanted to see it.

This film is not about a family reunion but a family union.  It follows the journey of four siblings who have never met each other before.  Separated from their young Dene single mother and each other during the infamous Sixties Scoop the four siblings grew up not knowing each other.  The oldest sibling Betty Ann works at a newspaper in Saskatoon and she spent decades finding their mother, and each sibling.  Betty Ann reconnected with their mother but she died before the other siblings were located.

The film begins at the Calgary airport where Betty Ann waits for one sibling after another to arrive.  Hubbard went and met with each one of them before they met each other so that they would know her when they all met and they could get on with what they had come to do.  She calls this "observational documentary filmmaking".  In other words, getting out of the way and let the story unfold naturally.

 This newly birthed family travels to Banff and spends some days doing things they have never done before, together.  They go onto a glacier, and the skywalk.   They spend time sharing photos about their lives and catch up on the 212 birthdays that they have missed since they are all in their fifties or sixties now.

Esther, Rosalie, Betty Ann and Ben in Banff

They talk honestly about their lives and grieve the time lost and then have one of many group hugs combined with bursts of laughter.  Although the years separated from their mother and each other cannot be recovered, they are grateful to have each other to share the grieving process with, as well as new adventures.

This newstory from Shaw Saskatoon will give you an idea about the film.

Betty Ann, Esther, Rosalie and Ben are all so open and generous with their experience.  I laughed, I cried, I felt the love they have for each other and I was amazed at the courage of these four adult siblings to move into this new adventure together even though it is scary and full of the unknown.

All four siblings were raised in non-Indigenous homes and as they begin to learn about their own heritage the issue of Indigenous children being raised away from their culture becomes fleshed out.  First Residential Schools, then the Sixties Scoop and now kids are still being taken away and put into foster care.  The Birth of a Family helps non-Indigenous people, to understand some of the impact of these policies which are still in effect.

Filmmaker Tasha Hubbard

Tasha Hubbard herself was taken from her parents when she was 3 months old during the Sixties Scoop and didn’t reunite with them until she was sixteen.  She has ten siblings she hadn’t met.  This helped Hubbard to connect with the family in the film. 

Check out the trailer here: 

And if you want to watch the full film, you can stream it on the National Film Board website here.  It is a story that needs to be told and heard.  It is part of the new story that we are all a part of.