“But I know that the outcome is so important, but also the process. “I personally worked through a lot of anger and some days (I felt) somewhat helpless because I wonder why I choose to do this work because it’s so painful,” Podemski said. According to a note at the end of each episode, “Today there are more Indigenous children in custody than ever before.” Obviously, there is an emotional weight to telling this kind of story - especially since the seizure of Indigenous children is an ongoing concern. “We even spoke with the person who coined the term Sixties Scoop”: Patrick Johnson, who wrote a 1983 report on Indigenous children and the child welfare system. “I think I can say that we are presenting something that is truly authentic from all perspectives,” Podemski said. To get the nuances of the story right - which jumps between 1968 when Bezhig, her sister Dora and brother Niizh are taken, and 1985 when Esther leaves law school and her fiancé behind in Montreal to search for her birth family in Regina - Podemski and her team did tons of research. “Learning about being taken by the government and being put into a family that she didn’t necessarily have to go to, it’s just really difficult for Esther.” “Her upbringing by her Jewish mother puts her in a complicated place of ‘I really want to respect my mom and respect the culture that I grew up in.’ But I feel just this longing for my origin. “What draws people to storytelling is when we see a character we relate to.”Īlthough Bezhig/Esther’s story is anchored in a specific experience, “there are many elements that are relatable to everybody about identity, about family, about who you are and where you come from,” she added.Ĭontois said Esther is in “this constant tug of war.” With “Little Bird,” “our job was to elevate this to a premium or prestige sort of level of storytelling,” said Podemski, who’s also known as an actor for “Dance Me Outside,” “Moccasin Flats” and other series and movies. It’s a co-production from Crave and specialty channel APTN, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.įor Podemski, that added only marginally to the usual pressure of making a TV series and hoping you did enough to get people to watch it. “Little Bird” is also one of the rare scripted TV shows with an Indigenous focus to make it onto a mainstream Canadian network or streaming service. This is the first time, as far as Podemski knows, that the Scoop has been the subject of a drama series. “So I’ve been deeply invested in bringing that story to light.” And many of those people were Sixties Scoop survivors. “My first TV series that I did in my early 20s was called ‘The Seventh Generation’ and we were travelling across the country telling stories about Indigenous youth who were overcoming barriers and accomplishing incredible things against the odds. Part of what made the experience magic for Contois was working with “all these incredible Indigenous women storytellers,” including Podemski, who is part Jewish and part Ojibwe director Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, who is Blackfoot and Sámi, and director Zoe Hopkins, who is Heiltsuk and Mohawk.įor her part, Podemski, 49, wasn’t part of the Scoop - although she had a close call when she was briefly taken from her Ojibwe mother as a baby - but “the work that I have done in my career as a writer, producer, director has intersected with the story of the Sixties Scoop since the beginning,” she said in a phone interview. And for some reason, I just could not let that feeling go of this role is meant for me.” “As an actor, they tell you, like, don’t get attached to any roles you do the audition and then you forget about it, you let it go. “It was just like magic, it was literal magic,” Contois said over the phone. But her friend Devery Jacobs, the Mohawk actor who stars in “Reservation Dogs,” mentioned Contois to Toronto-born Jennifer Podemski, the co-creator of “Little Bird.” The Winnipeg resident was on the verge of quitting acting for a more stable job since she wasn’t getting a lot of parts. It’s a role that Contois, a mother herself, felt was meant for her when she first auditioned. Taken from her home on a reserve in Saskatchewan at age five and adopted by a Jewish family in Montreal, the character begins a frustrating search for her birth family in her 20s. The series, which debuts on Crave and APTN Friday, is chiefly Bezhig’s story. Esther Rosenblum, in “Little Bird” and whose own father was part of the Scoop. There is not one of us who hasn’t been affected,” said Darla Contois, the Cree-Saulteaux actor and playwright who portrays Bezhig Little Bird, a.k.a. “Every Indigenous person in this country was affected by the Sixties Scoop or by residential schools.
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