Spirits in the Wilderness raw: #13 Salmon Original
Raw footage for a documentary commissioned for the opening of the Shedd Aquarium’s Oceanarium. Producer, director, and editor Judy Hoffman documents an aboriginal fisherman, Roy Cranmer, fighting to preserve the ‘Namgis band’s historic fishing grounds and land of origin while protecting the vibrant ecosystems and salmon populations that have sustained the Pacific Northwest Coast region for centuries. Also known by the anglicized name Nimpkish, the ‘Namgis are part of the Kwakwaka’wakw (initially named the Kwakiut’l by Franz Boas) First Nation and have their homeland in what is now British Columbia, on the northern end of Vancouver Island. Hoffman has maintained a long relationship with the ‘Namgis band, having been adopted into the Cranmer family at the Cranmer potlatch in November 2017.