Power (1996)

"In 1990, a group of Cree and Inuit captured the imagination of the U.S. media when they paddled their Odeyak - a hybrid of the Cree canoe and the Inuit kayak - to the shores of New York City on April 22, Earth Day. It was the culmination of a six-week journey by dog sled from the Great Whale River in the Canadian sub-Arctic, down the Ottawa to the St. Lawrence and Hudson rivers. "For the Cree, it was a courageous strategy to save their river and a way of life by bringing world attention to their fight to stop Hydro-Quebec from proceeding with its Great Whale hydroelectric plant. "More than four years later, the Cree's perseverance and ingenuity paid off. The newly elected nationalist Quebec government, concerned with its international image, felt obliged to indefinitely shelve the Great Whale project. This proved to be an exceptional victory for the Cree and their environmentalist allies in Canada and the United States. "As they celebrated victory, the strengthened Cree nation was faced with a new challenge: the nationalist Parti Quebecois government wanted to include the Cree and their land in an independent Quebec. "With unprecedented access to sensitive strategy meetings, confidential talks between leaders, and intimate moments among the Cree, filmmakers Magnus Isaacson and Glen Salzman present a compelling, behind-the-scenes account of one of the most important environmental, native rights and political battles of our times."