The Experimental Eskimos

The Experimental Eskimos (2009)

May 9th, 20091h 10min

Documentary
60%

Overview

In the early 1960s the Canadian government conducted an experiment in social engineering. Three young Inuit boys were separated from their families in the Arctic and were sent to Ottawa, the nation's capital, to live with white families and to be educated in white schools. The consequences the experiment would have on the boys, their identity and culture was brushed aside. The bureaucrats did not anticipate the outcome. The three grow up to be political activists and leaders - often at odds with the government that brought them south. They establish aboriginal rights in Canada and are instrumental in the creation of Nunavut, the world's largest self-governed aboriginal territory. But it all comes at a tremendous personal cost. Peter Ittinuar, Zebedee Nungak, and Eric Tagoona recount their stories, achievements and challenges in this film about an attempt at assimilation, empowerment, and the triumph of the human spirit.


Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!

Trailer

Similar Movies

Children of the Arctic

Children of the Arctic


Released on: 2014-09-26
Documentary

Children of the Arctic is a portrait of five Native Alaskan teenagers growing up in Barrow - the nor...

BETWEEN

BETWEEN


Released on:
Documentary

Initially embarking on an unplanned personal filmmaking project, Ilias Boukhemoucha finds himself dr...

Martha of the North

Martha of the North


Released on: 2009-01-23
Documentary

In the mid-1950s, lured by false promises of a better life, Inuit families were displaced by the Can...

Timuti

Timuti


Released on: 2012-01-01
Documentary

In Inukjuak, an Inuit community in the Eastern Arctic, a baby boy has come into the world and they c...

Motherland Memories

Motherland Memories


Released on: 2022-11-19
Documentary

Ompung Putra Boru, a sixties indigenous Batak woman from Humbang Hasundutan, North Sumatra, retraces...

As Long as the Rivers Run

As Long as the Rivers Run


Released on: 1971-01-01
Documentary

Examines the violence and civil disobedience leading up to the hallmark decision in U.S. v. Washingt...

Highway to the Arctic

Highway to the Arctic


Released on: 2017-02-21
Documentary

Every winter for decades, the Northwest Territories, in the Canadian Far North, changes its face. Wh...

Natsik Hunting

Natsik Hunting


Released on: 1975-01-01
Documentary

Mosha Michael made an assured directorial debut with this seven-minute short, a relaxed, narration-f...

Taking Alcatraz

Taking Alcatraz


Released on: 2015-11-01
Documentary

A documentary account by award-winning filmmaker John Ferry of the events that led up to the 1969 Na...

Twice Colonized

Twice Colonized


Released on: 2023-03-30
Documentary

Renowned Inuit lawyer Aaju Peter has long fought for the rights of her people. When her son suddenly...

Nowhere Land

Nowhere Land


Released on: 2015-10-17
Documentary

Documentary about filmmaker Bonnie Ammaaq's memories of life on Baffin Island, where her family move...

Xondaros - Guarani Resistance

Xondaros - Guarani Resistance


Released on: 2023-06-08
Documentary, Drama

The 6 Guarani villages of Jaraguá, in São Paulo, fight for land rights, for human rights and for the...

Nanook of the North

Nanook of the North


Released on: 1922-06-11
Documentary, Drama

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northe...

The Last Igloo

The Last Igloo


Released on: 2019-06-14
Documentary

Documentary that follows a lone Inuit as he hunts, fishes and constructs an igloo, a way of life thr...

Red Fever

Red Fever


Released on: 2024-05-01
Documentary

Red Fever is a witty and entertaining feature documentary about the profound -- yet hidden -- Indige...

Three Thousand

Three Thousand


Released on: 2017-10-22
Animation, Documentary

Inuit artist Asinnajaq plunges us into a sublime imaginary universe—14 minutes of luminescent, archi...

Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos

Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos


Released on: 2011-01-01
Documentary

Inuit traditional face tattoos have been forbidden for a century, and almost forgotten. Director Ale...

Amarok's Song - The Journey to Nunavut

Amarok's Song - The Journey to Nunavut


Released on: 1998-01-01
Documentary

In this feature-length documentary, three generations of the Caribou Inuit family come together to t...

Mauri

Mauri


Released on: 2024-06-28
Documentary

Mauri (life principle, life force, vital essence inherent in all living things) The film is an inti...

Feather Fall

Feather Fall


Released on: 2025-06-02
Documentary

This short documentary revisits Mi’kmaq territory, where an iconic moment was captured in 2013—ignit...