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About
Robert Gardner, then a graduate student of Anthropology at the University of Washington in Seattle, went to Blunden Harbour to research a major film project on the Kwakiutl about whom Ruth Benedict had written so eloquently. The larger work was never done and this small film, documenting everyday life, remains an invaluable record of the community. Gently paced to capture the essence of life, the film relies on an observational style and compelling visuals to tell the story.
“In the middle of the twentieth century, Blunden Harbour was a small village on the coast of Vancouver Island in British Colombia inhabited by a handful of impoverished Kwakiutl Indians who gained their meagre livelihood from fishing and gathering... It is a beginner's attempt to impart the rhythm and atmosphere of a place and a people.” – Robert Gardner
Subjects:
Indigenous Studies:
Regions:
Credits
Blunden Harbour
Written and Directed by
Robert Gardner
Voice
Richard Selig
Photography
W.R. Heick
P. Jacquemin
Sound Recording
M.E. Dowd