Film project inspired by the tragic death of a stranger

For 11 years, Xstine Cook has been trying to realize her goal to honor a woman struck down by violence.

Gloria Black Plume’s body was found in an alleyway in the South East area of Ramsay in Calgary. She had been stomped to death.

“I actually lived down the block when it happened and for some reason it really deeply affected me,” Cook said. “For four nights I went down to the National Hotel where they said (Black Plume) was picked up, and I just stood outside the hotel and sang…and I’m not a singer (but) I sang for her.”

Then came the reality that there would be no justice for the woman from the Blood Tribe. Two men were suspected of Black Plume’s beating, and one man was brought to trial and found guilty. He served only three years of a 10-year sentence when he was re-tried and found not guilty of the offence.

Black Plume was a mother, grandmother, aunt and cousin, yet no one would be held accountable for the circumstances of her terrible death.

Cook said she was just overwhelmed by the sense of powerlessness in the face of the justice system.
“I do believe it has to do with being Aboriginal and an Aboriginal woman.”

It disturbed Cook so much that she set out with a plan to commemorate Black Plume through art. Cook is the artistic director with the Calgary Animated Objects Society, a non-profit group dedicated to building community through art. She envisioned a mural that would provide Black Plume with the respect that she so richly deserved, but never received.

Cook set about looking for Black Plume’s relatives for their permission to undertake the project, and sought to find just the right artist that would be able to honor the woman’s memory.

Jesse Gouchey had just completed work with Calgary’s Quickdraw Animation Society and the Aboriginal Youth Animation Project. Quickdraw is an artist-run film production co-op, dedicated to providing access to resources to independent animators to create their own productions. Gouchey was part of a team that was given 20 weeks to create animations on issues of concern to youth.

The emerging Cree artist was brought into Cook’s Black Plume project. Gouchey relies primarily on painting and graffiti art to graphically express his concerns and ideas, but the Black Plume project expanded beyond that. Cook and Gouchey would undertake to create an animated short film.

Using the mural as the backdrop, characters would be drawn and filmed through stop-motion animation to create an animated story. The work entails photos being taken of each character in its various stages of activity to create movement on film.

Kaily Bird, the daughter of Gloria, had been found, contacted and was presented with the project.
Bird, having been hurt by the negative media coverage of her mother’s death so many years ago, and the overwhelming emotion that came along with those memories, was hesitant at first to agree to the project, but eventually gave her blessing.

“I was saddened by the project idea because it reminded me of all the terrible times my family went through when we lost our mother,” said Bird. “However, looking at Jesse’s work, I was convinced he would represent our mother in a respectful way and that she deserved this acknowledgment.”

Gouchey met with Gloria’s family and presented them the storyboard. He didn’t really know too much about Gloria, the person, or even the issue of missing and slain Aboriginal women in Canada. The project encouraged him to put a lot of thought into it, on a spiritual and symbolic level, he said.

“I’m a lot more conscious of the reality of what happens out there, whereas before I wasn’t aware of how neglected Native people are in the court system...it opened my eyes a lot more.”

As he learned it made it so that he wanted to make the best film he could make.

“Just for the family and everyone that would see it. The family ended up loving the first story I came up with, so that made me think it was really meaningful, a kind of ‘meant to be’ kind of project...I have to say I did learn stuff about myself.”.

Though this project does not, according to Bird, provide full closure on what has happened, it does give the family a sense of peace because Black Plume was not forgotten or ignored.

The mural was unveiled in the Ramsay subdivision on Oct. 3

Gouchey said the film will eventually make its way through the short film circuit on a national level with the hope that people will realize that there are other people who care. The film will be shown on Nov. 5 at the Moon Stone Creation Native Gallery & Gift Shop in Inglewood, Calgary.