Documentary highlights Native cowboys

Documentary highlights Native cowboys

Rodeo Riders, an action-packed one hour long documentary about Native cowboys and rodeo, premiered on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network on Sept. 7. The documentary, recently nominated for a Leo Award for excellence in cinematography, was shot over the summer of 2010 at the Calgary Stampede, in Tsuu T’ina Nation and Kainai Nation as well as Merritt and the Chilcotin area of BC. Some of those featured in the film included a young up-and-coming rookie named Cam Bruised Head (winner at the 2010 Calgary Stampede in Novice Bareback Riding), and the Mitsuing family, who are well-known competitors on the Canadian chuckwagon racing circuit. “Native cowboys are alive and well in Canada. And, they’ve been around for a long, long time,” said Tania Koenig-Gauchier a Cree-Métis television producer from Vancouver Island,  who has spent the past two years creating and developing the project. “Native people have played a major role in the ranching and rodeo history of Canada. In fact, some of the greatest Canadian cowboys to have ever lived are of Native ancestry. My goal is to honour the cowboys of the past and the present and to shed light on this unique aspect of Western Canadian Aboriginal life.” Koenig-Gauchier is a former Albertan whose family is from the Peavine Métis Settlement.