The Washing of Tears

Jun 21

Notes from Hugh

The first idea for a film made the Mowachaht and Muchalaht communities at Friendly Cove and at Gold River came from the producer Gillian Darling. She had met Mike Maquinna, son of the late Chief at the Gold River Reserve, and Mike had told her some of the story of the removal of the Whalers Shrine from its original and sacred site at Friendly Cove to the Museum of Natural History in New York. Gillian, realising that this was an episode of profound importance to the Mowachaht and a compelling episode in colonial history on the British Columbia, Canada coast, agreed with Mike that it should be the subject of a film.

Gillian, partnering with Cari Green as producers, asked me to direct. With the help of the wonderful cameraman Kirk Tougas, and the support of many members of the Mowachaht and Muchalaht First Nations, we made a series of visits to Friendly Cove and the Gold River Reserve, filming at three different times of year, and traveling with four members of the First Nation, to the museum in New York.

On July 22nd, 2019, ten years after it was made, The Washing of Tears was screened by the Mowachaht and Muchalaht community at Friendly Cove and at Gold River, the two places central to the people’s history and lives. I was unable to be there, but wrote a message to go with the screenings. This is my most recent attempt to convey what it meant to make that film.

Many many greetings to everyone.

I am sitting at a desk in England, looking at a computer screen; and I am imagining you there in Mowachaht/Muchalaht Territory about to watch your film. I am full of disappointment that I was not able to get there to be with you to share this wonderful occasion. But I am so delighted that the screening is happening. 25 years have gone by much too fast. It seems like a large number of years.

But time is so strange and complicated. In my mind and heart it is no time at all since we were filming at Yuquot, alongside the mill in Gold River, on the river. Everything and everyone is so strong and vivid in my mind. Being there to make the film was a wonderful flow of experiences for me, for all of us who worked on the film. We never forget how much wisdom and generosity and warmth we met and received. I know that Gillian and Cari, as well as Kirk the cameraman and all our team, remember that time as a joy and a privilege. I join with them in saying thank you for such an amazing opportunity to be there, to be in the land, in that history, with you, 25 years ago.

The passing of time has meant the loss of very dear friends and relatives. I think so warmly and with great sadness of Ambrose Maquinna and Jerry Jack, both of whom provided such vital guidance and insight. And of Barb Cranmer, who worked on every part of the production. And our brilliant editor, Haida Paul, who loved the film and everyone in it. Life, however brilliant and inspiring, flows on.

Yet there is one way in which time stands still: the film itself. What we saw and heard, some of what we were told and given to understand, some of the stories people wanted to share, and those wonderful people themselves, are in the film today just as they were when first we worked there in 1993 and 1994. I realise that this brings grief as well as happiness. But I can only hope that as we see and hear them now they will once again be sharing themselves, their wisdom and insights, with all the new and future generations. In your film, as in your memories, they are with us always.

Everything in this project grew from what Mowachaht and Muchalaht people chose to share and explain. This was always your film; we the filmmakers did our best to make the people’s voices and choices clear and alive. We worked with them and for them. So this is more your film than ‘ours’. Every time I get a chance to show the film I offer thanks to those who are in it, and explain to each audience that The Washing of Tears is an intimate and very special journey into how those in the film wanted to share their stories, their view of their world.

At the very end of the film we put in a dedication - to the courage and wisdom of the Mowachaht and Muchalaht people. I offer this again as I write these words to you from far away: the film is a celebration of life and wellbeing by people who knew that they must fight every inch of the way to secure wellbeing and life. That is the inspiration, the courage.

Synopsis

In 1903, a unique and magnificent Whaler's shrine was shipped from Friendly Cove, on the far northwest coast of Canada, to the Museum of Natural History, New York. The shrine had lain at the cultural heart of the Mowachaht, whale hunters and fishermen who had lived at Friendly Cove for thousands of years. In the 1960s and '70s, all but one family left their ancient village – they moved to Vancouver Island, to a new site under the walls of a pulp mill. They suffered extremes of pollution, violence, and alcohol. Then, in the 1990s, in defiance of the agony of their history and to overcome the grief of the present, the Mowachaht and their neighbours, the Muchalaht, revived their songs and dances, revisited their shrine and rediscovered their pride.

Production: 1994 / 54 min

Where to find this film:

Free streaming with the National Film Board of Canada

Director

Hugh Brody

Script

Hugh Brody

Producer

Gillian Darling

Cari Green

George Johnson

Associate Producer