Looking Back in Kewekapawetan: Return After the Flood. Research, remembrance and reclamation of a Hydro story

This essay analyses Jennifer Dysart’s 2014 documentary film Kewekapawetan: Return After the Flood, which tells the past and present-day story of the Northern Manitoba Ithinew (Cree) community South Indian Lake and its entanglement with Manitoba Hydro. Dysart documents the history of colonial hydro policy by showcasing rare archival footage from the late 1960s and reclaims this material for the community she has roots in. At the same time, she records her search to learn about her father’s life and her efforts to reconnect with family by spending time on the land. Discussion between author and filmmaker throughout the research and writing process engages “visiting” as a methodology for studying Indigenous narrative arts. Ultimately, Dysart’s visual storytelling is a critical site of knowledge-making about the dislocation caused by large-scale resource extraction that foregrounds reconnection to family, community and land.