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The Annanacks

Accession number: 
1964.0001
Alternate Titles: 
Les Annanacks
French
Production Years: 
1964

Languages:

Film Properties: 
Length (feet): 
1100 (16mm)
Length (minutes): 
30
Holding Institutions: 

University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario: 16mm.

University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario: 16mm.

Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec: 16mm.
"Produced by Crawley Films for the National Film Board of Canada, this film profiles the Annanacks Inuit of George River in the Ungava Bay region of Quebec. They are shown attempting to survive by logging and establishing an Inuit-run cooperative."

Library and Archives Canada: 16mm, 3/4".

University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta: 16mm
"The Story of an Eskimo community in the Ungava Bay region of northern Quebec and how it formed the first successful cooperative in northern Canada. The film begins with the history of the Annanack family, which at one point was reduced to only one member, and then describes how, with other Eskimos of the George River Community, The Annanacks formed a cooperative, with government help, which included a sawmill, a fish freezing plant, and a small boat-building industry."
From the Catalogue of 16mm Educational Motion Pictures. Published by the Educational Media Division, Department of Extension, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1967.

Bibliography: 

University of Waterloo Audiovisual Services Catalog.
"The film opens with a story by George Annanack of how his father had to resort to cannibalism to save himself from starvation. In 1959, the Inuit of George River, Quebec, informed the government of their desire to move to an area with a more abundant food supply. With government intervention, it was decided that they would be able to stay in their home territory by providing the Inuit of Fort Burwell with wood, of which the George River people had a plenteous supply, in return for meat, which the Fort Burwell Inuit had in excess of their needs. Thus began the first Inuit cooperative, as the George River Inuit set up a logging operation. Later, their cooperative ventures enlarged to include a sawmill, and a fishing cooperative in which they both caught and processed the fish. The election of the first president and board of directions of the co-op is shown, and the narrator ends the story by saying of George Annanack, the new president, that 'the terrible story of his family's past will never be told of this—or future—generations.'"

Online Database National Film Board of Canada.
"In 1964 an Inuit community in Northern Québec formed the first successful co-operative there. The film describes how, with other Inuit of the George River community, the Annanacks formed a joint venture that included a sawmill, a fish-freezing plant and a small boat-building industry."

"Georges Annanack, premier président de la Coopérative esquimaude de Port-Nouveau-Québec, raconte un chapitre de sa vie et de celle des Inuit de l'Ungava, dans un document dont on a souligné la qualité et la valeur ethnographique. Au début de 1959, les quelque cent cinquante Inuit de Port-Nouveau-Québec voulaient quitter leur petite patrie parce qu'ils mouraient de faim, le caribou ayant disparu de la région. Une équipe du gouvernement se rendit donc sur place, rencontra les habitants et chercha, avec eux, de nouvelles façons de subsister en ce coin de l'Arctique qu'ils aimaient tant. On parla fabrication d'embarcations légères, pêche à l'omble, et fondation d'une coopérative, tandis que les Inuit s'initiaient avec intérêt au domaine nouveau du monde des affaires..."

Film News 20, no.3 (1963): 10.
"15th Annual Canadian Film Awards: May 10th [...] Crawley Films received awards for Partners for Progress ('Sales and Promotion') and The Annanacks ('Television Films'), made for the Canadian Broadcasting Commission."

Comments: 
George Koneac: translator.