Spirit Bay
Spirit Bay was an aboriginal family television show of 14 half-hour episodes that aired on CBC Television and TVOntario from 1980 to 1986. The show focuses on the lives of townsfolk on an Ojibwe reservation town near MacDiarmid, Ontario. Here, the residents have adapted to white society while retaining traditional links to the land through fishing, trapping and hunting. The show details the spiritual kinship between Spirit Bay families, nature, and modern life on the reserve from a young person's viewpoint. Being the first true aboriginal television series, it set the stage for all other native Canadian programming thereafter (such as The Rez, North of 60 and Moccasin Flats), and paved the way for many famous first nations, Canadian actors.
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[edit] Notable actors from the series
- Graham Greene as Pete "Baba"
- Tom Jackson as Will
- Tantoo Cardinal as Rabbit's foster mother Annie
- Gary Farmer as Hack's uncle Cheemo
- Shirley Cheechoo as Mavis and Tafia's mother
- Monique Mojica as Hack's mother Gloria
- Margo Kane as the school teacher
Lesser known elder actors included:
- Gladys Taylor as Teawash
- Colleen Loucks as Aunt Lily
- Ron Cook as Baba Shigobo
- Blake Debassige
Noted elder aboriginal actor George Clutesi (who played Old Bernard) appeared in a few episodes. In one memorable episode he helps the community deal with the white man's upsetting of a 500 year old native burial ground.
[edit] Child actors from the series
One of the child stars of the show was Trevor Smith, who played Rabbit, a young teen who comes to the reserve from the city after he is adopted. He was the only actor in the series who was not of native origin. Other child actors on the show included:
- Cynthia Debassige as Tafia
- Diane Debassige as Mavis
- Lance Migwans as Hack
- Eugene Thompson as Minnow
- Liza Haldane as Lenore
- Mark Bruder as Elton
Lesser used child characters included: Tonka (Elton's brother) and Rose (a young teen who helps the kids in a winter bus accident by using her survival know-how).
[edit] Theme music
The haunting theme song was penned by Canadian music and acting legend Buffy Sainte Marie.
[edit] Filming location
The show was shot on location in MacDiarmid, Ontario on Lake Nipigon at the Rocky Bay First Nation.
[edit] Episode titles and synopsis
- A Time to Be Brave- Tafia has to overcome her fear of trains to help her father survive in the dead of winter.
- Rabbit Goes Fishing- Rabbit takes a boat out too far.
- A Real Kid- Rabbit finds out that his foster mother, Annie, is pregnant, and he runs away for fear he will be ignored.
- The Blueberry Bicycle- Elton uses his money to get spare parts for his bike from elder Teawash, and by doing so learns a valuable lesson in the town's bike race.
- Words on a Page- Lenore writes a story that could win her a scholarship in the city, but her father is reluctant to let her enter it in a contest.
- Circle of Life- The kids find a native skeleton on an island. When a museum comes and take the bones to Thunder Bay the community is outraged, yet they find a way to bring them back for a proper ceremonial burial.
- Hack's Choice- Hack's uncle, a former WHA hockey pro, comes back to Spirit Bay to try to weasel him out of his father's medicine bag so he can sell it to collectors.
- Rabbit Pulls His Weight- Rabbit literally pulls his weight when he helps out a pilot whose plane has crashed.
- Hot News- Mavis and her cousin Mary want to write an article about an old Indian recipe, but end up fighting with one another in their canoe while a dangerous forest fire lingers nearby.
- Break In-
- Big Save- Spirit Bay's broomball team gets stranded in a blizzard and Rose has to use her survival know-how to save the kids.
- Dancing Feathers- Tafia is taken to Toronto for the annual pow wow festival.
- The Pride of Spirit Bay- Tafia learns the value of true art from her elders.
- Water Magic- Rabbit and Hack make a dangerous journey when they believe they have jinxed Cheemo's fishing trip.
