Film Review
Title: Club Native
Director: Tracy Deer
Film Length: 78:10 

HOT DOCS Club Native WEBSITE 

3 ½ Stars

Reviewed by Kristiana Barber (Calgary Correspondent - Canada)

It often seems that the world is comprised of an endless stream of red tape, rules and regulations. These boundaries are sometimes openly acknowledged and other times unspoken, but either way they demand recognition. It is a man-made maze in need of constant navigation in order to find a balance between society and self. In Tracy Deer's documentary Club Native the issue of identity becomes bound in a complex entanglement of history, bloodline, responsibility and long stretches of red tape.  

The film centers on the community of Kahnawake; a Mohawk reserve located in Southern Quebec. Deer grew up here surrounded by family, friends, nature and some very important rules with the power to, in many ways, dictate identity; at least on paper. Firstly you must never marry a person of non-native descent and secondly you must never have a child with a person of non-native descent. They are two very simple rules, which seem to make life anything but simple. If these rules are broken you stand a very good chance of losing native status and official Mohawk identity. If you are a child born into the world of a mixed ethnic origin then you must prove that you are truly a Mohawk in order to obtain status within the community. It is a controversial method of self-construction, which attempts to answer the lingering question of what it means to be native. 

Club Native offers a window into the effects, motivations and consequences of these two inherent regulations by examining the lives of various Mohawk women. The women have all struggled in some way to come to terms with the obstacles presented to them by these two very constricting boundaries. Through out the duration of the film the women discuss love, marriage, acceptance, belonging, community and the future in relation to the unspoken Kahnawake rules, and express what it means in terms of their own identities.

Deer provides brief explanations of issues such as the Indian Act and Bill C-31, which help the audience to understand both the situation and the sentiments of the individuals portrayed in a distinct and well-rounded manner. The mixture of personal experience and historical awareness work together to create an atmosphere where the viewer can truly gain insight into an important piece of Canadian past and present, and also begin to consider how this connects with a definition of identity and self. 

Club Native takes an extremely honest look at what it means to be a Mohawk on the Kahnawake reserve versus what it means to be a Mohawk in the heart. It is most definitely a powerful and heartfelt film worth experiencing for yourself.