Shadow Work: From Once Were Warriors to Angela’s Shadow

Shadow Work: From Once Were Warriors to Angela’s Shadow

I remember the first time I watched Once Were Warriors, I was awestruck. I was in university, trying to navigate the clash of worlds I was born into – Moose Factory, where my roots lay deep in InNiNeWak (Cree) soil, and Ottawa, where I lived with my mother, a residential school Survivor and warrior in her own right. Watching Lee Tamahori’s film was like staring into a mirror I didn’t know existed. The rawness. The rage. The way it punched you in…