Powwow Summer

An eighteen-year-old recent high school graduate, River is part Ojibwe and part white, which leads to her being teased about her mixed heritage. Although River has grown up on a farm in Ontario with her white mother and stepfather, she decides to spend her summer in Winnipeg with her Indigenous father and grandmother. There, River learns what it’s like to be an “urban Indian” living on the reserve, and she gains a deep respect for her culture’s traditions and lands. She also observes multi-generational hardships, such as Indigenous gangs and the aftermath of the residential school system. But her respect for her culture is quickly overshadowed by a painful mistake. When River drunkenly posts a photo during the powwow’s afterparty, the social media incident angers the community and sparks a debate about River’s right to identify as Indigenous.