Adam Beach helps Aboriginal youth get involved in film careers

As an example, he said he was able to get a group of chiefs together to agree unanimously on the Save the Fraser Declaration because of that voice.

“That’s the voice I have and the strength I have … because of the entertainment value of being the ‘Hollywood Indian,’” he said. “And I respect it, I don’t abuse it, and I know that there is a value to this entertainment status. Every kid wants to be a star and looks up to an entertainer.”

The 40-year-old started the Adam Beach Film Institute last year in Winnipeg to help other Aboriginal youth get involved in film careers. 

“I want to find the next Adam Beach. I think we need to tell our stories — we haven’t tapped into that, so this will encourage an Aboriginal workforce,” Beach said. 

At We Day, Beach performed a First Nations blessing ceremony using a bear pipe and an eagle wing. He said the blessing was a way of connecting the crowd with its ancestors. 

“I am asking our ancestors to hear (these) youth and help them with their vision of making social change,” Beach said. “(The eagle wing is for) asking to take the energy of the eagle to help bless us … and to allow us to connect with it in the way that an eagle soars, has a longer vision and the gift of flight — so help us in our journey to fly.”
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