2 versions: 47:00 and 23:00
Heiltsuk filmmaker Frank Brown tells his story in this documentary about traditional native justice. Frank was an angry and dangerous teenager when he was tried for armed robbery. Instead of being sent to a hard core juvenile detention centre in Vancouver, the courts allowed the family to intervene - Frank was banished for eight months to a remote island, as a traditional form of Heiltsuk justice.
The experience changed his life. Ten years later, the Heiltsuk community of Bella Bella was invited to witness the washing off ceremony (quxua). Frank's experience on the island was recreated and dramatized using the traditional ceremonial songs and dances, adapted to tell a contemporary story. This was an important event where the people who helped him and believed in him were publicly thanked and presented with gifts.