Waasa Inaabidaa: "We look In All Directions"

The Waasa Inaabidaa÷We Look in All Directions series and companion book were conceived by award-winning producer Lorraine Norrgard (A Gift to One, A Gift to Many: James Jackson Sr.; Looks Into the Night) for WDSE-TV in Duluth, Minnesota. Created in response to numerous requests for more information about the second-largest tribe in North America, the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe, this six-part series is the most in-depth programming about the tribe ever created for television. It includes the contributions of nineteen Ojibwe communities and more than two hundred Ojibwe individuals.

The documentary series spans 500 years of change and endurance. It explores how the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe people of the Great Lakes region survived, endured bitter betrayals, adapted and achieved stunning victories. The Anishinaabe/Ojibwe people have much in common with other indigenous nations throughout the United States and Canada, and their story provides valuable lessons for all people. The series can be shown in any order, and each program can stand alone. Narrated by Winona LaDuke (White Earth Ojibwe), each hour-long episode examines Anishinaabe/Ojibwe culture from pre-contact times to the present, focusing on the topics of language, leadership, economic survival, education, health and the environment. Written by James Fortier (Métis-Ojibway), this series combines interviews with historians and Anishinaabe/Ojibwe elders, leaders and youth with artwork, archival video, dramatic scenes and thousands of archival photographs to illustrate the traditional culture of the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe people. The original soundtrack by Peter Buffett (Dances With Wolves, 500 Nations) and Ken Melville features performances by more than a dozen Ojibwe singers, drummers and musicians.