One of the last provinces in Canada to be settled by European explorers, British Columbia is home to total of twenty-seven distinct First Nations with more than two-hundred communities with eight different language groups throughout British Columbia and Vancouver Island(1).
Nitanis Desjarlais, Cree/Metis,Tsimshian/Gitsan ancestry is the owner/operator of Shape Shyphter Studios (formerly ButterflyFX Productions) as an independent videographer, editor, director, wife and mother of six. She has produced an assortment of documentaries depicting the struggle of First Nations in British Columbia. She started her Video production company 2003 with more than thirty cultural productions to preserve Aboriginal culture, language and oral teachings. More recently the business name changed to Shape Shyphter Studios to describe the expansion into a mobile film training to work throughout British Columbia’s diverse Aboriginal communities. Throughout her life Nitanis has maintained a strong bond with the traditional teachings and values of her youth showing strongly in her love for and skill in the art of storytelling and displayed in her visual and artistic video expressions. Nitanis now lives in Port Alberni with her Nuu-chan-nulth husband where they raise five children while the oldest is a film studies student at York University in Toronto. shapeshyphterstudios@gmail.com
This article is a non-comprehensive and living document that provides an overview of artistic activities in the region. It will be revised as necessary as part of our ongoing process of continuous updates.
1) http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/abed/map.htm