Likely
saved through oral tradition, this 56 minute film from 1930, details an
event which commenced the Ojibway Indians trek to the Barren Lands or
Barren Grounds, in search of food and happiness.
Silent Enemy (famine)
begins with the Ojibwa Indians living far to the south where forests and
lakes abound.
They first commenced a southward migration but were
forced to change plans. As a result of less game, the Ojibwe Indians
agree to migrate north into what is the Barren Grounds of far northern
Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Barren Grounds of far
northern Alaska.
They knew the caribou in the 100,000s, if not millions,
left the forest to head north into the barren lands each spring and
stayed until autumn. The Caribou Eaters food supply was bountiful and
from food preservation allowed them to live permanently in the barren
lands.
Chief Yellow Robe stars as Chetoga. He was directly related to
chief Sitting Bull. Though it is thought that Silent Enemy was inspired
by the 1922 film Nanook of the North, it is the clear subject of a
migration up north which provides a story for this film. It is dramatic
and realistic.
The animal fight scenes are not fake. It was filmed in
northern Alaska. You'll notice scenes filmed outdoors during frigid
weather.
Brave were the actors, especially chief Yellow Robe who was
either 63 or 69 when the movie was made. Chief Dagwan represents the
Hare Indians who were known to be conjurers. They are also known as
Sahtu which is probably a mispronunciation of Saulteaux.
They are the
northern most Saulteaux or Chipewyan. All Athabascan or Dene people are
Algonquin according to the 1832 Edinburgh Encyclopedia which recorded
the Dene being from the Lenni Lenape or Delaware people.
