Collection: Barb Cranmer

Remembering T'łakwagilogwa Barbara Cranmer (1960 – 2019) 

'Namgis First Nation Filmmaker, Bakwam Storyteller from Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada.

Legendary filmmaker Barb Cranmer was an award-winning filmmaker and member of the ‘Namgis First Nation, of the Kwakwaka'wakw of Alert Bay, British Columbia.

Barb was fiercely committed to telling the stories of her people, directing and producing award-winning documentaries including I'TUSTO To Rise Again, Gwishalaayt--the spirit wraps around you, Our Voices, Our Stories and Qatuwas: People Gathering Together.

Barb Cranmer was also respected for her curatorial work at the U’mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, BC and the National Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.  She was an active community leader, an artist and a co-founder of the Culture Shock Interactive Gallery in Alert Bay.

She carried the responsibility of several names, including T'łakwagilogwa (Copper woman or woman of wealth) and Lakwalogwa (woman who calls people to join the feast with her). She was a Hiligaxste in the Hamat̓sa Dance Society and her love of life lives on as an inspiration for all who were fortunate enough to know her or met her.

Jeff Bear and Marianne Jones celebrated Barb in a short documentary, Culture Shock in Alert Bay: Barb Cranmer.

Filmography:

• Our Voices, Our Stories (2016)
• Potlatch: To Give (2011)
• ‘Namegan’s Om Dlu’wans Awinagwisex, We Are One With the Land (2009)
• Gwishalaayt -- the spirit wraps around you (2001)
• I’TUSTO: To Rise Again (2000)
• T’Lina, The Rendering of Wealth (1999)
• Qatuwas: People Gathering Together (1997)
• Laxwesa Wa, Strength of the River (1995)
• Mungo Martin: A Slender Thread (1991)