| Back to Pikangikum |
Synopsis: An ex-television reporter returns to a community she was sent on assignment to in 1994 -- the Ojibway community of Pikangikum in Northwestern Ontario. A remote community of 2000 people. It is surrounded by beauty... lakes and rich forests. It has also been surrounded with grief.
In 1994, Coleen Rajotte was sent there to do a story about a number of suicides... four young people had taken their lives.
In this region of Ontario there are about 17 small aboriginal communities. Since 1986, 250 people have committed suicide.
When Ms. Rajotte first visited Pikangikum in 1994, she met 21 year old Hank Turtle. He has lost three brothers to suicide. Coleen has never forgotten Hank's story. That's why she decides to go "Back to Pikangikum".
It's a journey with many twists and turns... There's heartache, there's hope and there are answers to some of Coleen's questions that have been haunting her for years... Why are we losing so many of our people?
In May of 2004, Back to Pikangikum was nominated for Best Aboriginal Program at the Yorkton Film Festival.