Catherine Anne Martin

Catherine Anne Martin is a Mi'kmaw filmmaker, playwright, educator, and community advocate from Millbrook First Nation in Truro, Nova Scotia and is recognized as the first Mi'kmaw filmmaker from Atlantic Canada. Martin's work spans film, theatre, education, and public service, with a focus on Mi'kmaw knowledge, oral traditions, and the representation of Indigenous women. She has produced documentary films in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada, including The Spirit of Annie Mae on the life and unsolved murder of Mi'kmaw activist Annie Mae Pictou Aquash. Martin was awarded the Order of Canada in 2017 for her contributions to cinema, culture, and human rights works.

Life Martin was born in the United States and is a member of Millbrook Mi'kmaw community in Nova Scotia.

Career

Early filmmaking Martin began filmmaking in 1989 with the short documentary Minqon Minqon (Rainbow Rainbow), a profile of Wolastoqiyik artist Shirley Bear, which established her as the first Mi'kmaw filmmaker in Nova Scotia.

Film and media Martin worked with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and directed a range of documentaries and educational films addressing Mi'kmaw and Wabanaki histories, women's experiences, culture, art, and spirituality.

Martin was chair of the board of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) during its first five years. Public service In 1986, Martin became Dalhousie University's first Mi'kmaq Professional Careers Coordinator, working to expand access to higher education for Indigenous students. The play was connected to a photography exhibit at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia called Kepe'kek from the Narrows of the Great Harbour.

Exhibitions An exhibition of Martin's work, Stories of the Spirit: The Films of Catherine Martin, was presented at the Dalhousie Art Gallery in 2001.

An academic review in Educational Media Reviews Online called the film an “excellent documentary” that draws on archival footage, interviews, and oral histories to reconstruct Aquash's life and its broader historical context.

Recognition

Awards and honours Martin received a WAVE Award from Women in Film and Television Atlantic.

Filmography Minqon Minqon (1989) Mi'kmaq Family (Migmaoei Otjiosog) (1995) Basket Maker (2021)