Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki) is one of Canada's most distinguished documentary filmmakers and an eloquent advocate for aboriginal filmmaking. She was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1983 and received a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2001. Obomsawin began her career as a singer, writer, and storyteller before she began making her own films in 1967 with Christmas at Moose Factory. She has directed more than twenty documentaries on issues affecting aboriginal people of Canada. Her works have been screened widely, and she has recently been honored with film retrospectives at major festivals, including the 2003 Margaret Mead Film Festival and the 2004 IMAGeNative Film Festival. Obomsawin has received honorary doctorates from Carleton University, Concordia University, and York University. She grew up speaking Abenaki on the Odanak Reserve and in Trois Rivi�res in Quebec.