12 minutes to unlearn everything you think sacred space means.
This short documentary follows three Indigenous women as they practice ancestral forms of worship: drumming, singing, and using sweetgrass. These ancient spiritual traditions may at first seem at odds with urban life, but to Indigenous people in Canada who are used to praying in natural settings, the whole world is sacred space.
Direction
Gail Maurice centers Indigenous gaze, not spectacle.
Sound
Drumming and singing as narrative, not background.
Director
Gail Maurice
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Gail Maurice is Cree-Métis; the film emerged from her own urban ceremony practice in Toronto.
The 2005 release predated mainstream Canadian conversations about urban Indigenous identity by nearly a decade.
US
