The Silent Enemy

The film is set in the north of Canada. At the centre of the account is an Ojibwe community. Winter is coming on and no food can be found. The silent enemy of the title is hunger. Baluk is the hunter of the community. He proposes going north. They are to follow the migrating caribou. He takes the proposal to the chief, Chetoga. The medicine man Dagwan speaks against it. The two men are also rivals over Chetoga’s daughter. The community sets out but no animals are found. Baluk prepares to sacrifice himself. Just then the herd appears. The film was shot in Ontario and Quebec. All of the cast come from Native peoples. The account draws on the writings of Jesuit missionaries. H.P. Carver made the eighty four minute film. The Canadian and American production was finished in 1930.