Inuk singer Elisapie explores personal story in new documentary Hudson Bay(bies)

While the Hudson's Bay Company is practically synonymous with the history of Canada, one of its lesser-known details may be the story of the children that came from the relations between the company's employees and Indigenous women in the North. 

Inuk singer-songwriter Elisapie Isaac is one of those children. In a new documentary called Hudson Bay(bies), she explores this personal history with co-producer Sophie Proulx-Lachance. The pair spoke with Radio-Canada about the film. 

'It was time'

"One day I got a call from the Bay, which was looking to feature Indigenous people in one of their campaigns," Isaac said.

"I was intrigued because I love everything about fashion, but afterwards I felt uncomfortable and I started wondering whether I was that 'token', and was actually helping a company that had played such a big role in [Canada's] colonization." 

She added that she'd been wanting to tell the story of the Hudson Bay Boys, like her father, for a long time. That call from the Bay, she said, "awakened something in me… I told myself that it was time, I had to do it." 

She realized that she needed a partner to keep the story in perspective, so she turned to Proulx-Lachance, with whom she'd previously produced another documentary called Facing the Music. 

"It was important for me to have someone that was capable of making hard decisions when needed," Isaac said. "I know the North and a lot of its people, so that's not always easy for me."

Three realities

Isaac has previously told CBC that she grew up in Salluit, in Nunavik, with adoptive parents. Her biological father, George Pinkston, spent a few years working for the Hudson's Bay Company in Nunavik, but ultimately returned to his hometown in Newfoundland. Still, he maintained a distant relationship with his daughter. She'd even visited Newfoundland to meet her father's side of the family. 

However, that's not the case for many children — far from it. 

The documentary also follows Johnny Smiler Irqumia, an Inuk man searching for his biological father.  

I felt it was important to see an Inuk man show his emotions and his vulnerability ... because we've been taught to be hard on ourselves.- Elisapie Isaac

"It's really nice seeing someone say, 'I need to know', and talk openly about these things," Isaac said.

Irqumia's story also stood out to Proulx-Lachance. 

"There were lots of people that wanted to talk, but to have the guts to do it in front of a camera … not everyone was willing to go that far," she said. "Johnny had never really talked about it. He opened up to us."

The documentary contrasts Isaac's positive relationship with her father and Irqumia's search with the story of former Senator Charlie Watt, whose father and grandfather both worked for the Hudson's Bay Company. It shows Watt has made peace with not having a relationship with his biological father. 

"Charlie is at peace in spite of an absent father, and because he was raised by strong women," says Proulx-Lachance. "That made him a strong person, a man with an impressive political career."

Most people are like Johnny. They're constantly carrying this kind of wound from being abandoned, but don't let themselves talk about it.- Sophie Proulx-Lachance

Ultimately, the film crew became swept up in Irqumia's attempts to reconnect with his biological father. 

"There was something greater than just the documentary," said Proulx-Lachance. "We honestly wanted to help him." 

Shining a light

Through Isaac's, Watt's and Irqumia's stories, the team also sought to bring forward the history of the Hudson's Bay Company itself.

"The greatest challenge in making this film was we were talking about history with a capital 'H', but trying to do so through very personal, very human stories," said Proulx-Lachance. "I felt it was really important to make the Hudson's Bay Company its own character." 

The company's history has often been romantacized, with parts of it sometimes being swept under the rug, she adds. 

"We wanted to shine a light on those parts because they've affected real people. And not only from 350 years ago, but still today," said Proulx-Lachance. 

Let's Go10:58New documentary tells the story of the Hudson Bay(bies)

Elisapie. She's a multi award-winning singer-songwriter. But tonight, a documentary she co-directed and stars in will air. It's about her very personal story growing up as what's called a Hudson's Baby. We'll speak to a co-director of the film, Sophie Proulx-Lachance.

That's also something Isaac hopes people take away from the film, "that the company's history isn't just black or white." 

Hudson Bay(bies) premiered on Radio-Canada on June 17 and is available to watch online on ICI TOU.TV.

This article was translated from Radio-Canada.