Peter Gabriel, who sang about Native Americans in his song “San Jacinto,” has now become involved in a documentary highlighting the struggles of Canada’s First Nation indigenous peoples.
According The Hollywood Reporter, Gabriel is executive producing New Blood, which focuses on the historical trauma faced by First Nations people. The documentary shares its name with Gabriel’s 2011 album, which featured him performing some of his songs, including “San Jacinto,” with an orchestra.
Gabriel first became involved with the project when he allowed music from that album to be used in an Alberta, Canada, high school dance production inspired by the true story of a First Nation chief named Vincent Yellow Old Woman.
The documentary focuses on the fact that until the 1990s, the Canadian government funded so-called “residential schools” run by the Catholic Church, where indigenous children were taken from their families and sent to be assimilated. In 2021, Canada underwent a national reckoning after the remains of hundreds of indigenous children — students in those schools — were discovered in unmarked graves.
The New Blood documentary chronicles Chief Vincent’s own experience in a residential school, which led to him becoming a drug addict and then, later in life, becoming chief of Siksiká Nation, one of the four nations of the Blackfoot Confederacy.
The film will air on Canada’s CBC on Nov. 22.
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