Time Travellers Testimony 2026​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Sovereign is a short experimental documentary exploring an intergenerational conversation between Indigenous activists defending British Columbian land rights in the 1990s and 2020s.

Bill Lightbown of Kootenai Nation (April 14, 1927 - March 1, 2019) met his partner Lavina White, former president of the Haida Nation in 1951. They were “freedom fighters” who worked together, organizing, traveling, educating and communicating. In 1990, Bill and Lavina traveled to the armed standoff at Kahnewake, in Mohawk territory. They provided a communication link back to BC and the Indigenous grassroots community while the Canadian media aggravated tensions. In 1995, Bill and Lavina were spokespeople for the Ts’peten Defenders at Gustafsen Lake where they endured a siege by the RCMP that lasted even longer than the Oka Crisis.

​

Pia Yona Massie, who interviewed Bill and Lavina in 1996, shared these re-found cassette tapes with Angela Davidson aka Rainbow Eyes of Da’naxda/xw Nation and Glenn Reid, a forest guardian of the Rainforest Flying Squad. Rainbow and Glenn met in the summer of 2022 defending the Fairy Creek forests of the Pacheedaht First Nations. They became leaders and communicators of that ongoing land defense, carrying forward the courageous resilience of the elders. This time traveling intergenerational Indigenous conversation is named SOVEREIGN, with gratitude to Bill and Lavina.

Shown at:

Axis Mundi - Twigs and berries Gallery