In honor of celebrating Native Americans and indigenous folk, we talked about Canadian zombie film, Blood Quantum. On the surface, this movie is about a zombie plague where the native folk are immune to zombie bites, but we go much deeper into themes of colonialism and genocide.
Where to watch it: You can watch this movie on Shudder or rent it on Amazon Prime
This movie was written and directed by Jeff Barnaby, a Mi’kmaqi who was born on a Mi’gmaq reserve in Listuguj, Quebec. The director cites huge inspiration came from the 1984 documentary, Incident at Restigouche, which is about the police raids at Restigouche Reserve, Quebec in June 1981.
You can watch the “Incident at Restigouche” documentary here: https://www.nfb.ca/film/incident_at_restigouche/.
The term “blood quantum” refers to a colonial blood measurement system that is used to determine an individual’s Indigenous status. Here is a really good short about blood quantum and self identity that shares perspectives from present day native folk that live in the Minnesota area.
Short about Blood Quantum and Identity:
To hear from the director about Blood Quantum, check out this interview we reference in the podcast:
More Resources to check out:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Quantum_(film)