By: Marie Jen Galilo, Staff Writer
Content warning: mention of domestic abuse.
Where can you seek refuge when you are running from yourself? This is the question asked by Wildhood, directed by Two-Spirit and Mi’kmaw screenwriter and director, Bretten Hannam. Filmed on traditional and ancestral Mi’kma’ki territory, this movie follows Lincoln (Link), played by Philip Lewitski — a Two-Spirit Mi’kmaw teenager who sets out on a journey to find his missing mother, Sarah. This journey eventually evolves into a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance as Link learns to embrace his heritage and his sexuality.
The film starts with Link bleaching his natural dark hair a striking shade of yellow-blonde — a visual representation of his attempt to alter the physical manifestations of his Mi’kmaw heritage. After years of believing that his mother has passed away, Link discovers she may still be alive. This prompts Link to leave his abusive household to search for his mother, bringing his little brother, Travis (played by Avery Winters-Anthony), along with him.
One of the first people they encounter is Pasmay (played by Joshua Odjick), a Mi’kmaw Powwow dancer who has been ostracized by his family due to his sexuality. Link denies being Mi’kmaw, but Pasmay offers to help find his mother and eventually becomes the anchor that grounds Link in his Mi’kmaw and Two-Spirit identity. Being raised by an abusive father who enforced a toxic, rigid form of masculinity, Link learned to suppress his sexuality and respond with aggression in order to survive. Pasmay, who is openly Two-Spirit, creates a safe space for him. Pasmay teaches Link it’s OK to be vulnerable, and together they navigate their identities through the intimate bond they share.
Although he initially expressed resistance towards reconnecting with his Mi’kmaw heritage, Link starts showing interest in their mother language, and asks Pasmay to teach him how to speak it. Link also participates in his people’s cultural expressions, such as Powwow dancing and burial rituals.
In the beginning of the film, Link is isolated from nature. However, in his search for his mother, he nurtures his connection with nature, sleeping in forests, learning animal calls, and hosting a dignified burial for a deceased animal. Link’s newfound respect for nature reflects Netukulimk, the deep-running connection that Mi’kma’ki people have with the land and those who inhabit it — a connection that Link was initially unable to fully embrace because he had grown up isolated from the Mi’kmaw community.
Link meets resilient people who are proud of their heritage, which inspires him to reclaim his cultural identity. Near the film’s end, Link arrives in a reserve, where he finds a community that makes him feel safe and accepted — one that feels like home. The film concludes with Link dancing with Pasmay on Mi’kma’ki territory — an act symbolic of him learning how to reclaim and accept every fragment of himself.
Link’s story is proof that fragmented identities are not irreversibly fractured — every fragment can be picked up and pieced together.
Wildhood sheds light on the struggles that people face, especially those who are part of marginalized communities, in fully owning and understanding their identities, which can in turn foster collective empathy and healing. Watching Link reconnect with his heritage and explore his sexuality may inspire others to connect with the parts of themselves that they feel disconnected from, and provide solace to those who are on their own journeys of self-discovery and healing.
Wildhood is available to be streamed free of charge on CBC Gem.
