Shehaweh (1992– ) User Reviews

A well made historical drama

[LaxFan94 · 7/10 · 9 April 2004]

After watching this series, I thought of it to be very well made and historically accurate. But I really don't know for sure if there ever was a "Shehaweh" in real life. I personally have never heard of a such a name that really existed in history. Perhaps the directors and producers of the series decided to portray this Shehaweh as another famous Native person who did exist back in those days. I don't know, its hard to say.

But anyways........ it was interesting to see how Shehaweh was played by Marina Orsini. She's of Italian background but she played the part of a Native character so well!! I was very impressed with her portrayal! :) However, I do think that Native roles should ONLY be played by Native actors and actresses themselves rather than having a white person play the role(s). The whole cast of the series was pretty much all French Canadian, including Marina herself who happens to be from Quebec. Come to think of it, I don't think there are ANY Native actors and actresses at all in the series! Hmmmmmm, I figure there would at least be several since this series deals with the first interaction between the French and the First Nations of the time.

But oh well, anyways........ all in all, it was good series and I don't think it got the recognition it deserved by Canadian TV critics. If I had to rate this series on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 6.

White washing history (Spoilers)

[raymond-andre · 7/10 · 1 March 2017]

In the early 1990s director Jean Beaudin was involved in several high profile television mini-series projects in Quebec. Starting with Émilie (Les Filles de Caleb)in 1990, based on the best selling novel by Arlette Cousture and its sequel Blanche. In the mix was Ces Enfants d'Ailleurs and Shehaweh.

The last one is about a young Iroquois girl captured in a french raid on her village. She is brought back to Ville Marie (Montreal) and repeated attempts to "civilize" and "Christianize" her fail. She is shipped to France as a curiosity to be presented at court. Eventually she is forced to convert and is sent to a convent where she is mistreated. Again she reverts to her "savage" ways and becomes almost feral.

I won't reveal the ending, but her whole journey is quite fascinating. The production values were very good. The first native culture is treated with respect.

If the series has one major fault, it's in Beaudin's casting of Marina Orsini, a french Canadian woman of Italian descent as the title character. With the success of Les Filles de Caleb she was probably part of the packaging that got the financing for the project. It's a shame. There are many good native actors who could have done the part justice, and chiselled ex-fashion model Orsini, quite frankly, takes you out of the story. Her casting is all the more glaring as time goes by and people become acutely aware of white washing in films and television.