Strawberry Moon

Strawberry Moon is a 44-minute science and discovery documentary for CBC Nature of Things that brings audiences into five extraordinary, privileged-access experiences across Turtle Island, the UK, the Moon, and the frontiers of space. These experiences reveal a profound and urgent truth: Indigenous ways of knowing and Western science are not in opposition. Rather, each holds its own profound importance, and when brought together, they expand our understanding of the world in ways neither can achieve alone, for the benefit of all living beings.
The documentary follows an authentic journey through the living science of the moon: its pull on ocean tides, on the cycles of plants and bodies, on rich cultural ceremonies practiced for thousands of years, and on the imaginations of astronauts returning there through the Artemis Missions.
Hosted by Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, marine biologist and environmental advocate, she is invited by Anishinaabe Indigenous knowledge researcher Rebeka Tabobondung to learn about the Moon through an Indigenous lens. Sarika comes from science with a deep respect for Indigenous knowledge. Sarika leads as host and Rebeka guides her and the audience into Indigenous worlds of fisherfolk, agriculturalist Grandmothers, astronomers, and midwives who share their observations and practices, including the full moon ceremony and moon lodge. Through each encounter, they practice two-eyed seeing or Etuaptmumk, a concept gifted by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall, which is the ability to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledge and from the other with the strengths of Western science for the benefit of all. By the end of the film, so does the audience.
Structured around a four-act lunar narrative, New Moon, Waxing Moon, Full Moon, Waning Moon, Strawberry Moon moves from darkness into full illumination. It is a film about what we remember when we look up. And what it might cost us if we forget.