Village of Widows: The Story of the Sahtu Dene and the Atomic Bomb & Introduction by Filmmaker Peter Blow

August 6th, 2025, the day of this event, marks the 80th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. In remembrance, please join us to talk with filmmaker, Peter Blow, and watch the film Village of Widows: The Story of the Sahtu Dene and the Atomic Bomb.
 

Village of Widows: The Story of the Sahtu Dene and the Atomic Bomb is a compelling, multi award winning documentary that recounts the tragedy of Canada’s Northwest Territory Sahtu Dene people, who were used as Acoolies in the transportation of the uranium ore that went into the atomic bombs that shattered Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In 1930, high grade uranium ore was found on the shores of Great Bear Lake. During World War II, the Canadian government took over the operation. It was the only uranium mine and refinery outside of Nazi hands. From 1942 to 1960 all the refined ore from the Eldorado mine helped fuel the U.S. Military atomic bomb program. From the very beginning until the mine closed in 1976, men from the Sahtu Dene village of Deline were employed to transport the ore. The lingering effects of radiation poisoning has left Deline a community without grandfathers. 1.7 million tonnes of radioactive tailings remains at the mine site and in the lake, a legacy that will remain dangerously radioactive for 800,000 years. The film concludes with a remarkable display of humanity when a group from Deline takes a spiritual journey to Hiroshima to meet with the Japanese bomb survivors.

Village of Widows: The Story of the Sahtu Dene and the Atomic Bomb was first broadcast to much acclaim in 1999 on Canada’s Vision TV, APTN, Saskatchewan Community Network and the Knowledge Network and has shown internationally in Australia and Europe. It premiered at the prestigious Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival in New York, and won the VISION Humanitarian Award at Toronto’s Hot Docs Documentary Festival in 2000. It was also 2nd prize winner of the prestigious Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation Award at the First Peoples of the Americas Festival in Montreal.