I haven't seen
Ten Canoes but once saw a trailer for it, was momentarily intrigued then got distracted by other trailers and forgot about it. I'll see if I can find it now - thanks for the reminder. I did very much like
Walkabout (admittedly more because of Jenny Agutter than David Gumpilil) and if you liked those two have a look at
Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir 1975), a deeply unsettling film with a very simple premise:
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In 1900, schoolgirls set out for a picnic; some disappear and are never found.
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and
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (Fred Schepisi 1978):
Quote:
In 1900, a half-caste mingles with high-class whites, goes beserk, and slaughters several of them with an axe.
A powerful film on the tragedy of an outcast at home in no society, torn between the world he has lost and the one he cannot gain. The violence is shocking, as it is meant to be. It is one of the great achievements of Australian cinema.
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My other suggestions for more films set amongst indiginous peoples before contact with Western civilization are the gobsmacking
Cannibal Holocaust (Ruggero Deodato 1980) - the film whose director, upon being charged with the murder of his cast before the cameras, was compelled to produce said cast alive and well as evidence that they had
not been murdered; the altogether more sober, epic and stirring
Atanarjuat the Fast Runner (Zacharias Kunuk 2001) and, of course,
Apocalypto (Mel Giboson 2006) - which is a lot more expensive and less convincing than the rest but worth a look if you haven't seen it.
Atanarjuat the Fast Runner:
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In the Arctic two thousand years ago, a struggle for leadership develops between two Inuit families.
A film like no other: based on an Inuit legend, it depicts a way of life, full of strange rituals and magic, that seems other-worldly; the desire for power, family betrayals, and the survival of the wiliest, though, connect with modern life.
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And while I'm on the subject the old silent film
Nanook of the North (Robert Flaherty 1921) may be worth a look - though I haven't seen it yet.
Thanks to Leslie Halliwell/John Walker for the synopses and opinions.