APTN is proud to announce that starting November 13 at 8pm, the network will start airing By The Rapids, a new Mohawk cartoon series geared at depicting the lighter side of life on a reserve.
The Mohawk-language show was developed by Kahnawake resident Joseph Lazare about his hometown whose name loosely translates into “by the rapids.”
Described as “an animated comedy with attitude”, APTN says the series is “a satirical look at what happens when a thoroughly urban teenager tries to integrate into the small Native community where his successful lawyer parents were born and raised.”
The show’s main character was inspired by Lazare’s own experience of moving from Kahnawake to Toronto as a kid. However, the character’s experience is the reverse of Lazare’s since it is written from a Toronto perspective. Lazare went with the inverse because he said that he felt out of place as a child in Toronto but in terms of storytelling he didn’t feel his experience would be that funny.
In a recent interview with CTV, Lazare said, “We’re the type of people who laugh a lot at funerals. I think it’s a weird thing where humour is a big part of our culture and community as Mohawk people. I just don’t see that even in films that are made now.”
