Tracey Deer knew she wanted to be a filmmaker at the age of 12. The executive producer and director of APTN's Mohawk Girls was profoundly affected by her personal experience during the Oka Crisis — the violent clash over Native land rights in 1990. As Tracey grew up, she became more aware of herself as an Indigenous woman and found her voice telling First Nations stories. Now Tracey and her creative partner Cynthia Knight (Mohawk Girls executive producer and writer) draw on their real life experiences to tell both hilarious and tragic stories through the hit comedy.

Mohawk Girls has received three 2017 Canadian Screen Award nominations. Watch the 2017 Canadian Screen Awards Sunday, March 12 at 8pm local time (9 AT/9:30 NT) on CBC TV or stream them online here starting with the red carpet at 7:30pm ET.