About
Our Ethos
We champion and create authentically diverse stories that inspire social change.
What does that mean to us? It’s decolonisation through stories, created and represented by the people from that specific Community. Our stories delve deep into decolonisation to showcase the advanced Indigenous Knowledge that always existed and was either appropriated, stolen or erased through systematic colonisation
This uncovering of the truth comes with a hefty responsibility to our Community and Elders, to show our children (and ourselves) the magic and might of our Culture that lives within. It’s undoing the conscious and subconscious narrative that has been fed to us. A narrative that we will not feed to our current and future generations.
Storytelling is a powerful tool that has been a part of our Ancestral DNA for thousands of years. Its potency is such that Knowledge, Culture and Traditions survived colonisation, genocide, torture, slavery, epistemicide and structural racism. When it is told from the point of view from someone that is not from the Culture, it often inevitably showcases our Community from a position of deficit, riddled with tropes that uphold the imperial narrative.
Our stories are about plenitude, courage, defiance, sovereignty, fortitude, fulfillment, reverence and most importantly through a decolonised lens of a lived experience. Our stories are the seed that yield self-worth for our Elders, Communities and future generations. They provide allies with the knowledge of how to help dismantle unjust systems of oppression.
This is the social change we mean.
Our Name
The name “Warrior Tribe” lends itself to the hundreds of tribes in India and their continued resistance to colonialism. British colonisers enforced the Criminal Tribes Act (1871), which meant even a newborn was considered a criminal.
Warrior Tribe is also about the kinship all Indigenous People share around the world through their Knowledge and connection of Mother Earth, Ancestors, Spirit, Cosmos, Elders and resistance to colonial oppression.
In the West, “tribe” often implies “primitive”. Our Ancestral roots are not from the West. Indigenous People and Tribes have sophisticated Knowledge that is anchored by the need to be in balance with nature.
A great deal of Knowledge was stolen from India by colonisers and appropriated. Indian Indigenous Knowledge includes the mathematical execution and creation of zero, Ayurveda, yoga, dentistry, medicine - cure for leprosy and lithiasis, cataract surgery, natural fibres (jute, cotton and wool), Indus Valley sewage, irrigation and water management systems, steel and metal works, calculation of the earth’s orbit, “Pythagorean theorem”, the list goes on.
The first university in the world (TakshaShila) was in India. The campus accommodated students from all over the world. It was an important Vedic / Hindu and Bhuddist centre of learning. The world’s first residential university was Nalanda in India. Built by the Hindu Gupta Empire at its peak had over 10,000 students from around the world.
We are Warrior Tribe Films because the Indigenous themes and concepts we reclaim and the colonial narratives we dismantle in our stories are far from primitive.
Our Logo
The Warrior Tribe Films logo is the same tattoo Ravi Chand and his Grandma share.
When Ravi and his Grandma reconnected after 24 years apart (see documentary pitch presentation here), she always reminded Ravi not to forget her. “Of course, I won’t Grandma. I’ll never do that” he’d say to her in Hindi. After she passed away, the authourities in Fiji lost her grave and Ravi felt like the greatest failure as a grandson.
So Ravi created Warrior Tribe Films, with the tattoo he and his Grandma share. This way anytime a Warrior Tribe Film project is screened, it is in honour of his Grandma so she is remembered across all corners of the globe.
The Story Behind The Design
Ravi's Grandma explained to him the tattoo design was created and tattooed by her friend when she was just 12 years old. Grandma’s friend told her the symbol meant when you die, your soul will fly to meet with your parents. As Ravi's mother died in a car accident a week from his 12th birthday, it made him sit up. "Really? Is that what it means?" Ravi asked.
"No! My friend just said it so I got a tattoo with her" explained Grandma. They both laughed hysterically and Ravi got the tattoo anyway.
There was no fiercer a warrior Ravi knew than his Grandma. She spoke very gently with Ravi but fearlessly fought for values. She spoke fluently in Hindi, iTaukei (Indigenous Fijian) and Tamil. It was Ravi's Grandma who reconnected him back to his Language, Culture and Self. In turn, dismantling a lifetime of assimilation.
The video above discusses the level of commitment to detail, nuance and authenticity given to the detailed dance scenes in Namaste Yoga.