Mohawk Girls series tells stories of once 'voiceless' women

The director behind a TV series being shot in Kahnawake says she wants to show Canadians what it means to be a Mohawk woman.

"I’m making a show about my own life, about my sister's life, my friends', my cousins'," says director Tracey Deer.

The series, Mohawk Girls, follows four young women who are searching for love as they struggle to find their place in the world.

"I grew up on the reserve feeling invisible, voiceless, in all aspects of my life — here on the reserve, out in the bigger world. I felt really boxed in," Deer says.

Behind the scenes, the actors say they enjoy being a part of a project that reflects their real lives.

'We are not that different ... We all want to love and be loved.'—Heather White, actress

One of the story lines follows a romance between actress Jenny Pudavick and a non-Mohawk man.

"I fall in love with a white man and I want to travel and leave the reserve," Pudavick explains.

"You're not supposed to do that. You're supposed to stay and marry a Mohawk man and build the Mohawk nation."

Members of the cast and crew hope the show will help change mainstream perceptions about their community’s reality.

"We are not that different from the people that are ten minutes that way. We all want to love and be loved," says actor Heather White.

Mohawk Girls will be filming in Kahnawake for the next few weeks.

It is scheduled to air in 2014 on the APTN network.