The documentary Trick or Treaty? was screened at Carleton on Jan. 30 followed by a question and answer session with the filmmaker, Alanis Obomsawin.
The film is Obomswain’s 43rd film for the National Film Board of Canada and was the first film by an Indigenous person to be selected for the master’s program at the Toronto International Film Festival.
It centres around multiple leaders of Indigenous communities across Canada who are seeking justice for their ancestors. Members of Indigenous communities in the film feel they have been cheated out of their lands, their means of survival, and their rights.
They claim there are two versions of the treaties their ancestors signed and assert that the parameters of coexistence documented in Treaty No. 9 were not the parameters that the Canadian government explained to Indigenous leaders.
In other words, they were told they were agreeing to one thing, when in fact they were agreeing to another. Present-day Indigenous communities have come together in an attempt to right this wrong by means of contacting the Canadian government in the hopes of opening up a dialogue of progress.
In the documentary, the efforts of Indigenous people to be respected and to have their concerns addressed are depicted.
The film included Chief Theresa Spence, whose request to meet with Stephen Harper and Gov. Gen. David Johnston was finally answered after a six-week hunger strike.
Obomsawin also portrays the leadership efforts of Indigenous youth. David Kawapit, took initiative and organized a 1,600-km walk from his community in Whapmagoostui, Que. to the steps of Parliament Hill as a way of proving to the government that Indigenous people will remain persistent in the fight for their rights.
Engineering student Damiano Torre, was invited to the screening by Obomsawin after meeting her at a workshop in Montreal on the education of First Nations.
He said he has always had an interest in the process by which the struggles of Indigenous people are cast aside.
During the question session, Obomsawin was asked to reassess the present situation.
“I cannot be discouraged. I refuse to believe we’re going back because we’re not. I believe that the future will be different,” Obomsawin said.
