There’s a special advanced screening of a new TV series tonight that will hopefully add to the conversation about Indigenous relations in northern Ontario.

The show is called “First Contact’ and it follows six non-Indigenous Canadians with very strong opinions about Indigenous people. The show, produced by the Aboriginal Peoples TV Network, Winnipeg-based Animiki See Digital Productions, Numan Films and Indios Productions, takes these Canadians on a four week journey in Indigenous territory, both urban and rural.

Program Chair for HIP, Honoring Indigenous Peoples, John Andras, says the journey the six Canadians go through turns their lives upside down.

“Through that process, their opinions and beliefs are challenged. And, in some cases, completely, completely changed,” he said.

Andras says he is hoping the show starts a bigger conversation among Canadians about the work that still needs to be done to achieve reconciliation.

“The series confronts the biases, stereotypes and racism towards Indigenous peoples,” Andras said. “And we’re hoping that the screening will start a dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples to lead to greater understanding, to lead to joint programs and projects.”

The event tonight at O’Gorman High School will feature a special panel of guest Indigenous leaders and elders. Deputy Grand Chief Naveau and Chief Boissoneau from Mattagami First Nation will be on the panel. Mayor George Pirie will also be in attendance. The screening and panel discussion is being sponsored by the Timmins Rotary Club and the Northeastern Catholic District School Board.

“It should be a very, very good event,” Andras, who is moderating the panel, said, “and should, hopefully, open a lot of eyes and a lot of ears and a lot of hearts to the Indigenous reality not just in the Timmins areas but across Canada.”

Andras says the topics and attitudes presented by the participants in the show are somewhat jarring and, at past screenings, has led to discussions with the panel about their own experiences about racist attitudes.

This is the first time the narrative is being brought to the north. A screening is also planned for this spring in Thunder Bay.

“There are obviously fault lines and problems in the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples across Canada,” Andras said. “And often it’s in the near-north communities where those fault lines appear to be most implicit. This sort of cultural clash is the most obvious.”

Andras says attitudes are similar in Toronto. The same biases and stereotypes exist in more urban areas among the non-Indigenous population towards Indigenous people.

“It’s really almost a lack of understanding, a lack of education,” said Andras, “because […] the truth about residential schools was not taught in schools until extremely recently. So you have generations of non-Indigenous people that really don’t understand, they haven’t heard, they don’t get it. And as a result, misunderstandings fester and they grow. And we’re hoping that this is an opportunity to pop some of those false beliefs. And hopefully by doing that, lead to […] a much greater understanding.”

The series exposes the negative attitudes that some Canadians have towards Indigenous cultures and aims to change their thinking by bringing the other side of the story to the forefront.

“By exposing them, it also exposes the fallacies behind those attitudes,” Andras said. “And by doing that, hopefully, it can change some people’s minds, some people’s hearts. And those people will in turn talk about what they experienced.”

Andras says he hopes this series will spark the start of improved relations among the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in the north. He says when these cultures come together, it promotes more positive change for the community.

“That can lead to all sorts of programs and projects and joint ventures that can really improve the climate in the whole community. […] This is perhaps part of a beginning in changing the dialogue, changing the narrative.”

The screening of First Contact is this evening at 630 PM at O’Gorman High School’s auditorium. This is a free event that will start with a Traditional First Nations Opening, including a Smudge. The event is limited to 300 people so seats will be on a first come first serve basis. An RSVP to info@rotarytimmins.org is requested but not required.

 

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