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Indigenous Stories of Land and Colonization

June 20, 2018
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Event

At Evans Theatre
Admission: FREE!

A screening presented by Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples’ Council and the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba for National Indigenous Peoples Week

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The Violence of a Civilization without Secrets
by Zack Khalil and Adam Shingwak Khalil
2017, 10 minutes

Filmmakers Adam and Zack Khalil, in collaboration with artist Jackson Polys, investigate the recent court case that decided the fate of the remains of a prehistoric Paleoamerican man found in Kennewick, Washington State in 1996. The case pitted the Umatilla people and other tribes, who wanted to provide a burial to the “Ancient One”, against two scientists—one of which from the publicly-funded Smithsonian Institute—who wanted to study the “Kennewick Man”. In order for the claim to fall under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) it became necessary to establish the lineage of these remains. This fight unleashed a controversy with groups attempting to establish white ancestry, and with this seeking to altogether undermine the indigenous sovereignty over land and ancestors and annul centuries of colonial violence. The evolving science of DNA and cranial morphology was grotesquely called in to testify to the purity of the bones’ ethnicity, where native claims to embodied knowledge of its origin had little means of addressing the court. Despite all of this, the Umatilla people and other tribes ultimately repatriated the “Ancient One” and he was reburied earlier this year in 2017.

ôtênaw
by Conor McNally
2017, 40 minutes

A meditative and captivating work that follows the oral storytelling of Dwayne Donald, an educator from Edmonton, as he draws from Nêhiyawak philosophies speaking about the multilayered histories of Indigenous peoples' presence both within and around Amiskwacîwâskahikan, now known as the City of Edmonton. This captivating work reveals the buried stories that lay beneath our cityscapes.
Conor McNally (Métis/Otipemisiwak) is a filmmaker based in Edmonton. He creates works through a combination of instinct and hands-on trial and error. Conor is also a proud father and a garlic grower.

-INTERMISSION-

Just Dandy
by Thirza Cuthand
2013, 8 minutes

Invited to speak at an Indigenous Revolutionary Meeting, the narrator describes an intimate encounter with an Evil Colonizing Queen which leads to Turtle Island's contraction of an invasive European flora.

Thirza Jean Cuthand (Plains Cree/Scottish) is an award-winning filmmaker who has been making short experimental narrative videos and films about sexuality, madness, youth, love, and race since 1995. Her works have screened at festivals nationally and internationally, including Tribeca, Hot Docs, and Oberhausen.

Colonization Road
by Michelle St. John
2016, 49 minutes

In towns throughout Ontario, there are startling reminders of the colonization of Indigenous territories and the displacement of First Nations people. Anishinaabe comedian and activist Ryan McMahon takes us to his hometown of Fort Frances and down its main drag, which is called Colonization Road. Similar streets have similar names in towns and cities across the province, direct reminders of the Public Lands Act of 1853 and its severe impact on First Nations, their treaties and their land in the name of “Canadian settlement.” On his journey through Ontario, McMahon explores the history of these roads, meets with settlers in solidarity and raises significant questions about “reconciliation” and what it means to “decolonize.”

Host – Ryan McMahon Featuring: Pam Palmater, Hayden King, Jeff Denis, Cuyler Cotton, Chief Erwin Redsky, Lee Maracle, Teika Newton, Al Hunter, Heidi Bohaker Rod McLeod, Daryl Redsky, Linda Redsky, Janis Redsky, Leanne Simpson, Niigaan Sinclair, Doug Williams and more.