Trick or Treaty? Screening with Alanis Obomsawin

Join legendary Canadian documentarian, Alanis Obomsawin, as she uncovers the tangled history of Treaty No. 9 in a screening of her newest documentary, Trick or Treaty?, Wednesday, December 3, at the Capitol Centre in North Bay.

The pre-screening reception begins at 6 p.m. The film will screen at 7 p.m., followed by a Question and Answer session with Obomsawin. This event is free of charge and open to everyone.

An official selection for the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, Trick or Treaty? takes an illuminating look at the controversial document, Treaty No. 9, the 1905 agreement between the British Crown and Canadian government
and Cree and Ojibway communities of Ontario and Manitoba that supposedly relinquished sovereignty over their traditional lands. The movie follows the journey of Indigenous people in their quest for justice as they seek to establish a dialogue with the Canadian government.

The late Grand Chief Stan Louttit, who received an Honorary Degree from Nipissing, and Professor Emeritus Dr. John Long both feature in the film. Long is the author of a seminal text on the topic, the award-winning Treaty No. 9: Making the Agreement to Share the Land in Far Northern Ontario in 1905. He argues that the Indigenous peoples of this vast region never surrendered their territories or their rights.

Trick or Treaty? also features scenes shot on location at Nipissing University.

A member of the Abenaki First Nation, Obomsawin is one of Canada’s most eminent documentary filmmakers. For over 40 years, her work has helped give a voice to Indigenous people in Canada. She has directed 40 documentaries with the National Film Board of Canada. Her work—in particular her feature documentary Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, about the 1990 Mohawk uprising at Kanehsatake and Oka—has garnered numerous international awards. In 2013, her film Hi-Ho Mistahey! had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

This screening of Trick or Treaty? is presented by the Office of Aboriginal Initiatives at Nipissing University in partnership with Near North Mobile Media Lab and North Bay Film.