Film screening of “Trick or Treaty?” with Alanis Obomsawin
- Date
- November 09, 2023
- Time
- 6:00 PM EST - 9:00 PM EST
- Location
- Oakham Lounge, Oakham House (35 Gould Street)
- Open To
- All students, faculty and staff
- Contact
- Cher Trudeau cktrudeau@torontomu.ca
Join a free community screening of the acclaimed film Trick or Treaty?, followed by an interactive Q&A session featuring the esteemed director, Alanis Obomsawin.
- 5:30 p.m. | Doors open
- 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. | Mix and mingle
- 7 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. | Welcome
- 7:15 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. | Film screening
- 8:45 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Q&A with Alanis Obamsawin
The film has been generously provided by the National Film Board of Canada. Food and refreshments will be provided.
About the film Trick or Treaty?
Covering a vast swath of northern Ontario, Treaty No. 9 reflects the often contradictory interpretations of treaties between First Nations and the Crown. To the Canadian government, this treaty represents a surrendering of Indigenous sovereignty, while the descendants of the Cree signatories contend its original purpose to share the land and its resources has been misunderstood and not upheld. Enlightening as it is entertaining, Trick or Treaty? succinctly and powerfully portrays one community’s attempts to enforce their treaty rights and protect their lands, while also revealing the complexities of contemporary treaty agreements. Trick or Treaty? made history as the first film by an Indigenous filmmaker to be part of the Masters section at TIFF when it screened there in 2014.
About the director, Alanis Obomsawin
One of the most acclaimed Indigenous directors in the world, Alanis Obomsawin came to cinema from performance and storytelling. Hired by the NFB as a consultant in 1967, she has created an extraordinary body of work—50 films and counting—including landmark documentaries like Incident at Restigouche (1984) and Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993). The Abenaki director has received numerous international honours and her work was showcased in a 2008 retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. “My main interest all my life has been education,” says Obomsawin, “because that’s where you develop yourself, where you learn to hate, or to love.”
Alanis received a Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa, from TMU in 2018.
This event is part of Treaties Recognition Week
Treaties Recognition Week honours the importance of treaties and aims to empower students, faculty and staff with a greater awareness and understanding of treaty rights, treaty relationships and their relevance today. In 2016, Ontario passed the first legislation (external link) of its kind in Canada declaring the first full week of November as Treaties Recognition Week.
Brought to you by the Treaties Recognition Week committee
This year’s event is organized by a collective of Indigenous and non-Indigenous colleagues, led by Cher Trudeau, Administrative Coordinator, Indigenous Education Council and Indigenous Initiatives.
The committee includes staff from Gdoo-maawnjidimi Mompii Indigenous Student Services and Indigenous Initiatives in the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion; Indigenous Education Council in the Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic; the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching; the Ceremonials Office; the Indigenous Law School Students Association (ILSSA); Saagajiwe in The Creative School; TMU Libraries, Archives and Special Collections; Toronto Metropolitan Association of Part-Time Students (TMAPS); Toronto Met Students Union (TMSU); and Treaty Relations in Business Education (TRIBE).
This event is wheelchair accessible
The university is committed to the accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities. If you require any additional accessibility accommodations to ensure your full participation, please email Cher Trudeau, Administrative Coordinator, Indigenous Education Council and Indigenous Initiatives, at cktrudeau@torontomu.ca.
Questions?
If you have any questions, please email Cher Trudeau, Administrative Coordinator, Indigenous Education Council and Indigenous Initiatives, at cktrudeau@torontomu.ca.