'Trick or Treaty?' documentary to screen in Sudbury on Tuesday
Film looks at how First Nations people in northern Ontario are still affected by Canada's assimilation efforts
An award-winning Canadian filmmaker is bringing one of her documentaries to Sudbury this week.
Alanis Obomsawin will be screening Trick or Treaty? at Memorial Park as part of the Sudbury Indie Cinema's Summer Film Series offering free films shown outdoors.
The film debuted in 2014 at the TIFF, making Obomsawin the first Indigenous filmmaker screened in the festival's master's program.
Documenting the history of Treaty 9
The documentary profiles a 1905 agreement in which First Nations peoples in northern Ontario surrendered their sovereign rights, the impact of which is still being felt today.
"[Treaty 9] put them on reserve," she said.
"These people were travelling all the time — hunting and fishing, that's how they would survive. Now they were limited to a lot of them staying in one place."
Obomsawin, who has been making films for 40 years, said Trick or Treaty? also looks at modern day movements by Indigenous people, specifically the Idle No More movement in 2014.
"All those people went marching all the way to Ottawa from James Bay on the Quebec side," she said.
"So I think, not only are our people are being heard now, but I think that Canadians themselves are getting more educated."
Trick or Treaty will be screened in Memorial Park Tuesday night.