Trick or Treaty?

In Northern Ontario between 1905 and 1906, members of the Ojibway (Anishinaabe), Cree (including the Omushkegowuk), and other Indigenous peoples entered Treaty No. 9 with commissioners representing the Crown. Presented to First Nations representatives as a land-sharing accord, in reality the treaty allowed the Canadian government broad power to use the territories to its own ends, with little regard for the consequences to people or the environment. More than one hundred years later, the descendants of the First Nations signatories contend the treaty’s stated purpose to share land and resources has been abandoned and ignored.

Both illuminating and entertaining, Alanis Obomsawin’s thorough documentary of the treaty blends the past and present to portray one community’s attempts to enforce their rights and protect their lands. Trick or Treaty? was the first film by an Indigenous filmmaker included in the Masters section at the Toronto International Film Festival. (84 mins., DCP)

Obomsawin joins us March 3 for a special presentation of Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance that features a prescreening reception and postscreening Q&A.

See the complete Visiting Filmmaker: Alanis Obomsawin lineup.

IMAGE CAPTION  
Trick or Treaty?, courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada.