SPIRIT TO SOAR: A HORROR STORY WITH HOPE @HOT DOCS 2021

We hear the horror against Indigenous people enough to live it. When speaking with director Tasha Hubbard on FERNTV, we experienced many difficult emotions. Her film nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up at Hot Docs 2019 show the effects of colonialism. The family of the late Colton Bushie went to extreme lengths to fight racial injustice. The courts did not convict Gerard Stanley for shooting Colton Bushie. He was let go causing an international outcry.

Speaking with Joe Buffalo at this year’s SXSW about the traumatic effects of attending a residential school was heartbreaking. No child should have to go through that. Some of the worst horror stories come from those residential schools all across Canada let alone the entire continent. With that said, homeschooling does not sound so bad after all.

The Seven Fallen Feathers

Toronto Star investigative journalist, author and podcaster Tanya Talaga is now using film to tell her story. A Spirit to Soar which she co-directs with Michelle Derosier premiers online at the Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival. The Anishinaabe/Polish author of the Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Deaths and Hard Truths in Northern City follows up on an inquest from 2016. Her book brought international attention to First Nations students who mysteriously died in Thunder Bay between 2001 and 2011. Five of whom were discovered in the lakes and streams around Lake Superior.

Thunder Bay

Jethro Anderson, Reggie Bushie, Robyn Harper, Kyle Morrisseau, Paul Panacheese, Curran Strang and Jordan Wabasse went missing and discovered dead. The ones who were were said to have drowned were taken by the water. All these cases were unsolvable and police threw them under the rug. Jordan Wabasse’s body was found in the water where Talaga’s grandmother’s Fort William reserve is. And this is where it hits home for her and when she no longer is naive of Thunder Bay.

First Nations students have to attend the Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School in Thunder Bay. Some of them are coming as far as 500 to 600km away from their communities. Many would have to board with others they did not know. This causes anxiety and uneasy feelings amongst the students knowing that Thunder Bay is not too welcoming to their kind. They do not feel safe in their surroundings. Especially when all of them know that other students before them have gone missing and found dead. This is a red flag that’s treated too lightly.

Thunder Bay is surrounding by a vast amount of land and water in the province of Ontario. Julian Falconer is a lawyer for the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. He describes Thunder Bay when flying over,

It’s ironic that Thunder Bay’s beauty can not stop its colonial oppression of First Nations people. This is the truth that many Canadians struggle with.

The Indian Act

The Indian Act was legislation passed in 1876. It governs the lives of every single Status Indian in Canada and it is still on the books today. Among other things, the act allowed for the removal of First Nations children to send them to Indian Residential School. Most of the students went through a traumatic and abusive experience. This colonialism context exists today within the political, economical and legal system of Canada. These examples of colonialism that we have studied through films on FERNTV have left us disappointed. This documentary Spirit to Soar hits us in the heart and at times painful to watch. So we are speechless with angry emotions that have to subside over time.

Hope Floats

Tanya Talaga gives the audience hope by familiarizing herself with her family and the land where she comes from. She does realize from this inquest that there is work to do to minimize colonialism in Thunder Bay. She helps students be proud of who they are and where they come from. Nishnawbe Aski Nation staff and leaders along with teachers take the students out hunting. Furthermore, it is a time for reflection. They can connect with the land, remember their language, customs and who they are.  Tanya Talaga hunts with these students, bringing them back to the land where her mother was raised.

Stop the Horror!

Most horror stories give us a glimpse of light and hope at the end of the tunnel. This is the point where we should not let our guard down. Oppressors favour these times where everyone is at ease. This is the specific point where the oppressors strike again. It’s an uphill battle to alleviate this embedded frame of thought within the system of Canada. But it is better to go down with a fight for who you are and where you come from.

Nevertheless, it is time that we all stop this horror! This is an embarrassing point in history for Canada that should no longer have a future. We look elsewhere and are quick to judge. Unfortunately, we should look at our own backyard where there is much cleaning up to do.

Watch Spirit to Soar now at Hot Docs by clicking this link

www.ttalaga.ca