Controversy sparked by APTN series First Contact

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/09/2018 (2292 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

During the second episode of APTN’s three-episode documentary series First Contact, two distinct factions emerge about how to view Indigenous peoples.

This isn’t a spoiler by the way. This is Canada.

First Contact, for those who haven’t seen it, takes six Canadians with strong opinions about Indigenous peoples on a 28-day tour through Indigenous communities where their beliefs are challenged and contextualized.

Along their journey of education, they are fed and cared for by Indigenous communities, sleep in Indigenous homes, and hear brave stories by those who attended residential schools, lost loved ones, and struggle through poverty and substance abuse. Most episodes feature conversations with Indigenous peoples after participants toss out generalizations such as “reserves are dead-end places” and “Indians get everything for free.”

One faction, three young women and one young man, change their views radically.

The other faction is two 50-something Albertan men, who stubbornly maintain that Indigenous peoples are thankless to Canadian society, do little to help themselves out of poverty and violence, and policies like residential schools aren’t that bad after all.

This leads to by far the most interesting elements of the show, when the participants confront one another on what they’re seeing and what it all means. One participant, over ominous music, even calls the two Albertans “the face of an old generation that is racist”.

It’s good drama and an interesting display of Canadians split via generational, geographical, and educational divides. One might play a game and try to guess which participant belongs to which political party (ahem, a hint might be according to province).

Worth noting too is the incredible generosity Indigenous participants in the show showed by allowing people into their homes, cooking and cleaning for them, and addressing some horrendously ignorant and appalling views.

Many have also applauded the show for shedding light on the huge breadth of stereotypes surrounding Indigenous peoples held today.

I’d say this is a glass half-full description of my hate mail folder (and the comment board underneath my columns), but I get the point.

Many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people on social media loved the show, writing “everyone needs to see this,” while teachers vowed to use it in classrooms. Some applauded scenes, such as when the participants are scared to go to a pow-wow, as accurate to experiences encountering Indigenous culture.

So, on one level, First Contact fostered a space for Canadians to air a lot of ignorance about Indigenous peoples. Some of this even changed the views of certain Canadians, but definitely not all (one participant even said “nothing changed” for him).

I would even go so far as to say that Canada is a better place for First Contact.

One might wonder though, after 500+ years of contact, we will stop needing spaces of first contact.

And on a channel dedicated to Indigenous programming.

While there are important parts in the series, First Contact is a macabre, triggering, and upsetting display of Canadian tourism through legacies of Indigenous trauma.

I’m not alone in this view.

“This show is for white people who doubt racism exists. This is for them,” wrote Métis author and lawyer Chelsea Vowel on Twitter. “And I am tired of everything being for white people, including the way we are expected to perform our trauma while always being the better humans.”

The show is a “reflection of our everyday struggle to prove to Canadians that we are human beings,” posted Inuk singer and writer Tanya Tagaq.

“Why is it always Indigenous Peoples who have to bend over backwards to prove our worth?” asked Cree author David Robertson, “We have nothing to prove to you and we owe you nothing… We need to construct a new reality where [Indigenous] worth is inherent, and [First Contact] is not the way to do it.”

I wrote a column about the anticipation for First Contact a week before it aired and I paralleled the show to its Australian counterpart. There, the show was accused of voyeurism, exploitation and as tourism for “bigots.”

This didn’t stop a Season 2 in Australia and word on the street is we will get a Season 2 for the Canadian version too.

Let’s hope a broader dialogue – and audience – is found. The day that Indigenous peoples aren’t bombarded with racism and saddled with dispelling Canadian ignorance can’t come soon enough. Imagine how much work could get done if Canadians shared some of this work, which was seen in a small way on the show.

Which brings me to something overlooked in all of the criticism. Of the six Canadians, two came from Alberta, two from Ontario, one from the Maritimes, and one from British Columbia. Two huge absences were participants from Manitoba and Saskatchewan – both places certainly with people holding ignorant views on Indigenous issues.

Maybe first contact here looks different.

And where did First Contact begin their journey of education in dispelling these views?

Winnipeg.

Here participants spent days working with Bell Tower leader Michael Champagne, participating in Drag the Red with Bernadette Smith, walking the Bear Clan patrol with James Favel, and even sleeping at the house of former National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Education Lead Kevin Lamoureux.

While reasons for this are obvious – we have the largest urban Indigenous population and APTN headquarters are here – it is worth noting that when Canada needed to become educated on Indigenous issues, it turned to Winnipeg.

Winnipeg might be Canada’s first contact with reconciliation. We’re definitely not perfect but we’re doing some important work here.

Now that’s something worth tuning in for.

Niigaan Sinclair, who is Anishinaabe, is a columnist at the Winnipeg Free Press.