COMMUNITY SCREENING of the APTN/National Film Board film by We Wai Kai
First Nation Director Lori Lewis.
Niigaanibatowaad: FrontRunners
A story of survival, hope, and a dream for a new beginning that transcends
stereotypes and racism.
Very Special Guests the FrontRunners, will be present for a post-screening
conversation. Meet Charlie Nelson, Bill Chippeway and Patrick Bruyere,
three of the original long-distance runners from the 1967 Winnipeg Pan-Am
Games Torch Relay
The FrontRunners speak from the heart about their healing journey and an
exciting and healthy future for Indigenous youth
Wenjack Theatre
Trent University
2131 East Bank Drive
Peterborough Ontario
Doors open at 6:30 Event starts at 7 pm sharp.
FREE ADMISSION
Here is a brief summary of the film:
“At a special ceremony during the opening of the 1999 Pan Am Games in
Winnipeg, Manitoba, seven Indigenous men in their fifties entered the
stadium in war canoes. One of them held the Games torch. In 1967 when
Winnipeg first hosted the Pan American Games, ten outstanding athletic
teenage boys were chosen to run 800 kilometers over an ancient message
route with the Games torch. When the runners arrived at the stadium, they
were not allowed to enter with the torch. Instead, a non-Indigenous runner
was given the honour. Thirty-two-years later, the province of Manitoba
issued an official apology.
Nine of the ten young men chosen for the 1967 Pan Am Games torch run were
from residential schools. Niigaanibatowaad is about the segregation of the
Indigenous athletes and the despair and abuse suffered in the school
system. Niigaanibatowaad: FrontRunners is a story of survival, hope,
reconciliation and a dream for a new beginning that transcends stereotypes
and racism.”
The evening will bring together Indigenous and non-indigenous communities
committed to reconciliation and the start of the creation of new memories.
This Indigenous-led evening offers a path to reconciliation, the full
rundown and the names of the participants will be shared once confirmed.