Visitors to the museum will be invited to take a step into the past tomorrow night.
One St. Albert resident and a relative of one of the city’s founding families will be presenting a film she made a few years ago. Dr. Judy Iseke directed and produced A Living History of MĂ©tis Families as part of an Internet project called Our Elder Stories.
The film features Dorothy Chartrand, a MĂ©tis grandmother, as she tells stories about how MĂ©tis families were affected by the social and political changes from the 1800s to the present. Chartrand’s family itself was relocated as it dealt with the effects of new and shifting government land policies. She also talks about the ways that MĂ©tis women helped to sustain communities through their work in the fur trade and then later in general community life.
The presentation of the educational documentary is put on by the St. Albert Historical Society as part of the closing program for its annual general meeting, to be held just prior to the movie.
Society chair Ray Pinco is excited to have the showing, especially as it relates to such an important subject created by a prominent local educator. As it turned out, Iseke made the offer just as Pinco was putting together the evening’s program.
“It just happened that Judy called and asked if we would be interested in hosting her film and it happened all at the same time,” he said. “It’s a lucky coincidence, I guess.”
Iseke is an associate professor at Lakehead University in Ontario but also acts as the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Education.
This will be one of the first times the museum has hosted a film, a project it also had a hand in.
“They were quite happy. They know [Iseke] and worked with her in the production of the film,” Pinco said, certain the event will go over well.
A Living History of MĂ©tis Familie (as told by Dorothy Chartrand) will be shown tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. Admission is free. Iseke will be present for the screening.
The Musée Héritage Museum is located in St. Albert Place at 5 St. Anne St.
Call 780-459-1528 or visit www.artsheritage.ca/museum for more information.
To learn more about Iseke’s other works, please visit www.ourelderstories.com.
