Michelle Derosier says racism stems from ignorance.
The local filmmaker hopes to start breaking down some of those barriers Thursday night through the Walk A Mile Project, a series of five short documentaries that touch on Aboriginal relations and their place in modern society, viewed through the eyes of First Nation’s people.
Derosier said throughout Canada’s history there has been a huge knowledge gap of the Aboriginal culture. By helping to close it, she’s hoping to start changing attitudes on both sides of the cultural street. “It’s not something that’s just about Thunder Bay or that is just happening here. It’s actually happening across the country,” said Derosier, whose will screen the Walk a Mile project free of charge on Thursday night at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium. “When you don’t have knowledge and understanding about your neighbours, sometimes you get things like stereotypes and misunderstandings or even racism that can stem from that misunderstanding. Basically what we’re trying to do with this series is fill in those gaps.”
The documentaries focus on a wide variety of people in the community, coming from different backgrounds, from youth to women to entrepreneurs to teachers and policy makers.
Produced with the help of the City of Thunder Bay and donations from 32 organizations and businesses, Derosiers, who runs Thunderstone Pictures, said the collaborative effort was important for what she was trying to achieve. “It has to be done together. In the last documentary we’re going to be looking at that and how do we move forward as a community. We know we have to do it together and even from the very beginning that’s been our approach,” she said.
A stronger community, one in which racist attitudes start to disappear, is the ultimate goal, Derosier said.
Stronger relationships with non-Aboriginals are also high on her list of potential impacts. “Maybe starting initiatives together and talking about developing or implementing policy around the history and race relations and how do we work with our First Nations neighbour, whether it’s on an individual basis or in business,” she said.
City clerk John Hannam, who worked closely with the filmmaker, said the city’s Aboriginal liaison office realized early on that it’s difficult to build those relationships without knowing a little bit about who they are.
A shared understanding of their experience is the best way to ensure that knowledge grows. “We’ve seen for a while that we needed some kind of tool that we could use internally within the city’s operations, as well as out in the community, at schools and other employments, to help get that conversation going that allows people to get to know one another,” Hannam said.
The shorts will be available online for download for a nominal charge.
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