Decolonizing Lens Screening of "Lii Michif Niiyanaan: We Are Métis"

Join Decolonizing Lens and the Mawachihitotaak Métis Studies Symposium for a screening of Lii Michif Niiyanaan: We Are Métis at the Robert Schultz Lecture Theatre! The theatre is located in St. Johns College at the University of Manitoba Fort Garry campus.

Following the screening, we will have a discussion with Jeannine Carrière and guests, as well as food and entertainment, including musical guests Morgan Grace on the fiddle with Keith Ginther as accompaniment. Special guests featured in the film will be present alongside two of the film's creators and food will be provided by St. John’s College Daily Bread.

A description of Lii Michif Niiyanaan: We Are Métis, produced by Moving Images, follows:

The Métis are often referred to as Canada’s “invisible people” – the “ghosts of the land” – whose stories haunt the country’s collective unconscious. Lii Michif Niiyanaan: We Are Métis is a one-hour documentary that addresses this invisibility by shining a new light on the historical and contemporary experience of Métis people in Canada and providing a space for Métis people to share their diverse perspectives on what it means to be Métis today.

Known to some as Half-breeds, and to others as otipemsiwak – “the people who own themselves” – the Métis are the vibrant result of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry and are one of three recognized Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Yet most Canadians know little about the unique place of the Métis in the Canadian mosaic, or what former BC Supreme Court Justice Thomas Berger calls “the unfinished business of reconciliation” between the Métis and the Canadian state. Featuring the voices of Métis elders, artists, activists and scholars, Lii Michif Niiyanaan makes an essential contribution to this national conversation. The film is a love letter to the courage, determination, and resilient spirit of the Métis nation, and a call for all Canadians to embrace the richness of their shared history.

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

Produced by Christine Welsh and Gregory Coyes
Directed by Madeline Ell and Gregory Coyes
Executive Producer - Jeannine Carriere
Produced in association with the University of Victoria
Produced with the assistance of the Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage

More information about the film and its creators can be found on the Mawachihitotaak website here: https://www.mawachihitotaak.com/decolonizing-lens-presents