This program hosted by Barbara Frum, documents the history of relations between Canada's native Indians and non-native Canadians from the arrival of early settlers to the present. Archival footage of the signing of the last of the great treaties; Treaty Day celebrations; European immigrants arriving in Canada; and Indians being registered under the Indian Act of 1868. Archival photos of Sir John A. MacDonald, the primary force behind Confederation, and Louis Riel, Métis leader of the Red River Rebellion, along with narrative by Barbara Frum, provide the background to current problems. Those interviewed include: Hugh Faulkner, former Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development; David Ahenaken, Federation of Saskatchewan Indians; Noel Starblanket, National Indian Brotherhood; Maria Campbell, Métis writer; Jim Sinclair, Saskatchewan Métis Association; John Rogers, Main Street Project in Winnipeg; Jack Beaver, Business Consultant; Robert Bourassa, former Premier of Quebec; Billy Diamond, Grand Council of the Cree; George Erasmus, Dene Nation; and Daniel Johnson, Council for Yukon Indians. Doug Cuthand, a Cree in charge of health for the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians, describes conditions on the James Smith Indian Reserve, shown in footage.~Other footage includes: Jean Chrétien, Minister of Indian Affairs in 1969, announcing the "White Paper" which proposed repealing the Indian Act and phasing out the Department; rural Indian shacks and slum housing in Indian ghettos in cities; alcoholism among Indians in the city; social and medical services for Indians; young native inmates in the Prince Albert Penitentiary in Saskatchewan, Manitoba; a Blood Band program to tackle unemployment in the reserves; Kanai Industries Ltd., one of the few native industries on a reserve; Indian children in a school on the Pequis Reserve; the James Bay Power Project in Quebec; a strategy meeting of the Dene Nation leaders in the MacKenzie Valley, where Justice Berger held hearings on the proposed MacKenzie Valley Pipeline; the Beaufort Sea, where a pipeline will be built despite objections; and Yellowknife, N.W.T., symbol of the southern presence in the north.~Major topics are: "the treaty" as the weapon used to conquer native peoples in Canada, now the major bargaining implement used by Indians in land claims negotiations, claims for benefits from the development of natural resources, and attempts to regain economic and political self-sufficiency. Obstacles to achieving this autonomy, such as racism, federal government attitudes, huge bureaucracies, inadequate education and training, and self-defeating behaviour such as alcohol and drug addiction, are discussed. <90mn>
