Alanis Obomsawin Trick Or Treat Analysis

Last evening, I attended the film Trick or Treat by Alanis Obomsawin. It was a beautifully done film about the issues first nations face in Canada. The film mostly revolved around the controversial Treaty No. 9 signed in 1905, which essentially stole the land from native communities without fully telling them that is what the document would do. Native communities were instead told that the treaty was one of peace and unity, not one of ownership. They were told one thing to get their signatures on a treaty that said a very different thing. If the native people had known what the document actually said, they would not have agreed to forfeit their land or their resource. Even today, first nations across Canada are still trying to right that wrong and make the oral treaty have more weight than the written one, which was never fully explained.
After the film, I listened to Alanis Obomsawin speak more about the issues. She told gut wrenching stories of horrible acts done to first nation people. It was hard to hear, but even harder to realize that the topic of natives’ issues in Canada had never crossed my mind. Life as I know it is completely incomparable to the problems natives face. It almost …show more content…
Her final message to the audience was an inspiring take on the slow and steady trek toward human rights. She essentially said to forget about people who want to remove your rights and find people who want to uplift them. Such a point of wisdom covers all aspects of life. Overall, I thought Obomsawin was absolutely amazing. The film was also amazing and I am truly glad I went. It certainly opened my eyes to new issues, ones I had never even thought of. The importance of making people understand that the human rights efforts are still going on across the world cannot be overstated. I am thankful to be awaken to the injustice and to be forced to join the campaign for the rights of