VIDEO: Walt recommends a soap opera. Really? Yes, really!

In case you missed it [and we're betting you did. Ed.], 2017 was the Year of the Indian in Canada. Except it wasn't called that, because there are no more Indians in Canada, except the millions who have immigrated in recent years. [Don't go there. Ed.] In Canada, the people who used to be called "Indians" are now referred to in PC-speak as "First Nations". Terms such as "aboriginal people" and "indigenous people" are also PC, but include the indigenes formerly known as "Eskimos", so "First Nations" it shall be. 

Anyway... 2017, the 150th anniversary of Confederation, was the year in which the goveernment of Canuckistan (Just In Trudeau, Prop.) decided to make a big show of grovelling in repentance over the shameful treatment of the First Nations perpetrated by the British colonialists over the preceding two centuries. There were profuse apologies, acknowledgment ceremonies in which the stealing of the First Nations' lands was acknowledged, and the obligatory inclusion of First Nations representatives in all the other foofarawa that marked the Sesquicentenary.

That moment has passed. 2020 is the year of the Blacks, with a capital "B". But one thing that endured was the pressure to do more for/with First Nations in the greater society. M Trudeau now has two (2) cabinet ministers charged with keeping the natives from becoming too restless. And the Canadian Broadcorping Castration now features an "Indigenous" tab on its propagands ["news", shurely! Ed.] website.

OK, OK... It's easy to make fun of the CBC (aka CNN North), but from time to time they present some worthwhile programmes. Back in the 90s, before patronizing the First Nations was popular or profitable, they produced North of 60, a "mystery drama series" -- OK, a soap opera -- about the trials and tribulations of aboriginal people in the fictional town of Lynx River, Northwest Territories.

Depicting life in the sub-Arctic northern boreal forest (north of 60° north latitude, hence the title), it first aired on CBC in 1992 and ran through 1997. Lynx River is a primarily First Nations-run village depicted as being in the Dehcho Region, although it was actually shot in and around Bragg Creek AB, west of Calgary. The show explored themes of native poverty, alcoholism, cultural preservation, conflict over land settlements, and natural resource exploitation.

Most of the characters were Dené (a group of First Nations who live in the region), as were the actors who portrayed them. Some non-native characters had important roles: the restaurant/motel owner, the band manager, the nurse and (in the first season) the town's main RCMP officer. That's the way it is in real life, in that part of the world.

The star of the series (as it turned out) was Tina Keeper, who played RCMP Constable (later Corporal) Michelle Kenidi. Tom Jackson played Michelle's brother Peter, the band chief (most of time). The villain of piece, Albert Golo (bootlegger, then band chief), was played by veteran actor Gordon Tootoosis, who should have got an award of some kind.

The "youth interest" was suppied by Dakota House as Trevor 'Teevee' Tenia (teen trouble-maker, then band chief). First Nations people, every one of them. Other First Nations in the cast were: Jimmy Herman as Joe Gomba (elder), Willene Tootoosis (Gordon's daughter) as Lois Tenia (Teevee's mother), Columpa Bobb as Mary Cook (the native nurse, in conflict with the white nurse), and Henry Standing Alone (that's a real Alberta name!) as Sam Kizha. Wilma Pelly was a fan favourite, played Elsie Tsa Che, Teevee's grandmother, a community elder.

Yes, there were white people, notably John Oliver, who played RCMP Corporal Eric Olsen during the show's first two seasons. He left the show when his off-screen relationship with Tina Keeper went south (no pun intended), and was replaced by Robert Bockstael as Corporal Brian Fletcher, who in turn was replaced later by Peter Kelly Gaudreault as Constable James Harper.

Tracey Cook played Sarah Birkett, the white nurse who somehow never quite fit in to the community, in spite of a disastrous relationship with Albert Golo. Lubomir Mykytiuk played Gerry Kisilenko, who ran the motel/restaurant/general store. In spite of his Ukrainian heritage, he couldn't do the accent that would have made him seem "more real", at least to me. Same for Yvan Ponton, who played RCMP, who played Inspector Fortier, who appeared every now and then to set everyone back on the right path. Not a sympathetic character in the lot.

That's enough cast list. How about a sample? Here's Season 3, Episode 9, entitled "The Gift".

   

After North of 60 ended in 1997, five made-for-TV movies were made, featuring various members of the show's recurring cast. They were: In The Blue Ground (1999), Trial by Fire (2000), Dream Storm (2001), Another Country (2003), and Distant Drumming (2005).

The movies and the entire six seasons of the show are in perpetual rerun on APTN (the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, available in Canada), and most of the TV shows have now appeared on YouTube. If you like what you've seen, click here to go to the YouTube playlist for all the episodes of Season 3.