The Northern Bruce Truth and Reconciliation Group Announces Event #5 in their Six-Part free Educational Series: Walk a New Path, featuring films selected by renowned U. of T. scholar Dr. Stephen Scharper on Tuesday August 8  at 7:00pm in the auditorium of the Parks Canada Visitor Centre in Tobermory.

"Niigaanibatowaad: FrontRunners", features an introduction by Curator Stephen Scharpe and commentary/discussion by the filmmaker, Laura Robinson.

"In 1967, 10 standout Indigenous track athletes, the FrontRunners, were chosen to carry the Pan Am torch over a five-day 800-kilometre run. It started in St. Paul, Minn., and ended at the gates of Winnipeg Stadium. But what awaited the runners there for the opening ceremony was bitter disappointment. A non-Indigenous athlete was ordered to carry the torch into the stadium in front of the frenzied crowd while the FrontRunners were sent for lunch at a nearby restaurant. After watching the ceremony on television there, they were promptly shipped back to their schools." (CBC)

In 1999 when the Pan American Games returned to Winnipeg, the seven surviving Front Runners were finally able to enter the stadium carrying the torch." This is their story.

Doors open at 6:30pm and seating is limited so please arrive early. Admission, parking, following conversation and refreshments are free.

The sixth events in the educational series will occur August 22 also at the Parks Canada Visitor Centre in Tobermory, featuring a film Curated by Stepehen Scharper with details to be announced.

The Northern Bruce Truth and Reconciliation Group was created in 2015 to learn how to contribute to building an environment where the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Commission are acknowledged and the Calls to Action set out in the TRC Report are supported locally.

We gratefully acknowledge the National Film Board of Canada, Parks Canada and the Municipality of North Bruce Peninsula.

source: media release, Northern Bruce Truth and Reconciliation Group