The Truth and Action Working Group (TAWG) will be screening an acclaimed documentary filmed on the Peepeekisis Reserve in the Qu’Appelle Valley called I Plowed the Sacred Soil next week.
The film tells one of many stories from reserves about how an Indian agent working for the government took advantage of his position with an agricultural experiment that has continued to impact the Peepeekisis First Nations to this day.
“TAWG has thought it would be good to learn more about the reservation system,” said member Diane Guilford, noting this particular story is likely something a majority of people have never come across before. “And as we learn, it’s a good opportunity for us to invite others to journey alongside us.”
The feature-length documentary about the File Hills Farm Colony Experiment features descendants of the Saskatchewan Treaty Four reserve talking about their families’ struggle to maintain a farming community under the original treaty agreement of 1874.
The story focuses on William Morris Graham, a government-appointed Indian agent, and his 1898 failed attempt to solve the “Indian problem.” The consequences of the project created divisions in the Peepeekisis community that linger to this day.
Guilford learned about it while she was in Saskatchewan for nine months as part of an interim ministry that involved five churches. She shares that she was struck by how people have been affected, noting how some residents who objected to the plan were simply removed from their land and to an isolated area.
“The whole reserve has been impacted by this Indian agent who was appointed by the government,” she said. “With his power and authority, he started doing this experimental farm project that he wanted to make such a success of and become head of the Indian affairs in Canada.”
The film’s creators will be on hand to answer questions in conjunction with the screening Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church in Morden.
