The film takes a Native perspective in addressing the historical event, ensuring that the role of Native leadership in the discovery is not forgotten. Though the film's narrative is based on Samuel de Champlain's writings and illustrations, it approaches them through the lens of wampum records and oral history. The commitment to this perspective is reflected in the casting of the movie: Missisquoi Abenakis represent their ancestors, modern Native leaders represent ancient chiefs, and Champlain is played by a descendant of 17th century Quebec region inhabitants.
In addition to the events of the early 1600s, the film addresses the June 1609 Quebec international conferences between Champlain and his French forces and an alliance of Eastern First Nations. The film explores the clash of Native and European technological worlds, including warfare involving shielded bowmen, armored soldiers wielding rapiers and daggers, and musketeers bearing primitive matchlock guns. "Much of the film's authenticity," Wiseman notes, "comes from a careful recreation of dress, arms and armor, and other technologies that permitted three Frenchmen and sixty Alliance leaders, shamans and warriors to penetrate far into the no-man's land of Lake Champlain, subdue a numerically superior party of Iroquois, and return safely to the Lower St. Lawrence River."
At the premiere, Ted Timreck, a nationally known producer of archaeology film, will speak to the audience about the ongoing revolution in the study of the Indigenous cultures of the Northeast. A Q&A session and reception will follow the premiere, and a DVD of the film will also be available for purchase.
Information: mlwalker@uvm.edu, (802) 656-2060.