UNBC is hosting a special documentary screening tonight (Thursday).
The documentary is called DƏNE YI’INJETL, or The Scattering of Man.
It has been on a tour of film festivals after six years in production, and tells the story of the Tsay Keh Dene Nation being forced and flooded out of their land by BC Hydro in the 60’s.
“It is an opportunity for us to share a bit of our story about what happened, starting in the 1960’s until now with the creation of the W.A.C. Bennet Dam in northern B.C.” said Luke Gleeson, the director of The Scattering of Man.
In 1968, the dam flooded the Rocky Mountain Trench, which was the home of the Tsay Keh Dene people for as long as history is recorded.
B.C. Hydro offered impacted nations a chance to have their stories housed at the dam in question in the form of short films and documentaries.
“For years we had other people telling our histories, be it the province or B.C. Hydro, but it had never come from our people or our perspective” Gleeson said.
The documentary has been screened all across BC and many parts of Canada, with Prince George the next stop, but it has also received international attention.
“We have played everywhere from New York, Oregon, India, Italy. We have played all over the place, you’re never really sure what the reception is going to be, but this is a story that relates directly to very real events and very real people in a part of the world that most people wouldn’t expect this to occur.”
Across the world, Gleeson said the overall reaction has been a humane one.
For more information on the film, click here.
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