‘8th Fire’ comes to Humber’s Indigenous Movie Cafe

Humber’s Aboriginal Resource Centre just wrapped on its monthly Movie Cafe.

This month’s feature was 8th Fire: Aboriginal Peoples, Canada & The Way Forward: a four-part documentary series by the CBC that examines the relationship between the Indigenous people of Canada and Canadian colonizers. The film’s humour helps open up a dialogue between the two bitterly divided groups.

“It can be a really hard issue to discuss. Whenever we talk about our struggles, the other side can almost feel like this sense of guilt, but in this docu-series — this is very much us trying to get ahead together,” says Kaitlin Philips, an Aboriginal student support advisor.

Philips says she is excited about what kind of dialogue 8th Fire creates between its two different kinds of audiences. 

Roberta Bahrdar says she just moved to Etobicoke, and she came to the Indigenous Movie Cafe to learn about the history of her new home.

“I’m a new Canadian myself, so it’s nice to learn — unfortunately sad stories — but nonetheless very important,” Bahrdar says.

Humber College’s acting director of Indigenous education Regina Hartwick says the cafe was originally designed because “there’s an intention to learn more in the campus community.”

The Aboriginal Resource Centre wanted to provide a resource for anyone on campus to come and learn about Indigenous issues.

“It provides that opportunity for us to come together as a group and to really discuss some of the issues that we see everywhere in a really safe environment,” Hartwick says.

The Movie Cafe happens once a month in WEL 301. The Center will start again in January with The Fast Runner.