The voyage is over, but the memories linger in the hearts and minds of 28 staff and students from the Lloydminster Public School Division (LPSD) who paddled the North Saskatchewan River to commemorate the 150th anniversary of signing of Treaty 6. That journey is now the subject matter of an 18-minute documentary which ES Laird Middle School were the first to view.
“I got asked by Mr. Maw (ES Laird school principal). He said can you make a documentary for this canoe voyage,” says Jake Tremmel, grade 11 communications student at Lloydminster Comprehensive.
Tremmel runs a video production upstart called Jet Aerial and has been honing his skills over the last five years. With guidance from LPSD staff he reduced over one terabyte of footage from the eight-day voyage into the final 18-minute product. He has never made a documentary but felt the project was a great way to get into long-form editing.
“It was a great learning experience. I know what to do next time if I make a documentary,” says the young videographer.
Tremmel was one of the crew in the support boat. He took some 70 hours to produce the final edit.
Medallions
Several medallions have been commissioned and are being presented to LPSD schools in recognition of the 348km voyage which the team undertook from May 27 to June 3. Onion Lake’s Director of Education, Fred Dillon and Councillor Chris Wells were at the school assembly to bring greetings and receive a medallion.
“It’s a very powerful video,” says Dillon. “Treaties are the foundations of two nations coming together to live on this beautiful land called Canada.”
Understanding each other
FNMI Lead/Knowledge Sharing at ES Laird, Sandy Chocan who was one of the organizers of the voyage reflects that by “understanding each other we create a better world.”
“If you take one teaching, one lesson from all of this (understanding each other), that’s the first step in Truth and Reconciliation,” says Chocan.
Relevance of Treaty
After viewing the documentary, Onion Lake Cree Nation, Councillor Chris Wells shares his pride in the accomplishments of the LPSD Voyageurs.
“Watching this today, it just goes to show 150 years ago, that our treaties are still being utilized and people recognize them,” says Wells. “It’s an honour and I’m proud that you guys did this to recognize us.”
Documentary credits
As the credits rolled on the first viewing of the documentary, the names of the paddlers will be listed here:
- Lloydminster Comprehensive High School
- Libby Sherbinin – Grade 12
- Ethan Marchand – Grade 11
- Mia Ramos – Grade 12
- Dwayne Marciniw – Principal
- Danielle Crossley – Teacher
- Avery Outreach School
- Creedence St. Germaine – Grade 11
- Tayden Cesmistruk – Grade 11
- Brent Teasdale – Teacher
- E.S. Laird Middle School
- Brooklyn Tomyn – Grade 8
- Allie Hillis – Grade 8
- Kolby Borden – Grade 7
- Elliot Holden – Grade 7
- Seth Bosch – Grade 7
- Damien Fair – Grade 7
- Lawson Amos – Grade 7
- Luke Maw – Principal/Voyage Organizer and Lead/documentary narration
- Leslie Hyland – Teacher
- Sandy Chocan – Teacher/documentary narration
- Morgan Mann | Teacher (retired)/Storytelling & Knowledge Sharing
- Bishop Lloyd Middle School
- Rebecca Young – Grade 8
- Hunter Davis – Grade 8
- Rika Williams – Grade 8
- Derek Hyland – Teacher
- College Park School
- Sylas Moore – Grade 8
- Kade Govender – Grade 8
- Blake Vancuren – Grade 8
- Austin Kykkanen – Grade 8
- Brent Hamilton – Teacher
- Clint Chocan FNMI Consultant/Storytelling & Knowledge Sharing
Videography and photography team: Jake Tremmel, Derek Hyland and Graham Maw
The documentary will be shown in all LPSD schools in the coming weeks. It’s available online on the school division’s website.
