The Screening Room, Kingston’s oldest independent theatre, will screen a new film by Director Lisa Jackson, Wilfred Buck: I Have Lived Four Lives. The film will play for three nights, June 19th, 21st, and 26th, and the McDonald Institute is proud to sponsor the opening night on Wednesday, June 19th, featuring a live Q&A with filmmaker Lisa Jackson.

Weaving together moments of his life today as an expert in Indigenous cosmology and his past as a troubled young child and teen, charismatic Cree Elder Wilfred Buck shares his embodied wisdom and profound reflections on colonial trauma in this expertly crafted adaptation of his autobiographical memoir, I Have Lived Four Lives.

When his family is cruelly torn from their land during the Sixties Scoop, Buck is left to survive on his own, falling into the darkness of addiction, until he discovers the cosmological teachings of his people and finds his way, guided by the celestial beings that become his compass and the focus of his life’s work. Using archival footage, stylized re-enactments, poetic imagery and vérité, director Lisa Jackson brilliantly jumps between genres to craft a constellation of Buck’s key life moments and memories, charting his journey to a knowledge system that survived colonization by going underground, now revived by Buck’s endless curiosity and marvel of the Ininew night sky.

A fascinating show that blends local culture, history, and modern-day astronomy that shares the Six Nation’s sky lore and language through traditional indigenous night-sky stories. With narration and visuals by a live presentation and pre-recorded excerpts (in English, Mohawk, and Cayuga), learn about the story of the bear and the brothers and how it is retold every year with the rotating patterns in the night sky. See the same stars with a completely different understanding and appreciation! This show was collaboratively produced by members of the Six Nations, McMaster’s Indigenous Studies Program, and the McCallion Planetarium, and is hosted at Queen's University by the McDonald Institute.

Capacity is limited in the shows, so please ensure you can attend if you get a ticket, and please cancel your ticket if you can no longer attend. We have some flexibility, so if tickets are unavailable, please contact us at Outreach@McDonaldInstitute.ca.