Volume 55 Number 07
Friday, February 20, 2015
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Pukatawagan receives national and international attention
Nickel Belt News photo courtesy of DNTO Sook-Yin Lee, host of CBC radio’s Definitely Not the Opera (DNTO), stands in front of the Pukatawagan sign after arriving from Toronto. DNTO will be airing a Pukatawagan-themed show on Feb. 21. BY MOLLY GIBSON KIRBY MOLLY@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
Pukatawagan, Manitoba has been a top spot to visit recently for storytelling and education. Sook-Yin Lee, host of CBC’s Definitely Not the Opera (DNTO), a crew of producers and a videographer visited the remote community during the week of Feb. 9. “One of the values we strive for on DNTO is diversity, and trying to find the greatest range of voices we can. One of
the things that struck me about Pukatawagan was, certainly there is an incredible range of aboriginal First Nation voices, but also there are people from the rest of Canada, and the world who live in Pukatawagan,” said Winnipeg-based producer Kaj Hasselriis, who first suggested the team visit the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation. Sook-Yin Lee, who has travelled to Northern Manitoba before, found the trip inspiring. “To me
it’s a place of deep, quiet intensity. Even landing, everything looked black and white. The tree line looked black, the snow looked white. The world became quite visibly different. Many of the people are facing incredible challenges with living somewhere so remote.” While there, the CBC crew knocked on doors, went to the school, the youth centre, anywhere a resident would tell their story to them. Lee
said meeting a local gentleman named Joseph Caribou was a moment she will never forget. Caribou, paralyzed from the waist down from a hunting accident lives in a small shack with his wife and two children waiting for a home to be built for them. “There is no ability to have a shower. It is very challenging for a man not able to walk. He’s hoping and praying to have supplies to come in, waiting for his home to be built.
This is Canada, and it’s a stark reality to see the reality people can face.” Lee went on to explain how challenging it is for some people to even buy an orange in Pukatawagan, since a single one can cost up to $3 and a pack of cigarettes can cost $20. The hope of this themed show is for people to open their minds, Lee says. “I hope people can put their heads together and figure out ways to inject re-
sources into their economy. We need to be able to see the beauty, see the people, and figure out how to help to sustain that community because it’s a treasure.” The Pukatawagan show will air Feb. 21 at 1:30 p.m. on CBC radio. The show will also feature music northern residents suggested like the Pukatawagan song by Sidney Castel. Before DNTO and Sook-Yin Lee took to the Continued on Page 7