WEBVTT

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70 miles west of Edmonton

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sits a small town that may not
look like much...

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[Train whistle blows]

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until you know its history.

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♪

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It boasts a church,
a general store,

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and a small hotel.

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John Lindsay knows its origin
because he lived it.

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Pati: John, tell me
a little bit

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about the story of
Wildwood.

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Wildwood?

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Yeah.

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Oh, I've been here
all my life.

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Pati: Yeah?
John: I was born here.

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Born here about--oh,
it's two miles from here.

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Pati, voice-over:
John's father was

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one of the first settlers
in Alberta.

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Pati: Was it segregated
like the U.S.,

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where it was divided?

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John: No.
Pati: No.

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No. No, no, I know
nothing about that BS.

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No? Yeah?

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John: No. Oh, yeah.
Swedes, Ukrainians,

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Germans--ev--we're mixed.

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Pati, voice-over:
Cheryl Melton-Lindsay

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is John's niece.

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Yeah. So this is
my Uncle John

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here with my
Uncle Floyd.

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The reason I'm wanting
to do the research is

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its needs to be transferred
over to the next generation

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and keep it rolling.

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And it's interesting

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because in the
educational aspects

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down in the States,

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you learn so much
about the States

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and everyone else
around the world

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and not
too much about Canada.

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♪

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Pati, voice-over:
In the late 1800s,

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the Canadian government wanted
to populate the prairies.

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They introduced
the Dominion Lands Act of 1872,

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offering 160 acres of land

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for just $10.

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The deal required men
aged 21 or older

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to farm at least
40 acres and build a home.

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By 1909,
with segregation laws

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and the Ku Klux Klan
terrorizing Black communities

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in the southern U.S.,

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a group of Black farmers
headed north to Alberta,

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searching for freedom
and opportunity.

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Deborah Dobbins is
one of Cheryl's friends.

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Her grandfather was
one of the original settlers.

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Pati: What do you think
they should be defined as?

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Or what do they define
themself as?

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Deborah: We're the first
group of Black people

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in Western Canada,

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so that clearly
defines us.

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Pati, voice-over:
Deborah's husband Herbert.

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They came as free citizens
when they crossed the border,

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but they weren't
really recognized.

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So we are a unique
group of people.

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We didn't come
Underground Railroad.

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We didn't esc-escape.

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S-slaves or--or slaves

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and then our masters made us
free when we were in Canada.

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We were invited...

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Pati: Yeah.

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like everyone else,
invited.

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You know,
there's poster.

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Didn't say "Whites only."

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So we came,
and they shut us down.

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♪

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Cheryl:
It was a nice, warm welcoming

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for the first few hundred.

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Then after they're finding out

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more Blacks were coming
into Canada, it wasn't.

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Pati, voice-over:
The newcomers from the South

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also had a tough time farming.

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The weather was cold,
the growing season shorter,

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and the dark black soil was
different

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than the rusted red soil
down south.

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Coming to Canada?
Yes, tough coming in

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and--and--but once they
got into their farmland,

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all the farmers
helped each other

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and supported each other.
John: Sure.

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[Indistinct chatter]

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Dear Lord,
thank you for this day.

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Thank you for the food
that we're about to eat,

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and thank you for all
of our new visitors here.

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Pati: Ohh.
Deborah: Pork ribs.

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Pati: Mm! With barbecue.

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Herbert: Here's
the collard green.

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Deborah: Collard and--
collards and mustard.

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We grew the mustard...

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Pati: You did?!
Deborah: ourselves this year.

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Herbert: And you get
a little potato salad.

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Pati: Ohh, I love
potato salad.

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Herbert: And then you
get some of the, uh,

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cornbread muffins.
Troy made the cornbread.

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Pati: So wonderful.

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Deborah: That's what we
want to have for these--

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Deborah: for the little ones.
Pati: Yes!

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So here's
the next generation.

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And this next generation
also has the next generation.

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Deborah: Yes.

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And what do you feel about
the--the work

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that your mom is doing?

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Oh, I love it.
It needs to be done.

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Pati: Yeah. Yeah.
McKerry: It's--it's our history.

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It needs to be preserved
and documented

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and spread out
to everybody, right?

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Mm-hmm.

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Pati, voice-over: Deborah,
a former school teacher,

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founded the Shiloh Centre
for Multicultural Roots

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in part because she believes
this history

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is vastly underrepresented
in Canadian school textbooks.

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McKerry: I think it just
comes from lack of knowledge.

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Yeah.

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McKerry: A lot of people,

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they might know
their family story...

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Yeah.

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but they don't know
the bigger picture.

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Pati, voice-over:
Canada is finally taking notice.

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The Royal Canadian Mint
recently released a coin

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that commemorates
early Black settlements.

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McKerry: So when I
was in elementary school,

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there was just me as
the Black representation

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for the school.

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I was the only
Black kid in my school.

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But the nice thing to see
is with my children,

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they're going
to school now,

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and their class is
like the UN.

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It's, there's kids
from all over the world,

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all different backgrounds
in their classes,

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in their school,

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which is nice because
they get that nice mix.

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They don't feel like,
"Hey, why am I

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the only one different
in class?" Right?

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It's not the one
chocolate chip

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in the bowl of
vanilla ice cream.

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Pati: Yeah.

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McKerry:
Like, everybody else

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sees us
as Black people.

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But like you were
just saying.

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Pati: Yeah...
McKerry: Haitians.

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Uh, Caribbean,
Jamaican, Trinidad.

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There's South American,
right?

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There's Africans-Africans

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from, you know, Nigeria,
Congo, everywhere.

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So they're all
different cultures.

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People always ask,
"Where are you from?"

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"Well, where are your
parents from?" "Here."

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Like, they-they don't
have that concept

05:52.933 --> 05:55.933 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5%
of Black Canadians,
Black Americans.

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It's you have to be from
an island or from Africa

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Pati: Yeah...
McKerry: or...

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Well, we came in
the 1900s, so...

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Pati: Right.

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I'm from here.

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What's the hope
for people that are coming?

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The hope for people that--

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um, for them to learn
our story,

06:09.666 --> 06:11.133 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5%
so they know that

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they're not the first ones
to go through it.

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They're not the first ones

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to blaze these new trails
that are new to them.

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But we've been here
for over a hundred years,

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and we've done it.

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Learn our history,
we'll learn yours,

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and let's work together
to make it

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a better place
for everybody.