Congratulations from Artmob!

The Artmob project would like to congratulate Canadian Writers in Person for bringing their important video archive to the public. This collection is a testament to the creativity and dedication of both the authors and the organizers of the series, and we are proud to have played a part in its online presence.

Artmob is a York University-based research project dedicated to building accessible public archives of Canadian art. For more information visit us at www.artmob.ca.

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Front Runners

FrontRunners is a play written by Laura Robinson, a sports journalist who has also written Crossing the Line (1998), Great Girls with Maija Robinson (2005) and Black Tights (2002).

FrontRunners deals with a true story of ten aboriginal boys who were chosen to carry the torch to the 1967 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. Nine of the ten young men chosen for the 1967 Pan Am Games torch run were from residential schools. The young athletes ran with the torch for 800km along an ancient messenger route from St. Paul, Minn. only to have to pass it off to a non-aboriginal runner when they arrived at the stadium in Winnipeg.

FrontRunners focuses on the friendship between two of the young runners as they navigate the abuse of the residential school system and the outside world. Their story is powerfully interwoven with the account of a young aboriginal girl who is emotionally scarred by an abusive school principal. The blunt dramatic exploration of painful themes is mediated by the characters’ sense of humour and insistence on hope.

Two of the actors, Charlie Nelson and Patrick Bruyère were original Front Runners. Charlie played the drums, the metaphoric heartbeat of the dramatic racetrack scene while Patrick speaking only in Ojibway played the Grandfather.

Charlie, whose native name is Mizlakwanigizhik, described a ceremony held in Winnipeg in 2002 at which he and the remaining Front Runners were finally allowed to complete their journey into the stadium with the torch where runners received a formal apology from the province of Manitoba. According to Charlie, there was a more powerful form of healing in the stadium that day. He believes that the brisk winds whirling through the stadium indicated the presence of healing spirits.

The play was workshopped for students in the Canadian Writers in Person English class in a special presentation. In 2007 Buffalo Gal Pictures Inc. and  Laura Robinson  Laksakla Productions released Niigaanibatowaad: FrontRunners, a documentary film version of the play. Billed as a story of survival, hope, reconciliation and a dream for a new beginning that transcends hatred and racism, the film is now distributed world wide by the National Film Board. Since its release, the 47-minute film has been featured at a number of film festivals and was awarded the prize for Best Short Live Film at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. It has been submitted to the 2009 Aboriginal Film Festival in Stuttgart, Germany.

Submitted by prathna on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 18:00.

Works in the Archive

Front Runners - Discussion FrontRunners is a play written by Laura Robinson, a sports journalist who has also written, Crossing the Line (1998), Great Girls (2005) with Maija Robinson, and Black Tights (2002). The play deals with a true story of ten aboriginal boys who were chosen to carry the torch to the 1967 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. Nine of the ten young men chosen for the 1967 Pan Am Games torch run were from residential schools. The young athletes ran with the torch for 800km along an ancient messenger route from St. Paul, Minn. Submitted by Artmob Guest on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 20:26.	Front Runners - Performance FrontRunners is a play written by Laura Robinson, a sports journalist who has also written, Crossing the Line (1998), Great Girls (2005) with Maija Robinson, and Black Tights (2002). The play deals with a true story of ten aboriginal boys who were chosen to carry the torch to the 1967 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. Nine of the ten young men chosen for the 1967 Pan Am Games torch run were from residential schools. The young athletes ran with the torch for 800km along an ancient messenger route from St. Paul, Minn. Submitted by Artmob Guest on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 20:26.
Front Runners - Q & A FrontRunners is a play written by Laura Robinson, a sports journalist who has also written, Crossing the Line (1998), Great Girls (2005) with Maija Robinson, and Black Tights (2002). The play deals with a true story of ten aboriginal boys who were chosen to carry the torch to the 1967 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. Nine of the ten young men chosen for the 1967 Pan Am Games torch run were from residential schools. The young athletes ran with the torch for 800km along an ancient messenger route from St. Paul, Minn. Submitted by Artmob Guest on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 20:27.	Front Runners - Video FrontRunners is a play written by Laura Robinson, a sports journalist who has also written, Crossing the Line (1998), Great Girls (2005) with Maija Robinson, and Black Tights (2002). The play deals with a true story of ten aboriginal boys who were chosen to carry the torch to the 1967 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. Nine of the ten young men chosen for the 1967 Pan Am Games torch run were from residential schools. The young athletes ran with the torch for 800km along an ancient messenger route from St. Paul, Minn. Submitted by Artmob Guest on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 20:28.
Front Runners - Reading FrontRunners is a play written by Laura Robinson, a sports journalist who has also written, Crossing the Line (1998), Great Girls (2005) with Maija Robinson, and Black Tights (2002). The play deals with a true story of ten aboriginal boys who were chosen to carry the torch to the 1967 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. Nine of the ten young men chosen for the 1967 Pan Am Games torch run were from residential schools. The young athletes ran with the torch for 800km along an ancient messenger route from St. Paul, Minn. Submitted by Artmob Guest on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 20:27.