Film documents black history on the Prairies

Research a collaboration between U of L and U of C

Oklahoma became a “brand new state” in 1907, as musical theatre fans hear. But that date also marked the start of a troubled migration to Alberta. That was the year anti-black segregation laws were proclaimed in Oklahoma and much of the U.S., often leading to violence. The Canadian government, meanwhile, was encouraging Americans to move to the “last best west” and take over 160 acres of farmland for $10.

Many African-American families from Oklahoma, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, Iowa and Illinois moved north. As many as 1,500 men, women and children settled around northern Alberta communities including Amber Valley, Breton, Campsie and Wildwood.

Now those pioneers’ stories are being told, thanks to a collaboration between researchers at the Universities of Lethbridge and Calgary.

“It’s a fascinating history,” says research fellow Jenna Bailey at the U of L. “I learned a lot about discrimination in Alberta.”

She and her two partners on the project talked with a number of second- and third-generation descendants of those original settlers.

“What comes through in their stories is resilience. One woman said, ‘It’s just a part of who we are; it’s part of our daily lives.’”

Bailey, along with social work professor David Este in Calgary and community activist Deborah Dobbins in Edmonton, have documented their findings in a film, “We are the Roots: Black Settlers and Their Experiences of Discrimination on the Canadian Prairies.”

While a date for its Lethbridge screening has not yet been set, the documentary debuted last week in Edmonton as part of that city’s participation in Black History Month across Alberta.

“Most Albertans have no idea about this history and these communities that helped build Alberta,” says Bailey, an adjunct history professor at the U of L as well as a researcher at its Centre for Oral History and Tradition.

As Canadians, she observes, “We like to think that we’re not very racist or a discriminatory nation.”

But in reality, “The number of discrimination stories that come through in the interviews through all the age groups is pretty significant.” And it’s not all in the past, Bailey adds. “What seems to come through in the interviews is the subtle discrimination that people are experiencing on a daily basis.”

Dobbins, president of the Shiloh Centre for Multicultural Roots in Edmonton, secured funds for the project from the Alberta Human Rights Commission.

“The people we interviewed told wonderful stories and their experiences focus on the positive, but there’s lot of adversity too,” she says.

“Our grandparents didn’t want to talk too much about how they got here because it was terrible,” says Dobbins, a third-generation descendent.

Still, “Through it all, we’re here and able to celebrate our accomplishments.”

After this weekend, the film will be available on Bailey’s website: baileyandsoda.com.

Says Dobbins, “We are hoping that it will lead to more discussion, awareness and education.

“We are small in number but we are representing our people and if we don’t do it, who’s going to do it?

“So we’re going forward however we can to make sure our story is told.”

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