Cree family brings a sense of play to Indigenous representation

A Cree family with roots in the James Bay regions of northern Ontario and Que‐ bec says it's happy to be able to show some impor‐ tant Indigenous represen‐ tation on the latest season of Family Feud Canada.

The Wabano family were in Toronto last month to tape in front of a live studio audience for season four of the show, which is broadcast on CBC television and streamed on CBC Gem.

"We wanted to do this [to] show that there is space for Aboriginal voices … for Aborig‐ inal promotion and aware‐ ness of the resilience of our people," said Virginia Wabano, who is competing with her children Scott, Rick and Vicky, as well as her daughter-in-law Maroline.

The Wabano's have ties to the Cree community of Wask‐ aganish, Que., and Moose Factory, Ont., where Virginia grew up and raised her family.

Son Scott Wabano is an in‐ fluencer and an up and com‐ ing star in the fashion world. A two-spirit wardrobe stylist, fashion designer, model and popular TikToker, Scott was recently named to the Globe and Mail's best dressed 2022 list.

"It's important that we continue to show that Aborig‐ inal people are very strong, resilient people," said mom Virginia, adding the family wanted to do this to continue to push the envelope of In‐ digenous representation.

"Many times we don't real‐ ly see that representation in those types of games or in other areas like the fashion in‐ dustry … like with my son Scott," said Virginia.

Other Indigenous repre‐ sentation

In the first three seasons of Family Feud Canada seven Indigenous families compet‐ ed. For season four, there are another seven Indigenous families, including the Wa‐ bano's who will compete.

Scott coordinated the out‐ fits the family wore at the tap‐ ings, which happened on Sept. 12 and 13 at CBC Toron‐ to. The ribbon skirts were made by Cree artisan Chelsea Blackned from Moose Cree First Nation in Moose Factory, Ont. The family also wore beadwork by Ocean Kiana, an Nishinaabe woodland style artist from north western On‐ tario.

Scott put out a call on so‐ cial media for Indigenous folks in the Toronto area to join them for the tapings in September.

'Aunty laughs in the crowd': Scott

"We would love to hear lots of aunty laughs in the crowd," they wrote.

Family Feud Canada, like its American version, pits two families against each oth‐ er to guess the most popular answers to survey questions. The show is hosted by actor and comedian Gerry Dee.

It was a natural fit for the Wabano's to take part be‐ cause playing games is some‐ thing they do often at family gatherings, said Virginia.

"We've always enjoyed watching Family Feud and we used to compete with each other when we would play along with the show," she said.

For the application, the family had to go through a few interviews both as a group and as individuals and take part in a game trial.

"It was very fun … We did it through Zoom and we had to answer a lot of questions about ourselves, our family, our community and activities that we do as a family, funny things that happened in our lives. There's a lot of different questions," said Virginia.

The Wabano family's ap‐ pearance on the show is set to air on Monday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET on CBC and CBC Gem.