By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
Bishop’s University (BU) unveiled an ongoing new documentary project by its Indigenous Student Support Centre. The announcement, held on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 12 p.m. in the McConnell Agora of the Library Learning Commons, focused on the creation and history of Kwigw8mna, BU’s new Indigenous Centre. Shawna Chatterton Jerome, the Coordinator of Indigenous Student Support Services, introduced the filmmaker leading the project, Daniel Brière, and discussed the motivation behind this important initiative. The event concluded with a question-and-answer session, offering further insights into the documentary.
The history
“It was built in 1891,” said Chatterton Jerome, referring to the building that will become Kwigw8mna (formerly known as Divinity House). Conversations about the building’s new role began in 2017; it was in need of major repairs – one option was to simply tear it down.
In 2019, BU received $5.9 million in funding from the Quebec government and was going to fundraise another million on its own to repurpose the building as an Indigenous Support Centre.
Between 2020 and 2021, tensions arose between the Indigenous Club involved in the project and BU administration revolving around the final form the building would take. “We weren’t feeling like our voices were being heard,” Chatterton Jerome recounted.
After “intense” media attention and the show of local support, BU administration began taking some of the Indigenous students’ concerns into consideration, she explained. Initially, the building was meant to house some classrooms, a proposition she and her peers disagreed with because it did not leave enough space for the Support Centre’s other functions.
Things settled down in June 2021 when a plan was agreed upon by all parties. Unfortunately, they hit another speedbump when the construction company they hired told them the final cost of the new building would be $11.9 million, nearly double what they expected.
In June of 2023, the Quebec government agreed to give BU another $4.8 million to complete the project, which began construction just this past August.
The documentary
Struck by the significance of and struggles involved with Kwigw8mna, Chatterton Jerome thought a documentary detailing its history would be appropriate. She and Benjamin Tabah, BU’s Digital Strategy Coordinator, are its producers.
Chatterton Jerome quickly put out a call on Facebook to find an Indigenous filmmaker and found one: Brière, a film-studies teacher at Kiuna College in Odanak, Quebec. Brière is well known in the Indigenous community for his other documentaries, Chatterton Jerome explained.
Filming began Aug. 10, with the funding for it still in the air. Interviews with those involved in the planning of the project will be interlaced with video of the building’s physical transformation. Not everyone involved can be interviewed, she admitted, but she wants avatars of every perspective on the project – Indigenous students, staff, project managers – she hopes former Principal Michael Goldbloom will agree to participate.
Notable construction issues will be included. Preston Hall, a room in the building, which was initially a chapel, has an “extra floor” underneath it “which needs to be dealt with”.
The goal is to have the documentary completed by November 2024; the building itself should be completed in Oct. 2024.
The documentary is being fully funded by the BU Principal’s Office.