God's Explorers

A Television Documentary by Susan Cardinal

Building Trust Filming in the North Boot Camp

That was half of it. The other half was having an understanding of the North’s small communities and the Dene rhythm of life. Cardinal says, once again, the show would not have happened if she had not previously traveled in the North for the CBC. One of her first trips was in 1987 to report on the aftermath of the Mackenzie Pipeline debate. Ten years later, she returned for a special series on the future of the North and Nunavut.

When she returned to film God’s Explorers, Cardinal had already visited many of the villages and towns and built relationships with some of the people over 15 years. Taking time and respecting the people proved critical to Cardinal’s ability to film some remarkable interviews and scenes. "If I’d gone up the first time with a camera – forget it. People of the North don’t like people who walk in and out of their lives, so I tried not to do that," she says.

Being a "Cardinal" was a mixed blessing at first, depending on who she was calling for an interview. Cardinal is a common Cree name in Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Even though her own family comes from Quebec where Cardinal is a well known French name, she was asked over and over where she was from in northern Alberta. While it helped her with the Dene because they thought she might be Cree, it raised questions with the Oblates who wondered who she represented and why she was making the documentary. For Cardinal, it was never about taking sides; it was about making a documentary that would illuminate a complex and controversial story. The Oblates have left an indelible footprint on Canadian history and she wanted to understand it.

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God's Explorers premiered on 

History Television Canada 

Wednesday, January 2, 2002

9PM ET/PT 

"The Church was loved by the people. The Church was powerful. But we hit the Titanic with modern society"

Bishop Denis Croteau, omi

Bishop of the Mackenzie Valley in "God's Explorers"

omi - Oblates of Mary Immaculate

God's Explorers' funding agencies and broadcasters