God's Explorers

A Television Documentary by Susan Cardinal

Building Trust Filming in the North Boot Camp

First and foremost, Cardinal had to gain the confidence of both the Oblates at a time when media headlines were screaming about abuse in the residential schools. For both the Oblates and the Dene who were touched by the system, the pain over the past is constantly with them. "I had serious concerns as to whether the Oblates would be open to working with me," says Cardinal, who took numerous trips to Edmonton to meet with the Oblates as well as the Grey Nuns, who worked in the north alongside the missionaries.

Eventually she gained the confidence of Father Camille Piché, omi, the Provincial of Grandin Province. As "Provincial", he oversees the Oblate mission in Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Father Piché had worked in the North for 30 years and still knows it intimately. Father Piché gave Cardinal access to the Oblate archival collection and shared some of his experiences living among the Dene. "The story is so multi-layered and complex, and I think he understood I wanted to give it context."

She also had to convince Sr. Bernadette Poirier, the head of the Grey Nuns, to give her access to their extensive archives. Through some stroke of luck or by Divine Providence, some key Oblates and Sister Bernadette happened to hear Cardinal’s CBC Radio documentary called "Dilemmas of Reconciliation" about healing and reconciliation in conflicted countries such as South Africa and Bosnia. Sr. Bernadette realized that Cardinal would be able to navigate the controversial waters of the Canadian Indian missions and present a balanced and thoughtful documentary.

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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