Konnected.TV: Eeyou Istchee tours the Americas

Konnected.TV is adding up the air miles, having taken the host and crew to Hawaii and across Latin America, including Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Columbia.

The APTN documentary series follows the journey of Cree host Pakesso Mukash as he interacts with Indigenous tribes from all walks of life. The vision behind the show was to discover what Indigenous people across the globe were doing to celebrate, revive and protect their culture – the first season being focused on the Americas.

The experiences left the show’s producer speechless. “There were times where Pakesso and I would just look at each other and be in total awe of the moment we were witnessing,” said Eli Laliberté, who doubles as a camera operator.  

The program’s mission is to find the common thread that connects Indigenous people. According to Laliberté, there is a lot more that connects than separates us.

 

 

“The central role the territory plays in all Indigenous cultures is such a big common point,” said Laliberté. “How your ancestors play such an important role and gives you such a sense of purpose and responsibilities in terms of preserving and carrying on a legacy. We were deep in the jungle, but there were moments when we all felt like we were back home.”

Working on the show wasn’t all positive, said Laliberté. “It’s different emotions. It’s not a holiday, we suffered with them too. But it felt like we were part of the family wherever we went, and that gave us such an awesome feeling,” said Laliberté.  

There was also a sense of urgency. “Indigenous people are in a state of survival,” Laliberté pointed out. “Even though there’s a strong will to see the cultures and way of life survive, it’s endangered.

“There’s a huge push to revive and celebrate the culture from the younger generations. And the idea was to get out there and share that,” Laliberté said in closing. “How do they celebrate their culture? How do they revive it? How do they remember and bring back tradition? How do they preserve language for this generation of young Indigenous people? And lets show that to people in this country and inspire ourselves and see what we can learn from their example.”

Pakesso Mukash declined an interview for this story.

The show airs on APTN Wednesday nights at 8 pm.