Video highlighting Lubicon struggle hits TV

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The Toronto-based rock group Syren is using the Lubicon land rights struggle as the basis for a video now appearing on Canadian television.

"The Lubicon case is the most blatant example of human rights violations in the country and so little is known about it," said Syren singer Lea Harper in an interview from Toronto.

Let Them Live, which is playing on the MuchMusic cable network, was directed by Ed Bianchi, a Toronto film-maker and Lubicon activist. It features scenes from Bianchi's hour-long Lubicon documentary of the same name.

The video tells the story of a young boy living in an industrial setting who regains his connection with the natural world. It opens with the boy playing with clay animals on the grounds of an oil refinery. The scene shifts to images of traditional and natural life blended with shots of industrial development. The video ends with the boy being returned to his traditional culture and natural environment.

While most of the original footage was shot on location around southern Ontario, Harper said the video is meant to illustrate the Lubicon dispute. It tries to accomplish this using still photographs from Little Buffalo, the Lubicon's traditional northern Alberta homeland.

"We really wanted people to know this is about the Lubicon, not just a rock video about the environment. It's hard to do that in three to four minutes," Harper said.

Harper said Syren first became interested in the Lubicon four years ago after playing a show at a friendship centre in Toronto where Ominayak was speaking.

The four-member band, which has played several Native festivals in Ontario and Quebec, plans to release an album this fall.