The Tri-Cities region is home to two 1st Nations peoples who called these lands home long before the arrival of European settlers ;

The Kwikwetlem people once called the land from the Fraser River to the headwaters of the Coquitlam River home. Of course the Coquitlam River extended much further inland in those days, prior to the construction of the Coquitlam River dam which wiped out their livelihood. Kwikwetlem actually translates to "red fish up the river" which speaks to the significance of the Salmon runs which today are just a fraction of their former numbers. Today little more than 100 band members currently live on the Kwikwetlem reserve.

The Tsleil-Waututh peoples, formerly known as the Burrard Band, lived and hunted around the Burrard Inlet. Middens that have been located in much of Port Moody and around the inlet indicate their usage by hunters dating back tens of thousands of years. Currently there are just over 600 band members living on their reserve lands

Much like the rest of the First Nations communities located throughout British Columbia, these peoples never signed away the rights to their land. in the 1850's, after being besieged by European settlers, and the diseases that they brought from overseas, many first nations communities verbally agreed to move onto reserve lands as laid out by James Douglas, who was appointed as the first Governor of the Colony of BC in 1825. He had a good rapport with the First Nation community that generally felt that he listened to their concerns.

In 1867 Joseph Trutch, the first Lieutenant Governor of BC, refused to recognize the Registry of Reserves that had been established by James Douglas and reduced reserve lands by an average of 91%.

In March of 2020, Alley Theater, in co-production with Touchstone Theater, and in association with Vancouver Moving Theater had a run of their interactive play, Inheritance, at the Evergreen Cultural Center in Coquitlam.

This unique production recently won a Jessie Award for Outstanding Innovative & Immersive Storytelling (and was also nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor (Darrell Dennis) Outstanding Production (Large Theater).

Theater goers who were lucky enough to take in this production before COVID-19 shut everything down were treated to unique experience wherein, rather than being a passive viewer, they are given the opportunity at key moments in the production to vote to determine the course of action to be taken. In general, the story revolves around a suburban couple, Abby and Noah, who meet Frank, a First Nations man who challengers their perceptions of Canada as a land where all are treated equally.

While this production was entertaining and very well produced, Tri-Cities Community TV does not generally produce play reviews. In this case we are making an exception. This production is about evoking discussion and participants are inevitably drawn into the discussion of how we are to right the wrongs of the past in a way that respects everyone.

Freelance reporter Annie Smith worked with TCCTV and through the magic of Zoom interviewed some of the key personnel involved in this production.