Thank you very much for the question.
First off, we have such a fascinating history, and we know so little about it. You mentioned the Iroquois group that came out. They were members of the Six Nations, I am sure, most likely Mohawk, given the proximities.
People often say, well, you're first nations, and ask, “Why aren't you Canadians first and why do you have this other concept?” Sometimes I describe the Mohawks around Akwesasne and St. Regis, near Cornwall. They have part of the reserve in Ontario, part of the reserve in Quebec, and part of the reserve in New York State. They have five jurisdictions governing their affairs: Canada; the U.S.; the State of New York; Ontario; and Quebec. So when you ask a young person growing up in one of those communities who they are, they will say, “I'm a Haudenosaunee, I'm Onkwehon:we, I am not Canadian, I'm not American, I'm not Quebec...”. So it's this fascinating history we have of how borders come across somewhat arbitrarily during the history, the dividing of nations.
I know about the project that you're talking about, but not the particular excursion to do some reconciliations. If you haven't read it already, Champlain's Dream is a fascinating history and account of the first foray into Canada and the nature of the relationships, particularly between the Mohawks in what is now New York state and Quebec and this area, and how they engaged. It's part of the history that we don't know enough about.
On storytelling like Wapikoni Mobile's, we actually met with them last year when the funding first was cut. The National Chief wrote a letter of support, I think. The arts more broadly are those that are able to tell the stories we can't always articulate. Their projects had many different functions. One, of course, was employing young people and training them for future opportunities to tell those stories and have them out there. Those, like many arts projects, are incredibly important, and we would support more of them to tell the stories and try to foster that relationship.