Two well-known Aboriginal runners are speaking at a Saskatoon high school today.
Shannon Louttit and William Merasty are present for a screening of the film “Frontrunners” at Oskayak School.
The film is an award-winning work about how ten Aboriginal relay runners weren’t allowed to enter the 1967 Pan Am Games opening ceremonies in Winnipeg, despite the fact they had run 800 km to get there.
The teenage boys were invited to carry the official torch over that distance.
However, when they arrived at the stadium, a non-Aboriginal runner was handed the torch for the final leg.
Nine of the boys came from residential schools.
Merasty was one of those runners.
Oskayak School’s assistant principal, Darcy Blacklock, says the school’s Law 30 class has been looking at that story as part of its studies.
The film’s creator, Laura Robinson, is also in attendance.
Robinson and Merasty are part of a panel that is answering students’ questions after the screening.