Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

It’s 1870, and John A McDonald is the first Prime Minister of a newly-confederated Canada. And he doesn’t like what’s going on in the Red River Settlement led by Louis Riel.  The PM wants to crush what he calls a rebellion. So he sends soldiers up the Dawson Trail a newly surveyed road that connects the great Lakes to the Prairies. And soldiers need to get paid, so a courier on horseback is sent on the trail with heavy satchels stuffed with gold coins. But somewhere on the way from what is now known as Thunder Bay to Winnipeg, he lost all the gold… and it has never been seen since. What has become of that Red River Gold?

Red River Gold is the name of a new documentary series that follows Métis Treasure hunters looking for $1M worth of lost gold coins. It’s history, it’s geography, it’s archaeology, and it’s a brand new adventure. The series is directed by Saxon de Cocq who I spoke with on this show last year. Red River Gold features Ross “Memphis” Pambrun, a Winnipeg-based Métis musician, fire chief, raconteur and the owner and operator of a satellite data company. He and his two co-hosts take us down that trail throughout the season in their quest for gold and history.

Red River Gold is now playing on APTN — the Aboriginal People’s Television Network —  and on their streaming site Lumi. 

I spoke with Ross “Memphis” Pambrun in Calgary via ZOOM.