Treaty 1 and Only
10 Apr 2020. - Photos by Michelle Panting

I’m from Timmins, which is 440 miles north of Sophistication. I grew up with Native kids, mostly Ojibway and Cree. They went to our high school, and one of the first things I noticed was that they were all pretty funny. I knew one girl, Clara, who would just blurt out the funniest things with the most deadpan of faces. I wish I had that gift.

So I’ve always been curious to know why there aren’t more First Nations comedians. Turns out I just wasn’t looking hard enough, because Comedy Records has just released Treaty 1 and Only. Recorded at the 2019 Winnipeg Comedy Festival, it features four stand-ups and is hosted by Howie Miller. After good sets from Chad Anderson and Florence Spence, he brings out Paul Rabilauskas, who tells a funny story about confronting a wolf in his front yard, an even funnier one about being questioned by a cop about a robbery, and a good story about Wab Kinew, but the best is when he says that he brought some DVDs for sale after the show. They’re Adam Sandler and Will Farrell DVDs, but still. 

Tatonka (“That’s my real name. Not my stripper name.”) Means is the headliner, and he starts off with a routine about flying in on Native Air (“Anyone wearing beadwork, get on right now . . . We keep it real - no seat belts. You can’t give fake hope.”) He also does the joke, “You got a reservation?” I love that First Nations comedians don’t shy away or back down from stereotypes or myths, choosing instead to mock them. Means takes pleasure in the fact that white people make up only a ‘minority’ of the audience, and loves that as the only Native among his white friends they often anoint him “the designated shaman." “What kind of bird is that, Native?” they ask, and he bullshits because he doesn’t actually know any more than they do. He’s hilarious. “Say something to me in Indian,” his friends ask. He just responds with a long loud “Aaaayyyyy.”

Treaty 1 and Only is the perfect gift for friends who think stand-up comedy is dominated by straight white dudes, because it is not. And don’t listen to these comedians because you’re the guilt-ridden progeny of colonists. Listen to them because they’re really funny.