If reconciliation is a tapestry, then ghost stories are among its most unexpected threads.
Through Indigenous eyes, tales of spirits and ancestors aren’t simply hauntings — they’re continuations of presence, memory and accountability. For some, they’re how history refuses to stay buried.
Those stories come to light in T+E’s Ghost Lands — the creation of writer, producer and director Jessica Landry, with Cynthia Murdock as co-producer.
“For better or worse, everything is interwoven into the history of our country, even before it was a country,” Landry said during a mid-October video call. “The path to reconciliation takes many forms and in a weird sort of way, ghost stories are part of that.”
Ghost Lands is an hour-long documentary that explores Indigenous ghost stories passed down through generations. They’re rooted in the mythologies of various nations across Turtle Island.
Storytellers include Ivana Yellowback of the Manto Sipi Cree and Mathias Colomb Cree nations; Raven Hart of the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and White Earth Chippewa Reservation; Joshua Steven Lynxleg of the Tootinaowaziibeeng Treaty Reserve; Heather Dickson of the Carcross/Tagish and Nuxalk First Nations; and Kaylyn Baker of the Northern Tutchone and Tlingit from Pelly Crossing and the Carcross/Tagish First Nation.
Also featured are Indigenous spirit investigators such as Shawn Leonard, Tristyn Thomas-Miller of Ghost Hunters of the Grand River, Cara Widrick and healer Marvin Prince.
Landry draws inspiration from her own traditional Métis tales, as well as her love of horror films. Her Winnipeg office is adorned with movie posters like The Thing, An American Werewolf in London and Suspiria.
“I’ve always loved horror and I’ve loved ghost stories, and for me being Métis, growing up it was kind of a thing that nobody really talked about but everyone knew,” she recalled. “As I grew up and met more people who shared the same kind of things, it was like, ‘We all love spooky stuff. Why aren’t we talking more about it? Why don’t we shine a respectable light on everything that we were told?’”
While lurid tales of the Wendigo aren’t included, Dickson and Baker’s story explores shapeshifters in Indigenous oral traditions. Other segments look at the unintended consequences of bringing something home or into the workplace, as in Lynxleg’s story and Yellowback and Hart’s tale from Little Grand Rapids, Manitoba.
All the stories carry lessons and deeper meanings for those sharing them. Exploring those lessons through an Indigenous lens — and seeing how the stories evolve as they intertwine with Eurocentric narratives — is something Landry finds fascinating, especially when they span generations.
“If you trace it back as far as you can, just like how long people have been talking about these things, you know how these stories are part of people’s families and how some people have different abilities, too, that are passed down through blood memory,” she said. “I think it’s the coolest thing to explore.”
The entire cast of Ghost Lands is Indigenous, and about 85% of the crew were Indigenous and mostly women. Landry’s production company, Familiar Films, focuses on working with underrepresented creators on both sides of the camera.
“In terms of story-wise, it was just the response that we got when we started kind of looking for people and their stories. It was amazing,” Landry said. “People were so open and willing to share their stories, which just like warmed my cold little heart a little bit because it’s not something that people are comfortable talking about a lot of the time.
“Just talking about it invites it in. And just the bravery of everybody who wanted to come forward and share, I was just blown away by it.”
Ghost Lands premieres Friday, October 17 at 9 p.m. ET on T+E during Creep Week. The channel is currently in free preview until November 2.