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When Olive Dickason announced 30 years ago that she wanted to take up the study of Aboriginal history, her professors dismissed the very notion. In their view, there was no such thing as Aboriginal history.

She proved them wrong and went on to educate all Canadians about their country’s true history. Dickason’s pioneering research has shattered the myth that Canadian history begins with the arrival of the European explorers, and has fostered the recognition of indigenous peoples as this country's founding civilization.

Before Dickason, there had never been a Canadian doctoral dissertation based on the premise of First Nations history. There was no specialist in Canada who could direct and adjudicate such a thesis. Olive cleared her way through it all, discovering ancient First Nations oral histories as well as unearthing volumes of texts in the archives of the erstwhile European colonizers, learning to read French and Spanish in the process. She published breakthrough books (The Myth of the Savage {1984} and Canada’s First Nations {1992}) that have become Canadian best-sellers.

Olive Dickason’s First Nations, the one-hour television biography, examines Olive’s life story and the enormous impact she has had on the understanding of both Canadian and First Nations history. Starting from her humble beginnings growing up in Northern Manitoba, we trace her journey to her position today as one of Canada’s preeminent historians.

Now in her ‘80s, highly awarded and many times a grandmother, Olive Dickason is still hard at work helping First Nations and non First Nations communities better understand and appreciate the rich history that lies at the root of the Canadian story.