Make history feel close.
Connect classroom learning with the landscape around us. Invite students to consider whose stories are heard, what places carry, and what respectful learning asks of us.
FORT ERIE, ONTARIO · INDIGENOUS STORIES, LIVING HISTORY
The town
below
the town.
Thousands of years of life. Generations of memory. Beneath modern-day Fort Erie lies a history too important to remain unseen.
SCROLL TO UNCOVER THE STORY ↓A THREE-PART DOCUMENTARY
BY MICHAEL SUMMERS & MITCH BAIRD
BY MICHAEL SUMMERS & MITCH BAIRD
FIRST, EXPERIENCE THE FILM
Watch the trailer.
Imagine the conversation.
SCREENINGS & LICENSING
Bring the film
to your audience.
Some stories change the way we look at a place. Shared together, they can change the conversation about its future.
Bring Echoes of the Ancestors to your school, council, organization or community. Through Indigenous perspectives, archaeological research and local voices, the series opens a conversation about memory, respect and our responsibility to ancestral places.
Enquire about screenings & licensing ↗mitch@mcleanconsultinggroup.com
Put heritage in the conversation.
Create space for councils, staff and community partners to reflect on cultural heritage, development and the responsibilities that come with building a community.
Bring people together.
Start a local conversation about the histories beneath familiar streets and the ways communities can care for the places that connect past and present.
Make space for your perspectives.
We welcome enquiries from Indigenous organizations and Friendship Centres interested in viewing the series and considering its themes in their own community context.
Start with a viewing.
See where the conversation leads.
Tell Mitch about your group, your audience and when you hope to watch. Get in touch to discuss viewing options, screening permissions and licensing.
Viewing and screening arrangements are subject to availability, licence terms and required approvals.
10,000+
years of Indigenous history
in the Fort Erie region
3
episodes exploring land,
memory & responsibility
THE TOWN BELOW THE TOWN
You know the place.
Do you know its story?
Where Lake Erie meets the Niagara River, the modern town is only one layer of a much longer story. Indigenous peoples have lived, travelled, gathered and maintained connections to this landscape for thousands of years.
Echoes of the Ancestors brings archaeological research into conversation with Indigenous knowledge and community perspectives. Across three episodes, it explores ancestral places, cultural continuity, and the choices communities face as development meets the past.
What changes when we begin to see what has been overlooked?
See the story through the documentary ↗
HISTORY, HELD IN A HAND
Held in a hand.
Echoing across time.
Held between two fingers, an arrowhead brings the past into focus. Behind it is the landscape we continue to build, inhabit and understand.
Echoes of the Ancestors explores what the archaeological history of Fort Erie can reveal—and the responsibility that comes with listening to the stories held within the land.
Discover the documentary ↗INSIDE THE DOCUMENTARY
Three episodes.
One shared history.
The Town Below the Town
Begin with the land and waterways, and the archaeological evidence of a much older Fort Erie.
Unearthed
Consider what happens when modern development encounters the region’s ancient history.
What Remains
Reflect on identity, remembrance, respect, and the responsibilities that knowledge brings.
Episode titles and summaries adapted from the official Bell Fibe TV1 listing. See Bell for viewing availability.
ON LOCATION. IN CONVERSATION.
The past is present.
Listen to its voices.
Director and host Michael Summers (Oneida, Turtle Clan) led filming and post-production. His work explores Indigenous culture and history through film.
Producer Mitch Baird (Cayuga, Wolf Clan) brings experience in accessible technology and community-driven projects. The series is produced by Michael Summers, Mitch Baird and McLean Consulting Group, an Indigenous-owned and operated firm.
The documentary brings together knowledge holders, archaeologists, historians and community voices, including Rick Hill and Ron Williamson.
FROM THE FILMMAKERS
A reason
to listen.
“This documentary is about learning from the land, listening to the people who carry this history, and helping viewers understand that Indigenous presence in Fort Erie reaches far beyond the written record.”
“We hope the series becomes a useful starting point for education, respectful discussion and stronger collaboration.”
Statements from the media kit, also featured in the Town of Fort Erie announcement.
Talk to Mitch about a viewing ↗Peace Bridge · Photograph by Michael Summers
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
The story
is reaching people.
Project announcements, local coverage and opportunities to watch together.
September 29, 2026 · Republished by Yahoo
A new park, trail map and a docuseries: initiatives to learn Indigenous histories in the Niagara region
↗FORT ERIE RADIOSeptember 3, 2026 · Producer interview
“Town below the town”: the story behind the series
↗NIAGARA THIS WEEKProject coverage · External article
Read the Niagara This Week coverage
↗NIAGARA AT LARGESeptember 9, 2026 · Local coverage
Fort Erie’s Indigenous history comes into focus
↗TOWN OF FORT ERIESeptember 8, 2026 · Announcement
A new documentary series explores the history beneath our feet
↗FORT ERIE FILM CIRCUITNovember 12, 2026 · Screening
See Echoes of the Ancestors on the big screen
↗105.1 THE RIVERNovember 12, 2026 · Community screening
A night of local film, conversation and community
↗FORT ERIE RADIOOctober 2026 · Community events
Dinner and a show at the Friendship Centre
↗Screening details may change. Visit the organizer’s page for registration, times and venue information.
FOR MEDIA, EDUCATORS & COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Keep the story moving.
Find the synopsis, project background and filmmaker biographies in the media kit. For interviews or community and educational screening enquiries, contact producer Mitch Baird. Screenings are subject to licence and promotional approvals.
VIEWING & LICENSING
This history is shared.
So is the responsibility.
For viewing information, community or educational screenings, and licensing enquiries, contact Mitch Baird, Producer, McLean Consulting Group.
MITCH BAIRD · PRODUCERmitch@mcleanconsultinggroup.com ↗
Tell us about your audience and how you would like to share Echoes of the Ancestors.