Trickster series director Michelle Latimer resigns from 2nd season

Michelle Latimer,director of the CBC Television seriesTrickster, announced in a Facebook post Monday that she is resigning from the second season of the showafter herIndigenous identity claimswerecalled into questionlast week.

"It's with a heavy heart that I am resigning from Season 2 of Trickster," Latimer wrote in the Facebook post.

"When I first read the novels that inspired Trickster, I was struck by the powerful tale of a family coming together to overcome adversity. I envisioned this story as a television series that would celebrate Indigenous talent and amplify Indigenous voices.

"I have listened to my community and feel that stepping away from the production is the appropriate course of action."

Questions around Latimer's Indigenous identity claims came under scrutiny after a National Film Board news releasesaidshe was of "Algonquin, Mtis and French heritage, from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg (Maniwaki), Que.," an Algonquin First Nation in Quebecabout 120 kilometres north of Ottawa.

CBC News exchanged emails with Latimer over a two-month period asking her to explain the roots of her identity claims. Latimer declined repeated requests for an interview.

Latimer said in the emails that she had believed she had a legitimate connection to Kitigan Zibi, was mistaken, and prematurely claimed a link without first doing the proper research to back up her belief.

Latimer said in the emails she drew her identity from her maternal grandfather's "oral history" and his connection to the village of Baskatong, a Catholic mission north of Kitigan Zibi, which had a majority French-Canadian population by the time it flooded in 1927 due to the construction of a dam.Census records reviewed by CBC News state Latimer's grandfather was French-Canadian.

Dominique Ritchot, a genealogist and researcher with expertise in French-Canadian families, reconstructed Latimer's genealogy independently.

Ritchot's research found two Indigenous ancestors Marguerite Pigarouiche and Euphrosine-Madeleine Nicolet dating back to 1644.

In her Facebook post Monday, Latimerwrote,"I stand by who I am and by my family's history, but I also understand what is being asked of me. I recognize my responsibility to be accountable to the community and my fellow artists, and that is why I have made this decision."

Trickster author says she feels like'a dupe'

On Friday, two of the show's producers Danis Goulet and Tony Elliot also resigned fromthe show.

Latimer's claimed Indigenous identity played a pivotal role in landing theTricksterseries, which is based on theSon of a Trickstertrilogy of novelsby Haisla-Heiltsuk writer EdenRobinson, according to details of how the project grew outlined in a2018 CBC News story.

At the time, Latimersaid she wrote a personal pitch letter to Robinson tellingherthe firstnovel was "medicine" and that the journey of the story's main character, Jared, "reminded me of where I come from and also where I had just been."

In a Facebook post on Monday, Robinsonwrote that she feels "like such a dupe."

"I don't know how to deal with the anger, disappointment and stress. As wretched as this moment is, I'd rather know the truth," Robinson wrote.

The author saidshe plans on working to regain the respect of her community and that she plans on donating future author royalties from theTrickster seriesto the Haisla Language Authority for the preservation of the Haisla Language.