ON SCREEN
What: Moosemeat & Marmalade
Where: Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
When: Thursday Feb. 11, 8 p.m.
New episodes of Moosemeat & Marmalade are ready to air, which means more comedic interplay between Victoria co-hosts Art Napoleon and Dan Hayes.
The two hosts鈥� dynamic relationship is at the heart of the hybrid food-and-culture docuseries, whose new season premieres Feb. 11 on Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. The latter is the British co-owner of The London Chef, a Victoria-based cooking school and catering company, while the former is an award-winning Cree singer-songwriter and Victoria favourite originally from remote Moberly Lake, B.C.
鈥淗e鈥檚 an atheist 鈥� probably a little right-leaning, if anything,鈥� Napoleon said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 a non-conformist, non-partisan, socialist-leaning and left-leaning person. Not everything jives. But we鈥檝e got enough there to maintain a friendship.鈥�
The serve-and-volley relationship between the two very different men has made the half-hour show one of the top draws on APTN during its four-year run. It鈥檚 expected to remain a fan favourite through its upcoming fifth season, which airs weekly on the Winnipeg-based network through May 6. Plans to dub the new episodes in Cree and French are in the works, which will further expand the show鈥檚 footprint in coming weeks. Filming for a sixth season is also underway, Napoleon said.
Napoleon and Hayes have equal input when it comes to content. Napoleon favours hunting and fishing, staples of his First Nations background, while Hayes鈥檚 focus is on cooking methods both 91原创 and European.
Both are proponents of the farm-to-table, head-to-tail, zero-waste movements, which drives each episode. But their on-screen chemistry is rooted in what they don鈥檛 have in common, rather than what bonds them.
鈥淧eople tend to like our mix of harassment and oddball ways with each other,鈥� Napoleon said. 鈥淚f Dan is cooking at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, and they are having high tea, that鈥檚 definitely not my world. And when I鈥檓 cooking something like skunk鈥檚 ass in the deep woods, he鈥檚 supposed to be the fish out of water. But we鈥檙e starting to meld a little more. We鈥檝e grown, and picked up some of each others鈥� habits.鈥�
The show is produced by Mooswa Films, a partnership between Napoleon and Hilary Pryor of Victoria鈥檚 May Street Productions. Though their production budget is modest, what ends up on the screen is impressive.
Episodes from previous seasons were shot in a range of faraway locales, from Spain to Nunavut. Shoots during Season 5 took the hosts and crew to the United Kingdom and around Canada, including stops in Haida Gwaii and the Peace River region of B.C., near where Napoleon was born and lived until he was 17.
The show doesn鈥檛 hold back when it comes to source material that would be off-limits to its competitors. They hunt beaver and eat seal, but in a way that honours Indigenous traditions, Napoleon said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not a couple of macho guys out there trophy hunting. We鈥檙e trying to go about it in a very respectful manner. We let the [First Nations] communities tell their stories. On the show, we鈥檙e hitting cultural elements, too. It鈥檚 not just food. It鈥檚 about some of the spirit-world teachings or philosophies around land use, and sometimes even into cosmology. We cover a lot of ground.鈥�
Politics enters the fray on occasion, too. Tonight鈥檚 season opener sees Napoleon and Hayes travel to northeastern B.C. and Treaty 8 territory to cook with locals directly affected by the proposed Site C hydroelectric dam.
Napoleon 鈥� who was made chief of Calgary鈥檚 Saulteaux First Nation in 1993, when he was 32 鈥� is the more politically minded of the two. He鈥檚 opposed to sermonizing, however. The pedestal Moosemeat & Marmalade provides allows him to address important issues in a light-hearted way.
鈥淚鈥檓 not hitting anyone over the head with anything,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just being myself. Some people are going to like it, some people are not. But even the ones who don鈥檛 might see something they like. It鈥檚 always good to use a bit of humour. It鈥檚 a softer, more fun approach.鈥�
How two strangers from different cultures, with wildly different upbringings, can come together and make good television remains a surprise to everyone involved, Napoleon said with a laugh. That they managed to become friends off-screen is even more surprising.
鈥淲ithout saying it, I think it touches on reconciliation,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ne of the things Dan has done on his own is study the issues in First Nations history. He probably knows more than your average 91原创 about Indigenous people and Indigenous issues and history in Canada. That has brought us closer together.鈥�
