About the Film

The North Was Our Canaan: Exploring Sandwich Town's Underground Railroad History (2020) is the first part in a larger project aiming to collect, document, and share the rich history and inspiring legacy of enslaved people who sought freedom in Canada. Once a separate community, Sandwich Town is now a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario. Its location on the Detroit River, which separates Canada and the United States, made it an important terminus on the Underground Railroad. This film draws upon the voices of those who have lived in Sandwich Towne and researched this neighbourhood and was inspired by those who built it.

This film was funded by a University of Windsor SSHRC Explore grant.  

For more information about The North Was Our Canaan, please contact us at CDigS @ UWindsor.ca 

All filming was done on the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, which includes the Ojibwa, the Odawa, and the Potawatomie. We respect the longstanding relationships with First Nations people in this place in the 100-mile Windsor-Essex peninsula and the straits – les détroits – of Detroit.