Livings Legends: El Salvador is a documentary about character and place.  It is the story of two distinct cultures that meet in El Salvador to live, share, and learn from one another.

The “Living Legends” program began as a cultural exchange to unite First Nations youth from Canada with Indigenous youth from Latin America. The idea was to bring together these two communities who, before colonization, shared extensive trade routes that ran thousands of kilometres from northern Canada to Central America. This project was a way to unite these people and discuss some of the issues that have beset First Nations communities across the Americas since contact.

The youth participants from Canada have experienced social and physical abuse, life threatening accidents, and illness. The Latin American youth have experienced their own discrimination including lack of opportunities for education and jobs, social abuse, and a government that forces them to practice their spiritual beliefs in secret – all the while denying their rights and claims as Indigenous people.

Living Legends: El Salvador chronicles a journey from Canada to El Salvador, focusing on the individual experiences and culture of each participant. We visit their villages, the jungles, and cultural places across Central America to witness the effect that this exchange has had on everyone.  Along the way we discover their goals, their troubles, their dreams. As each person begins to overcome the social barriers that leave them isolated, a profound similarity is revealed that transcends all cultures.

Living Legends: El Salvador is broadcast on SCN and APTN.