In addition to intrepid explorers, muscular cowboys and gentlemen adventurers, North America was apparently also tamed by an outrageous cross-dressing transvestite—Miss Chief Eagle Testickle. Local audiences will have the opportunity to meet Miss Chief and a host of other colorful characters, real and fictional, when the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers (CSIF) in conjunction with Toronto’s imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival present a special one-night Calgary-only screening of film and video works by Canadian and American Aboriginal artists on July 22 at 7 p.m. at the Plaza Theatre in Kensington.

Based out of Toronto, imagineNATIVE is dedicated to presenting the most compelling and distinctive Indigenous works from across the globe. Works by Canadian artists like Monkman and Calgary-based Terrence Houle challenge the dominant media’s traditional cache of stereotypical Aboriginal imagery, ultimately redefining what it really means to be Indigenous in contemporary Canadian society.

Miss Chief, for example, is Toronto-based artist Kent Monkman’s alter ego and the star of his performance and video works that explore the effects of Christianity, colonialism, racism and homophobia on Aboriginal peoples, especially those who, like Monkman, identify as two-spirited.

Houle’s film, “Metrosexual Indian,” draws parallels between the historical racism experienced by Canada’s indigenous peoples, and homophobia. Houle writes, “I find making work that is about uncomfortable issues is a way to open up dialogue about the truth and deconstruct the hard questions and answers to the harsh reality we live in.”

The program will run about 75-85 minutes and will include a Q&A with local Aboriginal artists afterwards.