ONEIDA OF THE THAMES — The anticipated comicon dubbed the first “Indigicon” found it’s venue on Sunday of last week at the Oneida Community Centre, just a half hour drive from London.
After the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians published their own indigenous hero comic, the duo behind the event brought it to life as they both understood the fun behind comicons — and the expenses.
“There are a lot of First Nations Peoples that don’t get a chance to come to comicons because they’re so far, they’re expensive, there’s the cost of travel and even myself, I haven’t been to one because of how expensive they are,” said Kira Flynn, one half of the duo.
Flynn said that the idea was brought to her by her partner and the opportunity to help wasn’t something she could pass up. The event itself garnered over 200 visitors who were treated to several cosplayers, games and prizes.
“Just having it here is a nice way of bringing community together,” she said. “At first it was a little nerve wracking because it was a little slow at the start, but then we got a good trickle of people coming in.”
After comic book fan Ira Timothy brought the idea to Flynn, he wanted to cut costs completely for indigenous visitors.
“When we first started out planning we wanted to have a convention that anyone could attend, and make it free to indigenous people,” said Timothy. “A lot of cons are really expensive, especially fan expos, which are like $80 for a single day pass and once you get in you have to pay for food, autographs, photographs and merchandise.”
As the event began with only two vendors, he said that it also grew in size.
“It just started getting bigger and bigger and it bloomed, so it went from a smaller con to one of a bigger size,” he said.
Timothy said that that doesn’t include transportation and lodging costs. He said that his work with his partner Flynn found success in previous endeavours and did again with this event.
“It went very well, but a little hectic,” he said. “It was important for us to choose a location inside and indigenous community, because then it would be something they could call their own and something they wouldn’t have to go so far away for.”
Timothy explained that the con even served as a learning experience as they utilized several cosplayers, including a new indigenous hero Nurse Hope, to act out a skit against bullying.
This years event was named a success and it is hoped that the event will continue to grow and return better and bigger for next year.
