Event

7th Annual Indigenous Awareness Week

Monday, September 18, 2017 12:00toFriday, September 22, 2017 18:00

McGill University's Indigenous Awareness Week is designed to increase awareness at McGill about Indigenous peoples in Canada. The week honours the many Indigenous cultures across the country including First Nations, Métis and Inuit. The week also offers an opportunity to collaborate with community partners and draws active participation from McGill students, faculty and staff.

The week is organized by the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office at McGill University.

For more information, please contact the Associate Director of the First Peoples' House, Allan Vicaire, via email at allan.vicaire [at] mcgill.ca or by phone at (514) 398-3217.

Poster:

Artwork by Jonathan Labillois, please visit http://jonlabillois.com

 


=>Monday, September 18th



Opening Ceremony

12:00PM - 3:00PM, Ballroom, Thomson House, 3650 McTavish Street

The Opening Ceremony for the 7th annual Indigenous Awareness Week will begin with a welcoming address and blessing from our Elder. The Keynote Speaker Kakwiranó:ron Cook will discuss the Indigenous strategy at McGill.

Opening Ceremony Schedule:

  • 12:00PM - 12:30PM: Lunch Buffet
  • 12:30PM - 12:50PM: Welcoming Address and Elder Blessing
  • 12:50PM - 1:10PM: Performance
  • 1:10PM - 2:00PM: Keynote: These Seeds Have Sprouted – Now We Raise Our Indigenous Strategy with Kakwiranó:ron Cook

 


Wahkohtowin: Present Conditions of Indigenous Health

6:00PM – 8:00PM, Room S1-3, Stewart Biology Building, 1205 avenue du Docteur-Penfield

Focusing on present-day conditions of indigenous health, this event will consist of short presentations that will be followed by activities for audience participation. Topics to be covered will include: Indigenous access to healthcare, food insecurity in northern and remote Canada, drinking water safety in Indigenous communities and traditional medicines and their applications. The activities will correspond to the topics presented and will consist of theoretical situations that the audience can discuss amongst themselves. This will be to give a glimpse into some of the everyday issues and circumstances that Indigenous peoples face.

In partnership with: American Indian Science and Engineering Society

The McGill Students Chapter of AISES focuses on directly engaging local Indigenous youth in any STEM discipline.  We are all students at McGill University and collaborate with McGill's First Peoples’ House in outreach events. We also create and facilitate our own outreach and community events. Our goal as members of AISES is not only to participate in various internal and external events at McGill and the surrounding community, but also to fundraise and send our members to the AISES National Conference and Leadership Summit held annually.

 


=>Tuesday, September 19th


KAIROS Blanket Exercise

10:00AM – 12:00PM, Room 200, Coach House, 3715 rue Peel

An interactive exercise on the relationships between the Crown and Indigenous peoples in Canada, from the settler’s arrival to modern times. Participants are guided through centuries of denial of Indigenous nationhood and the gradual appropriation, relocation, and removal of Indigenous peoples and territories.

The exercise begins with blankets spread across the floor, which represents land occupied by Indigenous peoples. As participants are guided through centuries of negotiations, treaties, decrees, and other interactions with European settlers, the blankets on which they stand are slowly removed, until only a few participants remain on a small area representing what little remains of Indigenous territory today. The exercise will then be followed by a talking circle.

Workshop will be given by Allan Vicaire, Associate Director of the First Peoples’ House.

Spaces are limited. Register by e-mailing asp.sede [at] mcgill.ca (subject: KAIROS%20Tuesday%20Registration) .

About the Speaker:

A member of the Mi’gmaq community of Listuguj, Allan Vicaire the Associate Director of the First Peoples’ House. His primary role is to promote and support Indigenous student success and well-being in a culturally welcoming environment.

In partnership with: First Peoples' House & Social Equity and Diversity Education Office

 


Film Screening: Finding Dawn

2:00PM – 4:00PM, Room 338, Education Building, 3700 rue McTavish

Dawn Crey. Ramona Wilson. Daleen Kay Bosse. These are just three of the estimated 500 Indigenous women who have gone missing or been murdered in Canada over the past thirty years. Directed by acclaimed Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh, Finding Dawn is a compelling documentary that puts a human face to this national tragedy. 

This is an epic journey into the dark heart of Indigenous women's experience in Canada. From Vancouver's skid row, where more than 60 women are missing, we travel to the Highway of Tears in northern British Columbia, and onward to Saskatoon, where the murders and disappearances of Indigenous women remain unresolved.

Along the road to honour those who have passed, we uncover reason for hope. It lives in Indigenous rights activists Professor Janice Acoose and Fay Blaney. It drives events such as the annual Women's Memorial March in Vancouver and inspires communities all along the length of Highway 16 to come together to demand change.

Finding Dawn illustrates the deep historical, social and economic factors that contribute to the epidemic of violence against Indigenous women in this country. It goes further to present the ultimate message that stopping the violence is everyone's responsibility.

In partnership with: Faculty of Education


Kahnawake Community Garden & Food Sustainability Project at First Nations Regional Adult Education Center with Kanerahtiio Hemlock & Raven Iakonieien Swamp

6:00PM – 8:00PM, B-30, SSMU Building, 3480 rue McTavish

This talk highlights traditional Iroquois values put to action through indigenous food security! The talk will present how their garden and sustainable living initiatives thrive with this approach.

 


=>Wednesday, September 20th


Hidden Art History: Bringing to Light the the Inuit Art Movement That Almost Wasn't with Dr. Heather Igloliorte

2:00PM – 4:00PM, The Newman Centre, 3484 rue Peel

In this presentation Dr. Igloliorte, an Inuk from Nunatsiavut and Assistant Professor of Indigenous art history at Concordia University, will discuss the long road from obscurity and exclusion to national exposure for Labrador Inuit (Nunatsiavummiut) art and artists, through an extensive community consultation and collaborative process led by and for Inuit.

About the Speaker:

Heather Igloliorte is an Inuk scholar and independent curator who holds the University Research Chair in Indigenous Art History and Community Engagement at Concordia University, which is seated on unceded Indigenous lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation,who are recognized as the custodians of the lands and waters of Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal. This area is historically known as a gathering place for many First Nations. Today, it is home to a diverse population of Indigenous and other peoples. 

Heather is the Co-Director of the Initiative for Indigenous Futures Cluster (IIF) in the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology with Professor Jason Edward Lewis. Through Milieux, Igloliorte works with collaborators and students to explore how Indigenous people are imagining the future of their families and communities. Her teaching and research interests center on Inuit and other Native North American visual and material culture, circumpolar art studies, performance and media art, the global exhibition of Indigenous arts and culture, and issues of colonization, sovereignty, resistance and resurgence, and she is the current Lead or Co-Investigator on several funded research projects related to this work.

Igloliorte currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Indigenous Circle for the Winnipeg Art Gallery, working on the development of the new national Inuit Art Centre; the Board of Directors for North America's largest Indigenous art historical association, the Native North American Art Studies Association; the Editorial Advisory Committee of Inuit Art Quarterly; and the Faculty Council of the Otsego Institute for Native American Art History at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Heather has previsously served as an Executive Member of the Board of Directors for the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective (2005 - 2011) and as the President of artist-run-centre Gallery 101 (Ottawa, 2009 - 2011) in addition to other advisories, juries and councils. 


For NDN Girls at the End of the World: Stories about Sovereignty with Erica Violet Lee

5:30PM – 7:00PM, Room 219, Leacock Building

The Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies is delighted to welcome writer and activist Erica Violet Lee. Lee is a nêhiyaw community organizer and writer from inner-city Saskatoon. Her work moves across academic, activist, and artistic fields, transgressing colonial borders and disciplines. Her talk will consider what resistance looks like today through an Indigenous feminist lens. Her talk will be followed by the IGSF start of the year reception with a wine and cheese. Please come out and meet other members of McGill queer and feminist research community!

About the Speaker:

Erica Violet Lee is a nêhiyaw community organizer and writer from inner-city Saskatoon. Her work moves across academic, activist, and artistic fields, transgressing colonial borders and disciplines. Her talk will consider what resistance looks like today through an Indigenous feminist lens.

In partnership with: The Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies

 


Turtle Island Reads with Shannon Webb-Campbell, Ryan McMahon, Moe Clark, Nantali Indongo & Waubgeshig Rice

7:00PM – 9:00PM, Tanna Schulich Hall, Elizabeth Wirth Music Building, 527 rue Sherbrooke Ouest

Highlighting stories written by and about Indigenous Canadians, Turtle Island Reads is a live public event taking place on Wednesday September 20, 2017, 7pm at Tanna Schulich Hall in the Elizabeth Wirth Music Building at McGill.

The event, broadcast on cbc.ca/montreal and Facebook Live, is a collaboration with community leaders in Kahnawake, CBC Montreal, the Quebec Writers’ Federation, McGill University’s Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas, and First People’s House. The event is piggybacking on Indigenous Awareness Week McGill, organized by SEDE.

Turtle Island Reads takes its inspiration from CBC’s Canada Reads, sharing that program’s goals of discussing and celebrating books. Our event aims first and foremost to connect readers with Indigenous stories.

During the event, three advocates will each discuss one book of fiction written by an Indigenous Canadian author:

  • Ryan McMahon (comedian) will advocate for Son of a Trickster
  • Moe Clark will advocate for The Accident of Being Lost
  • Shannon Webb Campbell will advocate for Bearskin Diary

A copy of each of these books will be donated by IPLAI to the libraries of all English and Indigenous high schools in Quebec.

In partnership with: Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas

 


=>Thursday, September 21st


From Principle to Implementation: Indigenous Rights, the Constitution and UNDRIP in Canada with Dr. Hayden King & Dr. John Borrows

4:45PM – 6:00PM, Maxwell Cohen Moot Court (Room 100), New Chancellor Day Hall, 3644 rue Peel

The Indigenous Law Association/L’association de droit autochtone is proud to welcome Dr. Hayden King and Dr. John Borrows to the Faculty of Law to lead an in-depth discussion regarding Canada’s implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the  Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Both speakers will look at the ways in which the Canadian government is moving towards affirming the inherent nature of Indigenous rights and self-governance. The evening event will conclude with a Q&A period where audience members can join in on the discussion.

About the Speakers:

Hayden King is Anishinaabe from Beausoleil First Nation on Gchi’mnissing in Huronia, Ontario. Hayden has been teaching Indigenous politics and policy since 2007 and is currently the Director of the Centre for Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University, an Adjunct Professor (research) at Carleton University, and Senior Fellow at Massey College. Hayden's analysis and commentary on Indigenous nationhood and settler colonialism in Canada is published widely. He has also served as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Ontario Minister of Natural Resources and Aboriginal Affairs, Director of Research at the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, and Scholar-in-Residence at the Conference Board of Canada. He is the co-founder of the language-arts collective, The Ogimaa Mikana Project.  

John Borrows B.A., M.A., J.D., LL.M. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Osgoode Hall Law School), LL.D. (Hons., Dalhousie & Law Society of Upper Canada) F.R.S.C., is the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria Law School in British Columbia. His publications include, Recovering Canada; The Resurgence of Indigenous Law (Donald Smiley Award for the best book in Canadian Political Science, 2002), Canada's Indigenous Constitution (Canadian Law and Society Best Book Award 2011),Drawing Out Law: A Spirit's Guide (2010), Freedom and Indigenous Constitutionalism ((Donald Smiley Award for the best book in Canadian Political Science, 2016), The Right Relationship (with Michael Coyle, ed.), all from the University of Toronto Press. John is Anishinaabe/Ojibway and a member of the Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario, Canada.


In partnership with: Indigenous Law Association

 


Catholic Mass to Open the Academic Year: Anishinabe and Haudenosaunee Clergy and Elders Presiding

5:00PM – 6:30PM, Newman Centre of McGill, 3484 rue Peel

Description TBD

In partnership with: Centre for Research on Religion

 


Film Screening & Discussion: The Road Forward

7:00PM – 9:00PM, Room W-215, Arts Building

Thanks to the National Film Board (NFB), for Indigenous Awareness week the Indigenous Student Alliance is presenting a screening of The Road Forward (2017), a film by Marie Clements. This musical documentary connects native nationalism of the 1930s with the powerful momentum of Indigenous activists today. The National Film Board described it as "A rousing tribute to the fighters for First Nations rights, a soul-resounding historical experience, and a visceral call to action"

There will be popcorn sold at the screening in order to fund future events by the ISA

***This event was originally a screening of "Rumble: The Indians who Rocked the World" However, there were some complications due to the fact that Rumble is still in Montreal theaters. So go see Rumble at Cinema du Parc while you can!***

In partnership with: Indigenous Student Alliance

The McGill Indigenous Student Alliance provides integrative support for Indigenous students attending McGill University to connect and share our unique, authentic Indigenous ways of knowing with each other and with other members within the community. Our vision is to develop and maintain ongoing networking and partnerships with university student groups and organizations through learning teaching relationships human development and community solidarity. While Indigenous Awareness Week is a week for the university as a whole, it serves as one of them most valuable parts of the year for us to reconnect with the McGill community and Indigenous student's alike.

 


=>Friday, September 22nd


KAIROS Blanket Exercise

10:00AM – 12:00PM, Room MS2-022, Macdonald Stewart Building (Macdonald Campus)

An interactive exercise on the relationships between the Crown and Indigenous peoples in Canada, from the settler’s arrival to modern times. Participants are guided through centuries of denial of Indigenous nationhood and the gradual appropriation, relocation, and removal of Indigenous peoples and territories.

The exercise begins with blankets spread across the floor, which represents land occupied by Indigenous populations. As participants are guided through centuries of negotiations, treaties, decrees, and other interactions with European settlers, the blankets on which they stand are slowly removed, until only a few participants remain on a small area representing what little remains of Indigenous territory today. The exercise will then be followed by a talking circle.

Workshop will be given by Allan Vicaire, Associate Director of the First Peoples’ House.

Spaces are limited. Register by e-mailing asp.sede [at] mcgill.ca (subject: KAIROS%20MAC%20CAMPUS%20Registration) .

About the Speaker:

A member of the Mi’gmaq community of Listuguj, Allan Vicaire the Associate Director of the First Peoples’ House. His primary role is to promote and support Indigenous student success and well-being in a culturally welcoming environment.

In partnership with: First Peoples' House & Social Equity and Diversity Education Office

 


Being Indigenous in the Academy with Orenda Boucher-Curotte

2:30PM – 4:00PM, Lev Bukhman room (2nd Floor), SSMU Building, 3480 McTavish Street

This presentation will focus on what it means to be an Indigenous woman in an academic institution; the struggles faced at multiple levels, from racism and misogyny, to outright systemic discrimination, and everything in between. It will also highlight the multiple ways Indigenous women have found to find/create/develop support networks grounded in Indigenous practices.

About the Speaker:

Orenda K. Boucher-Curotte is currently the Coordinator of the Aboriginal Student Resource Centre at Concordia University and doctoral Candidate at the University of Ottawa. She is Bear Clan from the community of Kahnawake, and part of a long line of Kanien’keha:ka women who have done their best to be inconvenient. 

 

 

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