Indigenous Awareness Weeks 2022

Indigenous Awareness Weeks offer students, staff, and faculty the opportunity to learn about Indigenous cultures, histories, and communities, promoting greater knowledge and understanding about Indigenous peoples in Canada. They aim to raise awareness and initiate an exchange of ideas on First Nations, Métis, and Inuit topics within the McGill community.

Indigenous Awareness Weeks provide a space to amplify Indigenous voices and perspectives on campus. Since 2011, invited guests have included academics, community members, Elders, and students. Topics have included health, identity, language revitalization, the Indian Act, Residential Schools, Indigenous legal traditions, Canadian policies, education, child welfare, and Indigenous ways of knowing.

This year's series marks the eleventh annual Indigenous Awareness Weeks series at McGill. It will take place from Monday, September 19th to Friday, September 30th. All are welcome to attend the events, which are free.

Event Calendar

Week One

Monday, September 19th, 2022

Opening Ceremony & Keynote Address (5:45-8:00 pm), McGill University, Strathcona Anatomy and Dentistry Building, Room M/1

Join us in celebrating the launch of this year's Indigenous Awareness Weeks! The event will begin with opening words from Kanien'kehá:ka Faith Keeper Otsi'tsakén:ra (Charlie) Patton, followed by a keynote address by Celeste Pedri-Spade, McGill’s first Associate Provost (Indigenous Initiatives). Following this, attendees will be treated to performances by Inuit throat singers Nina and Sierra Segalowitz, and Kanien'kehá:ka social song singers Iakotennikonhrare Doreen, Tiohatehkwen Patton, and Karonhiakwas Patton. Food from the Roundhouse Café/Café de la Maison Ronde and drinks will be provided.

Tuesday, September 20th, 2022

Film screening of Three Thousand and Q&A with the director, asinnajaq (6:00-7:30 p.m.), McGill University, Macdonald-Harrington Building, G-10 Auditorium

asinnajaq is a visual artist, filmmaker, and writer based in Montreal, QC. For her short film Three Thousand (2017), she uses thousands of hours of historical footage from the National Film Board of Canada's archive to reframe the past of Inuit and create a vision for the future. For more information on the film, visit the NFB website.

Wednesday, September 21st, 2022

Virtual presentation and Q&A with Cassidy Caron (President, Métis National Council) (11:00 am - 12:00 pm), Zoom

Cassidy Caron is a Métis woman with roots in the historic Métis communities of Batoche and St. Louis, Saskatchewan. She grew up closely connected to her Métis traditions, heritage and culture and is driven by her family and community values of respect, honesty, collaboration and responsibility. Cassidy is the first elected woman to hold the office of President of the Métis National Council.

Join President Caron for a live Zoom presentation on the past, present, and future of the Métis Nation.

Thursday, September 22nd, 2022

McGill Farmer's Market x Indigenous Awareness Weeks Collaboration (11:00 am - 5 pm), McGill University, 3460 McTavish St, Montreal

To celebrate Indigenous Awareness Weeks at McGill, Indigenous Initiatives is collaborating with the McGill Farmer's Market to bring more Indigenous artists and vendors to the Market. Stay tuned for a complete list of the Indigenous vendors you can check out and support.

Roundtable discussion on Inuit self-governance with panelists Pita Aatami (President, Makivik Corporation), Lisa Koperqualuk (President, Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada), and Natan Obed (President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami) (6:00-7:30 pm), McGill University, Moyse Hall Theatre

This roundtable discussion will explore Inuit self-governance at various levels: regional, national, and international. It will be moderated by Patricia Johnson-Castle, the former Director of Policy and Planning at the Nunatsiavut Government and the former Coordinator of the Indigenous Studies Program at McGill University. 

Watch the recording here.

Friday, September 23rd, 2022

21st Annual McGill Pow Wow (11:00 am - 4:00 pm), McGill University, Lower West Field (845 Sherbrooke St. W.)

Dancers bring your regalia and drummers, bring your hand drums. First Nations, Inuit, and Métis artisans, vendors, and organizations are welcome. This is a free, public event.

For more information, please contact firstpeopleshouse [at] mcgill.ca. 

For the full pow wow schedule, please visit the First Peoples' House events page.

Week Two

Monday, September 26th, 2022

Niriqatigiit (Coming Together to Eat) with Inuk chef Trudy Metcalfe-Coe (5:00-7:00 pm), First Peoples' House

Originally from Nain, Nunatsiavut, the Inuit Land Claims region in Northern Labrador, Inuk Chef Trudy Metcalfe-Coe has called Ottawa home for thirty plus years. Trudy started cooking around the age of twelve and takes pleasure in bringing comfort to family, friends and community, through her love of creating tasty dishes from Country Food (food from the Arctic such as caribou, seal, arctic char and musk ox). 

Join Chef Trudy as she prepares a meal for the Indigenous community at McGill's First Peoples' House.

Tuesday, September 27th, 2022

Live broadcast of "Wampum in Montreal History" with Darren Bonaparte (12:30 - 1:00 pm), McGill University YouTube

Tune into this live YouTube broadcast of "Wampum in Montreal History" with Darren Bonaparte. Bonaparte is the Mohawk writer, artist, and cultural historian behind The Wampum Chronicles website. In this video, Bonaparte discusses wampum, or the belts through which the Haudenosaunee documented their history and culture, in the Montreal context.

View the presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yh6Wp_x1Cs

Wednesday, September 28th, 2022

Inuit games demonstration by ᐋᓪᓚ ᐋᓪᓚ (12:00-1:30 p.m.), University Centre - Shatner Building, Madeleine Parent Room (202)

Born in St. John's, NL, and raised in Ottawa, ON, ᐋᓪᓚ ᐋᓪᓚ (which translates to Stranger in English) has spent more than a decade demonstrating and teaching traditional Inuit games. At this event, ᐋᓪᓚ ᐋᓪᓚ will talk about the history of the games and demonstrate some of his favourites.

Join ᐋᓪᓚ ᐋᓪᓚ on the 2nd Floor of the University Centre (3480 McTavish Street) for this exciting demonstration.

"The Legacy Game: Honouring the Indigenous Roots of Lacrosse" (Part One): A Presentation on the Meaning and History of Lacrosse by Mike Kanentakeron Mitchell (4:00-5:30 pm), RVC West Lounge 014

Kanentakeron is a knowledge keeper from Akwesasne who has played lacrosse all his life. For almost twenty years, he served as President of the Iroquois Lacrosse Association. He also served as the First Nations Director to the Canadian Lacrosse Association from 1998-2011. In 2014, Kanentakeron was awarded the Lester B. Pearson Award by the Canadian Lacrosse Association for his dedication, sportsmanship, and leadership in the lacrosse world. Read more here. 

Kanentakeron is also the former Akwasasne Grand Chief, and "was a member of the historic Indian Film Crew, an all-Indigenous group of film trainees formed at the [National Film Board] in 1967." Kanentakeron directed the IFC film You Are on Indian Land (1969), which was formally credited to him in 2017. Read more here.

Thursday, September 29th, 2022

McGill Farmer's Market x Indigenous Awareness Weeks Collaboration (11:00 am - 5 pm), McGill University, 3460 McTavish St

To celebrate Indigenous Awareness Weeks at McGill, Indigenous Initiatives is collaborating with the McGill Farmer's Market to bring more Indigenous artists and vendors to the Market. Stay tuned for a complete list of the Indigenous vendors you can check out and support.

"ᐃᓄᐊ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᐅᒪᔪᖅ (INUA and Qaumajuq): Going Forward Together" with Krista Ulujuk Zawadski (6:00-8:00 pm), Macdonald-Harrington Building, G-10 Auditorium

Krista Ulujuk Zawadski is a curator, anthropologist, arts leader, researcher, scholar and writer, who is originally from Igluligaarjuk (Chesterfield Inlet) and now calls Rankin Inlet, NU, home. Zawadski will present a talk on her involvement in INUA and Qaumajuq. INUA is the inaugural exhibition of Qaumajuq, the new Inuit art centre at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, that brings together the work of over 90 Inuit artists from across Inuit Nunangat and southern centres.

Friday, September 30th, 2022

4th Annual "We Will Walk Together/Skàtne Entewathahìta" Event (10:00 am - 12:00 pm), Education Building (3700 McTavish St) Patio (outside) and Learning Commons area (inside)

This year's "We Will Walk Together/Skàtne Entewathahìta" event will involve an outdoor ceremony honouring the children, survivors, and families impacted by residential and day schools. It will include guest speeches and drumming performances. Following the ceremony, there will be an interactive information fair that highlights Indigenous initiatives within the Faculty of Education and beyond. The event's theme is "Education is the key to reconciliation."

"The Legacy Game: Honouring the Indigenous Roots of Lacrosse" (Part Two): Varsity Men's Lacrosse Game and Ceremony (7:45 - 10:00 pm), Percival Molson Memorial Stadium (475 Pine Ave W)

Friday, September 30th's varsity men's lacrosse game against Queens University will be dedicated to both Orange Shirt Day and Indigenous contributions to and stewardship of the game of lacrosse. In addition to the varsity game, the event will feature an opening ceremony, fundraising, half-time performances, and a closing ceremony involving the awarding of legacy sticks to the teams. Importantly, this is the first edition of what will become an annual Legacy Game at McGill.

The game will be free to attend for Indigenous peoples (please contact Aneeka Anderson at aneeka.anderson [at] mcgill.ca to receive your promo code). Orange shirts designed by White Buffalo Crafts By Isabelle (Isabelle Zwicker) will be sold at the game as a fundraiser for the Native Friendship Centre of Montreal, and donations are being accepted on the ticket platform below.

Get your tickets here: https://mcgillathletics.tuxedobillet.com/main/redbirds-lacrosse-vs-queens