Indigenous news and events at McGill
The School of Continuing Studies presents an in-person talk, “Reframing Indigenous Relations through Economic Reconciliation” by David David Carrière-Acco (Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation) at the McCord Museum.
This event took place October 14th at noon and you can watch the livestreamed event on the School of Continuing Studies’ YouTube channel.
On Monday October 18th at 12:30pm, Andrew Martindale (University of British Columbia) will be giving a lecture on “Quantifying Uncertainty: The Challenges of Using Ground-Penetrating Radar to Identify Unmarked Graves in Residential School Contexts”.
This talk is part of McGill Anthropology Speaker Series and supported by ISCEI. Registration can be found in the poster, but you can also register here to attend the talk.
Andrew Martindale is an anthropological archaeologist whose research and teaching expertise has focused on the Northwest Coast and includes the history and archaeology of complex hunter-gatherers of western North America, the archaeology and ethnohistory of cultural contact and colonialism, archaeology and law, space-syntax analysis of architecture and households, and the use of indigenous oral records in archaeology.
Join 2021 Fall Hide Camp hosted by Buckskin Babes. Camp takes place between Saturday Oct. 9th, 2021 – Wednesday Oct. 20th, 2021 from 8:00AM – 4:00PM daily. Two days have been set aside for drop-ins, both for students and the urban community:
Thursday Oct 14th 2021: Drop-in day welcoming Indigenous students in the area to join.
Friday Oct 15th 2021: Drop-in day welcoming urban Indigenous community to join
At the camp, the collective will be working on the 2nd stage of 2 moose hides with Algonquin cultural educator, Grace Ratt of Rapid Lake. They have an additional 2 moose hides to work on from start to finish as well! Daily meals will not be provided as per Covid protocols, so individuals are responsible for their meals. The camp will take place RAIN or SHINE so please prepare and dress for the weather.
Located at Bâtiment 7 in Pointe Ste Charles at:
1900 Rue le Ber Suite 201,
Montreal, Quebec H3K 2A4
Free parking is available on site
For more information (what to bring, protocols, etc), please see the full poster here.
Join in on a virtual medicine walk with Michel Durand Nolett (Abénaki), who introduces and discusses some of the medicinal plants at the Gault Nature Reserve. Note that this video series is presented in French.
To watch all the videos, click here!
On Friday September 24th at 12:30pm, Eldon Yellowhorn (Simon Fraser University) will be presenting “Finding Indigenous Children: Forensic Anthropology and Restorative Justice” for a speaker series hosted by the Department of Anthropology.
Dr. Yellowhorn is Piikani and has family and cultural ties to the Peigan Indian Reserve.His early career in archaeology began in southern Alberta where he studied the ancient cultures of the plains. He is especially interested in the mythology and folklore of his Piikani ancestors in both ancient and recent times.
He was appointed to faculty at Simon Fraser University in 2002 and established the Department of First Nations Studies in 2012. He is the past president of the Canadian Archaeological Association (2010–2012) and the first Aboriginal person to hold this title. He continues his involvement in the CAA and is now the co-chair of the Ethics Committee. He is also working on the Ethics Task Force with the Society for American Archaeology as it reviews its statement of ethics for its membership
On September 14th, McGill hosted a virtual roundtable on UNDRIP for Indigenous Awareness Weeks, moderated by Yann Allard-Tremblay and opened by Geraldine Standup.
The panel features Eddie Cubillo (Larrakia, Wadjigan and Central Arrente), Sheryl Lightfoot (Anishinaabe), Dr. Claire Charters (Ngati Whakaue, Tuwharetoa, Nga Puhi and Tainui), June L. Lorenzo (Laguna Pueblo/Navajo) and Romeo Saganash (Eeyou).
Watch the full panel here:
In honour of the 2021 Fall equinox and the Harvest Moon we would like to offer the McGill community a chance to gather and harvest from the two Museum Pollinator patches.
This year the Harvest Moon happens on Monday, September 20—just two days prior to the September equinox. The full Moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal equinox is always called the ”Harvest Moon” because around the fall equinox, the full Moon rises around sunset for several nights in a row, which traditionally provided farmers with just enough extra light for them to finish their harvests before the killing frosts of fall set in. Normally, the Moon rises about an hour later each night, but around the time of the fall equinox, the angle of the Moon’s orbit and the tilt of the Earth line up just right and cause the Moon to rise only about 20 to 30 minutes later each night for several nights in a row.
Please take advantage of these extra minutes of sunlight to harvest from the Redpath Museum’s two gardens. You will find the locations and lots of notes pinned in this downloadable StoryMap about foraging at McGill University’s downtown campus.
For example, in the Pollinator patch located beside the Burnside building you will find culinary herbs such as winter savory, sage and thyme, as well as roots from the medicinal plant Valerian. In the Pollinator patch located beside the Museum’s Geological Rock garden (west side of main entrance) you can harvest seed pods from the Delphinium and the Columbine.
If you are interested in spreading seeds collected from our hardy pollinator species such as Calendula (Calendula officinale), Eastern red columbine (Aquilegia) or Mallow (Malva sp.) please directly contact Ingrid Birker: ingrid.birker@mcgill.ca
See a small update from Jade LaFontaine, a graduate student in the Faculty of Education who received funding from ISCEI for her research.
I have finished my data collection and data analysis for my project: Bridging the Distance; Online Teaching Tools for Indigenous Language Instruction. I am working alongside teachers from Kanawakhe to find which online tools they prefer for online language instruction, as well as what they feel are missing from existing tools.
I also gave a workshop presentation to demonstrate to the teachers some potential project ideas using the tool list I created, as well as 19 video tutorials! I’m currently writing my thesis for December deadline.
McGill’s Indigenous Awareness Weeks (IAW) celebration is always a special event. One of the first major events of the new academic year, IAW brings together members of the University community to talk, to share and to learn about Indigenous peoples’ cultures.
But this year’s edition of IAW is even more special. “It’s a milestone event because this is our 10th anniversary,” says Carole Brazeau, Program Manager, Indigenous Initiatives. “In addition, IAW will end with the 20th anniversary edition of the First Peoples’ House Pow Wow. And, to top it off, IAW is part of McGill’s Bicentennial year. We have a lot to celebrate.”
The School of Continuing Studies (SCS) is pleased to welcome announce that the School of Continuing Studies (SCS) is welcoming George R Kennedy a new Faculty Lecturer. George joined SCS this August and is currently making his journey from New Hamburg, Ontario to Montreal to join us on campus.
George Kennedy is from Oneida nation turtle clan family. His academic background includes a BA in History from University of Waterloo, MA in history from Wilfrid Laurier University, and is a PhD candidate in History at the University of Western Ontario. His primary research interest is Haudenosaunee diplomacy from ancient times up the Great Peace of Montreal. He developed a wholistic methodology based on the mind, body, and spirit to examine history. This is a well-balanced culturally based approach, which acknowledges ethical issues when utilizing Indigenous knowledge.
George, taught diverse courses at First Nations University, Western University, Wilfrid University and Conestago College where he also served on various committees. His professional experience also includes developing multiple educational and support programs that fostered student academic success and partnered with multiple First Nations and Indigenous Communities. George also has over 20 years of volunteer experience with various Boards of Directors and organizations that work for the betterment of this generation and those yet to be born.
George’s experience and knowledge will provide valuable contribution to SCS and the rest of McGill University community.
Please join in welcoming George and say Shé:kon